India is the second largest producer of onion in the world. Having 8.0 lakh ha area under onion it needs about 6000 tonne seed annually. Public sectors organizations like NHRDF, NSC, ICAR and SAU's met less than 10 per cent demand and rest by the private sector or own saved seed by the farmers. In Punjab, onion is cultivated on 8000 ha and seed requirement is 60 tonne per year, but availability of recommended varieties seed is less than 2.0 percent. Hence, farmers depend upon the seed transported from central-western part of the country. Onion is a photo-thermosensitive crop and intermediate type varieties suit well during Rabi season in Punjab than the extremely short day. Onion productivity in Punjab is 21 tonne/ha (nearly double than national average) and, can further be enhanced by increasing the area under recommended varieties.
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