80 to 90 lakh tonnes of onion get spoiled during storage and transportation: Pasha Patel

Mumbai: A whopping 80 to 90 lakh tonnes of onion gets spoiled during storage and transportation, said Pasha Patel, Chairman of the Maharashtra government’s State Agricultural Price Commission and head of the Onion Policy Committee.

“The country needs about 160 to 190 lakh tonnes of onion. Around 80 to 90 lakh tonnes of onion gets spoiled during storage and transportation. This is a serious matter. If the storage facilities are made efficient, onion will be available for export,” said Patel, a former MLC, calling for creation of more storage facilities on a mission mode.

Around 270 to 300 lakh tonnes of onion is produced from an area of around 17 lakh hectares of onion in the country - in Maharashtra’s share in the production and consumption is 40 to 45 percent.

 “Around 65 percent of this - 160 to 190 lakh tonnes of onion is used for domestic consumption, out of which 20 per cent of onion (60 lakh tonnes) is wasted. It is observed that the general loss is due to loss of onion weight, rot and sprouting. Eight percent of onion is exported (20 to 25 lakh tonnes) and one percent is used for seed production (3 to 4 lakh tonnes). The country supplies 14 to 15 lakh tonnes of onion every month through the market,” he said. 

As part of the initiative to create storage facilities, Patel visited the National Onion and Garlic Research Centre at Rajgurunagar in Pune district with a huge team of experts to review the station. 

In this meeting, all four methods of onion storage namely Radiation, Cold Storage, Traditional Onion Chali and Controlled Onion Storage Structure technology were discussed in depth. 

All the members of the committee also visited the Centre for Controlled Onion Storage Structure set up jointly by the Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research and Kala Biotech.

In this new onion storage method, the temperature is 25 to 30 degrees Celsius with 60 to 65 percent humidity and air circulation in a controlled environment. Scientists claim that due to this new technology, the rate of onion sprouting, rotting and weight loss in onion storage is very low.  In a 120-day storage experiment, the loss of 40 to 60 per cent in natural onion chali has been reduced to 15 per cent with this new method.

Onion radiation technology and cold storage are both expensive storage methods, and the average price of onion, the investment required for it, and the cost per ton are also impractical, according to the deliberations of the committee. 

Dr. Ram Dutt, Director-in-Charge of the Onion Garlic Research Center, said that control onion storage structures have been set up in Peth Nashik and Delhi.

He also said that if this technology, which controls temperature and humidity, is set up across the country during the fluctuations and shortages in the onion market, it will definitely enable the onion supply chain.

Farmer representative Deepak Pagar expressed the view that there is a need for more clarity on the cost of new technology for per quintal onion storage. He said that only good quality onions should be stored in this new technology. He also pointed out that during our visit to the actual facility center, we came to know that substandard onions were stored.Aniket Sonawane, a representative of farmer producer companies, pointed out that gases are produced through micro grow tubes and onions are stored well for up to four months.

Three seasonal production and storage requirements

• Kharif onion - October to November (35 to 40 lakh tonnes)

• Rangra onion - January to February (40 to 50 lakh tonnes) 

• Rabi onion - April to May (180 to 200 lakh tonnes). 

• Therefore, the country has to depend on Rabi onions for supply from June to October. 

• That is why storage of Rabi onions is mandatory. 

• About 40 to 50 lakh tonnes are stored in Maharashtra, the rest is stored in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana. 

• Considering the large economy where 40 to 50 percent production is done in Maharashtra, 60 per cent is exported and 50 per cent is stored, there is a need for an efficient policy for onion storage.