Can India Become A Leading Exporter of Onion?
Source:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/ingredient-focus-onions
Introduction
Onion
(Allium cepa L) is an important
vegetable crop not only for consumption point of view but also as a main exporting
crop among all the fruits and vegetables. India rank 3rd in export
of onion after Netherland and Mexico.
Onions are globally cultivated in 6.30 million
ha of land and there is a production of 122.21 million tonnes of onion per
year. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, a total of 144
countries were involved in onion production in the year 2017. However, the
eight top onion-producing countries produce around 65 per cent of global onion.
India is the second-largest onion-producing country in the world with 22.43
million tonnes each year on an average, while largest is China.
Onion
production in India
The major onion
producing states of India are Maharashtra,
Karnataka and Gujarat which contribute over 50 percent of All India production,
while Maharashtra alone contributing 28.32% percent of India’s total onion
production. The other contributing states of India are Madhya Pradesh, Bihar,
Andhra Pradesh. and Rajasthan. However production vary from state to state
while Gujarat is an exception, as it has a better record on yield. There are three
planting seasons for the onion crop in India –
1. Kharif (planted
between July-August and harvested in October-December)
2. Late Kharif
(planted between October-November and harvested in January-March)
3. Rabi (planted
between December-January and harvested in March-May).
Among all these
three seasons in onion production Rabi account highest yield with
70 per cent, Kharif accounts 20 per
cent, and late Kharif accounts 10 per cent of total yield
of Onion.
Varieties
|
Agrifound
Light Red, Agrifound Dark Red, NHRDF Red, Agrifound White, Agrifound Rose and
Agrifound Red, Pusa Ratnar, Pusa Red,
Pusa White Round are the major varieties which are being exported from India
while Certain varieties of yellow onion that are suitable for export in
European countries are Tana F1, Arad-H, Suprex, Granex 429, Granex 55and HA
60.
|
Export
of Onion
The demand of
Indian Onion in the world is very high. India ranked Third position with a
share of 10.49 % while Netherland is on the top with a market share of 15.66%.
The country has exported 2182826.23 MT of fresh onion to the world for the
amount of Rs. 3467.06 crores/ $497.94 USD Millions during the year 2018-19.
Major export destination for the export of Onion as per 2018-19 data are Bangladesh,
Malaysia, UAE, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Source: https://agriexchange.apeda.gov.in/product_profile/india_standing.aspx?categorycode=0201
|
Export
opportunities for India
Currently India ranked 3rd in
exporting its onion with a market share of 10.49%. USA, UK, Malaysia, Germany
and Canada are the major importers of Onion.
Source:
https://agriexchange.apeda.gov.in/product_profile/india_standing_imp.aspx?categorycode=0201
Indian Onions are
in demand throughout the year due to its pungency. However the major reason
that we can’t penetrate huge market like USA and UK is that there is an issue
with MRL (Maximum Residue Level) of Indian Onion. Indian Onions are not able to
match the MRL of these markets. Once we are able to meet the standard MRL of
these markets India will certainly become the leading exporter of the Onion in
the world.
Achieving these
permissible MRL of these market is not a difficult task. The government should
impart training programs on for the onion growing farmers in major onion
growing states like Maharashtra, Karnataka etc. by linking with Krishi Vigyan
Kendra, State and Central agriculture
universities in order to train them about MRL (Maximum Residue Limit) in Onion
which most often becomes an apple of discord between trading in International
Trade.
References
Good Work!
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