India asks 5 states to increase onion growing areas by 9,900 hectares

India asked five of its non-traditional onion growing states to increase the area under the crop by 9,900 hectares in the forthcoming Kharif season to avoid any price increases.

Agriculture Commissioner S K Malhotra asked five non-traditional onion growing states: Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Uttar Pradesh to increase the onion area in the Kharif season of this year to 51,000 hectares from 41,081 hectares in the year-ago period.

The increased growing area would help when availability gets affected in traditional onion growing areas due to natural calamities.

Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh are major Kharif onion growing states.

The forthcoming Kharif season of the 2021-22 crop year is in June and July.