Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, August 3: With onion prices ruling over RS 50/kg at some places, the state government Monday decided to launch an ‘Onion Mission’ and set up 300 cold storages to ensure adequate storage facility for the kitchen essential. The government will also provide easy loans and high yielding seeds to farmers to mitigate the crisis situation.
The state government has decided to launch ‘Onion Mission’ in line with ‘Potato Mission’ to improve onion storage facilities and help farmers, agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy said.
He said, though Orissa produces an annual 3.95 lakh MT of onions against its requirement of 2.97 lakh MT, farmers sell their produce to traders due to lack of cold storages.
Onion produced before August are sold to traders from Chhattishgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the minister said, adding steps would be taken through the ‘Onion Mission’ to set up 300 cold storages.
In another development, the cooperation department decided to set up 10 more cold storages through Regional Cooperative Marketing Societies (RCMS), cooperation minister Damodar Rout said. He also lamented lack of coordination among departments leading to repeated onion crisis in the state.
The state government has made a provision to provide fat incentives to entrepreneurs willing to construct storage units. Subsidies up to 50 per cent will be given away. While onions Sunday sold at around RS 40-45 in the capital city and its vicinity, the kitchen essential sold above RS 50/kg in parts of southern Orissa.
