Rajkot records bumper onion crop

The market yards in these two talukas are now flooded with onions. quot;The yards are now prepared to deliver truck loads of onions anywhere in the country or where ever they are required,quot; district collector Pravin Trivedi stated. quot;And the prices quoted per kg now is not more than Rs 10 anywhere in the region. Rajkot district can now supply at least 100 tons of onion daily and we have already made arrangements for dispatch to Orissa and other areas facing scarcity.quot;

Agriculture department officials informed that the Rajkot district has produced about1.27 lakh tons of onions as a rabi crop and 21,245 metric tons as a kharif crop. Besides, green onions which had almost disappeared from the markets are now available aplenty.

This bumper production of Rajkot district is expected to meet the scarcity caused due to crop failure in Mahuva and Talaja talukas of Bhavnagar district which are the largest onion growing areas in the country. Scant rains during the monsoon led to the crop failure in the district.

Agriculture department sources said that farmers in Mahuva and Talaja are going in for transplantation of crop after a spell of good rain after the monsoon but the crop can be harvested only in December end.