GUWAHATI: Prices of onions in Guwahati are ranging between Rs 70 and 80 a kg with no signs of any fall in the near future. The Tarun Gogoi-government, in order to keep onion prices under check, has decided to go for large-scale cultivation of the bulb and reduce dependence on imports.
The agriculture department's directorate of horticulture and food processing has identified 21 districts where the chief minister's onion mission will be implemented from November 1.
Officials said sowing will start from November 1 and the crop will be ready for harvest by March next year. The target is to produce 1,00,000 tonne of onion against the present production of 25,000 tonne, they added. "Onion cultivation and harvest season varies from state to state. For Assam the season is between November and March," an agriculture official said.
Onion production in Nasik, from where the major part of the produce is imported, suffered this year because of heavy rain during harvesting season.
DHFP information officer Mowsam Hazarika said an area of 2,000 hectares in 21 districts will be brought under onion cultivation. An agrifound light red (ALR) onion seed variety will be used for cultivation, he added. "ALR is an improved variety of onion seed and has been procured from the National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation. The seeds have already been distributed among selected farmer groups. Each group will cultivate around five hecter," he added.
Horticulture officials said germination tests for the ALR variety in the state have shown more than 90% success. The districts identified for this mission are Barpeta, Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Dhubri, Nalbari, Kamrup (including Kamrup-Metropolitan district), Darrang, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Morigaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Tinisukia, Lokhimpur, Dhemaji, Cachar, Korimganj, Baska, Karbi Anglong and Sivasagar.
Source:-timesofindia.indiatimes.com
No comments:
Post a Comment