The present price escalation of onions has once again forced the government, farmers and traders to think and find out an effective solution for preservation of onions. A lot of debates is going on for viability of the cold storage based on business model for onions. NVFL (Natural Vegetables & Fruits Storage Pvt. Ltd.) started to work on onion storage way back in 2004. After conducting an in-depth research, the company has come out with an effective solution for onion storage. Based on the findings, it has also built a commercially successful storage solution that is being used in Gujarat & Maharashtra. The results are very encouraging for farmers and people involved in onion business.
Some of the major reasons behind such a big price variation in onions
- Due to change in climatic conditions, onion growing areas are affected, and the vegetable gets diseases leading to poor quality
- Traditional method of storage of onions leads to losses exceeding 35%, depending on the conditions of the weather
- Turnaround of onions is difficult due to shortage of skilled labourers
- Due to diseases farmers are forced to sell their onions in shorter time after harvesting
- Overall these losses are national losses – as it involves very high input cost.
Advantages of onion cold storage compared to the conventional ventilation storage
- Losses are very low compared to conventional storage
- No need of turnaround of onion during storage period resulting huge labour cost
- Post storage life is very long, hence the vegetable can be sent to remote locations
- Direct saving of material cost and farming cost due to saving in weight / spoilage losses.
Parameters to be controlled for successful storage
- Good quality, disease free onions need to be stored
- Constant temperature
- Constant low relative humidity needs to be maintained
- Predefined constant level of carbon dioxide needs to be maintained
- Air circulation within the product is very essential
- Reheating of onion should be carried out properly in order to avoid condensation.
Supports needed from the governments
- As capital investment is high, special grant should be given to such projects
- Interest free viability gap fund should be provided in order to reduce interest cost
- GOI should initiate PPP model with some special initiative to encourage young entrepreneurs.
Conclusion
A special focus need to be made to create infrastructure for onion storage in India – as presently no such remarkable facility is established in India. If proper infrastructure is developed, it will help farmers avoid distress sell and losses due to improper storage methods. With proper infrastructure and storage facility, customers will also be benefited with continuous supply.
