Dried Onions to the rescue

CIPHET technology

CIPHET Director says that at the beginning,for about three or four months,they allow the farmer or entrepreneur to use their mechanical dryer to dry onions at a nominal cost,till he starts his own unit. For domestic use in small quantities,onions can also be dried under the sun after squeezing out the excess water. But it will be a long process and dust etc will also get added while drying.

According to Dr S N Jha,Director of CIPHET,“though we started this course in 2007,this was the third such session conducted by us. The idea was to make people aware about using dried onions when prices are fluctuating. Though in the Indian market,the consumer is not well adapted to using such products,we still aim to make the entrepreneurs aware so that they can further sell their product in the market.”

Dr D N Kadam,senior scientist and principal investigator of business planning development (BPD) unit of CIPHET,said,“Few companies are already in the business of drying onions in Maharashtra and Gujarat — the onion belt of the country — but they are exporting their product,not bringing it in the Indian market. Our training aims at starting units for the domestic market so that the general consumer can be aware of such products. Though few companies have started selling onion flakes,they are not readily available off the shelf in the domestic market.”

Dr Kadam said the aim is to promote small entrepreneurs and unemployed youth who can be self-employed. For a normal capacity plant,an investment of around Rs 3 to Rs 5 lakhs is needed to start up and this money is available as loan on easy instalments,he said.

The onions are first cut into pieces and excess water strained before drying. They are then put in a mechanical drier and later ground. The moisture maintained is minimum and gives it a shelf life of 9 to 12 months,said Dr Jha. The water strained from the onions can also be stored in the refrigerator without adding any preservative and it can be used to add flavour to the dishes by using just a few drops while cooking,he added.

He also advises the general public to dry onions at home when they are available at cheaper rates and use the dried flakes or powder later when prices soar.

Dr Kadam said in India,onion powder is used by companies making namkeen,chips,kurkure along with the masala they use to flavour these items. It is also used in readymade soup packets. However,the Indian consumer is still to start using it for domestic cooking because of lack of awareness and even lack of availability of the product. The Indian consumer has a mindset of using fresh onions and this needs to changed,said Dr Jha and Dr Kadam.

Dr Jha said that every year during monsoons the onion crop gets damaged resulting in shortage in the market. The crop can be grown only twice a year and hence a shortage is obvious.

Flakes and powder being exported: Companies in Maharashtra and Gujarat are exporting onion flakes in bulk and could be causing shortage of onions in the domestic market.

Price of onion: Prices of onions which had touched Rs 100 per kg have now come down to Rs 50 per kg,which also is on the higher side.