To stabilize the prices of onion, the Centre maintained buffer stock of 2.0 LMT in 2021-22 and 2.5 LMT in 2022-23
The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today informed that the onion production in 2020-21 as per the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare was 266.41 Lakh Metric Ton (LMT) and onion consumption in 2020-21 as per market intelligence report was 160.50 LMT.
Due to its perishable nature and gap between the rabi and kharif crops, the prices of onion tend to increase during the lean months of September to December. To stabilize the prices of onion, the Government maintained buffer stock of 2.0 LMT in 2021-22 and 2.5 LMT in 2022-23, and the Government has not imported onion during 2021-22 and 2022-23. The overall post-harvest losses of onion occur due to several factors like loss of moisture content, fungal infection, decay loss, sprouting loss etc. which may be reduced through improved storage facilities.
To address the problem of post-harvest loss of onions, the Department of Consumer Affairs has rolled out a Hackathon/ Grand challenge to the scientific community, researchers and startups for seeking ideas and development of prototype for post-harvest storage of onions. There are four verticals of the challenge namely, improvements in the designs of storage structures, pre-harvesting stage, primary processing and valorization; value addition and utilisation of onion waste. The challenge has been rolled out in three stages. There will be evaluation of ideas, technology solutions at three stages namely, ideation to proof-of-concept stage, proof of concept to product stage and field implementation. Agriculture Universities and the Central Universities have been informed about the challenge with the request to disseminate the challenge for ensuring maximum participation. There is no provision for separate facilities to be provided to the universities.
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AD/NS