Agriculture Market News : India's annual onion output would set a new record

According to National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF), total acreage under rabi season crop would increase by 15-20 per cent this year.

The rabi sowing season of onion contributes nearly 60 per cent of India's annual output. The kharif and late- kharif sowing seasons contribute 20 per cent each to the annual cycle of onion production.

Based on this estimate, India's annual onion output would set a new record at over 20.6 million tonnes this year compared to the previous record of 19.40 million tonnes in 2013-14.

R P Gupta, director, NHRDF said that the overall onion production during 2015-16 is expected to increase 10-15 per cent, provided the current favourable climatic conditions continue throughout the rest of the season till harvesting.

Meanwhile, transplanting of rabi onion seedlings in Maharashtra started from mid-December and will continue for a month. Indications are that transplantation of onion seedlings has been robust in major centres like Nashik, Beed, Latur and Aurangabad in Maharashtra. The state contributes around 30 per cent of India's annual production.

Onion sowing area is also to be record high at 1.26 million hectares in the current crop year (July 2015 - June 2016), which is 9-12 per cent more than last year's 1.49 million hectares.

Onion acreage and output:

Crop Year (July-June)	Sowing Area (ha)	Production (tonnes)
2009-10	756.8	12,190.7
2010-11	1064	15,117.9
2011-12	1,087.26	17,511.1
2012-13	1,051.55	16,813.0
2013-14	1,203.59	19,401.69
2014-15	1,149.92	18,736.51
2015-16	1,263.9	20,610.16

Source: http:// www.business-standard.com/