A significant shift in agriculture in North Maharashtra’s season, the onion production has witnessed 40 percent less in the four districts of Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar and Jalgaon. The traditional time for planting is between November and January when harvesting begins at the end of March. This year’s crop was characterized by an incredibly low area. Particularly, Nashik, a major player in the area’s onion crop was reduced to 126,000 hectares, down from the previous year’s 221,000 acres, which resulted in a decrease of 250,000 to 150,000 hectares in the area.

This slump, which is due to a lack of monsoonal rain is a major problem for local farmers as well as the markets. Onions from the summer, renowned because of their shelf-life which is more than 6 months are generally harvested by farmers in order to gain more favorable prices. This storage plan is strategically designed to satisfy markets’ needs during the period between May and October, during which fresh onion crop supplies are limited.

State agriculture officials confirm this trend, highlighting the difficulties that were created by the insufficient rain.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com