Onion and garlic are the world famous spice commodities used for flavouring the dishes.  Besides culinary purposes, these are considered as valuable medicinal plants.  The fungicidal and insecticidal properties of garlic are well established.  Dehydrated powder & flakes and paste prepared out of onion and garlic provide rich agro-industrial base for these commodities.

Realizing the importance  of  onion and garlic  in  the country,  ICAR established  National Research Centre for Onion and Garlic in VIII Plan with its headquarter at Nasik in 1994.  However, due to some working constraints, the Centre was shifted to Rajgurunagar on 16 June 1998. Over the years, the centre has created good facilities for field and laboratory work.  The centre has been upgraded to Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research since December 2008. Besides this, an All India Network Project on Onion & Garlic with 28 participating centres all over the country has been established. 

LATEST EVENTS

Training programme on Onion production technology under North Eastern Hill Plan

One day training programme on “Onion production technology” was organized at Andro Farm, CAU, Imphal on 23.03.2014 by DOGR in collaboration with CAU, Imphal under North Eastern Hill Plan. Total 60 farmers participated in this training program. Dr. Vijay Mahajan, Principal Scientist and Nodal Officer (NEH Plan & AINRPOG) presided the inaugural session and explained in detail about onion improvement and production technologies. Dr. S.J. Gawande, Senior Scientist from DOGR elaborated about onion diseases, pests, their identification and management. Dr. W. Ingo Meitei, Professor of Horticulture & PI, AINRPOG, CAU, Imphal delivered lecture on economic importance of onion in NEH region. Several queries pertaining to onion production, plant protection and post-harvest handling were answered by the above experts during interaction with farmers.

Annual Group Meeting of All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic and Brain-Storming Session

The Fifth Annual Group Meeting of All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic (AINRPOG) and a Brain-Storming Session on “Crop Improvement and Seed Production of Onion” was organised by Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune at National Horticultural Research & Development Foundation, Nashik from 13-15th March 2014. The event was attended by more than 100 delegates both from public and private sectors from across the country. The inaugural session of the Annual Group Meeting was chaired by Dr. G. Kalloo, Ex-DDG (H), ICAR and Ex-VC, JNKVV, Jabalpur. Dr. K.E. Lawande, Vice-Chancellor, Dr. BSKKV, Dapoli was the Chief Guest, and Dr. S.K. Malhotra, Assistant Director General (H-II), ICAR was the Co-Chairman. Distinguished scientists and research workers on onion and garlic chaired and co-chaired the various technical sessions.

Dr. Jai Gopal, Director, DOGR presented the project report wherein he elaborated on the activities and achievements of AINRPOG.  Dr. Vijay Mahajan, Nodal Officer presented action taken report of AINRPOG.  Dr. R.P. Gupta, Director, NHRDF, Nashik, Dr. S.D. Sawant, Director, NRC Grapes, Pune, Dr. Bachkar, MPKV, Rahuri, Mr. U.B. Pandey, Ex-Director, NHRDF, Nashik, Dr. S.R. Bhonde, Ex-Addl. Director, NHRDF, Nashik, Dr. C.S. Pathak, Advisor, Nath Seeds, Aurangabad, and Mr. Suresh Agarwal, Chief Executive, Bejo Sheetal, Jalna, actively participated in the group meeting and gave valuable input for onion and garlic research in the country.  Publications i.e. Souvenir, Annual report, CDs and Folders on onion and garlic were released. Dr. G. Kalloo highlighted the importance of Allium species and need to stabilize the onion supply.  Dr. K.E. Lawande emphasized on increasing the area and productivity in the kharif season to stabilize the market price of onion.  Dr. S.K. Malhotra spoke about the development of codex parameters for various horticultural crops including onion and garlic.           

Dr. N.K. Krishna Kumar, DDG (H), ICAR chaired the plenary session.  He focused on the recent disturbances in the climate like hailstorm, untimely rains, floods etc. which have adversely affected the crop production especially in horticultural crops including onion and garlic.  He stressed that there is need to pay more attention on multiplier and temperate onions, so as to develop varieties with specific characters and having high export potential.  He also suggested that the public and private sector should go hand in hand to increase production and productivity of onion and garlic in the country.

In the Brain-Storming Session on “Crop Improvement and Seed Production of Onion” lead lectures were delivered by the experienced and renowned scientists in the field of onion improvement and seed production.  There was an open discussion on the various presentations and significant recommendations were made in the plenary session which was chaired by Dr. N.K. Krishna Kumar, DDG (H) and Co-Chaired by Dr. Jai Gopal, Director, DOGR.

The variety identification committee of the group meeting identified three garlic varieties for long day and one for short day conditions.  Besides, this two recommendations on production technology and two on crop protection were made during the group meeting.

DOGR participated in Science Day Exhibition at GMRT, Khodad

Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar participated in Science Day Exhibition held at Giant Metrowave Radio Telescope (GMRT), Khodad, Narayangaon, Pune during February 28th to 1st March, 2014. Different agro-technologies developed by DOGR and samples of different onion and garlic varieties were displayed at the exhibition. Scientists from different fields, farmers, students and teachers visited the DOGR stall and appreciated the technologies developed by DOGR. Several queries pertaining to onion and garlic production, its nutraceutical values, plant protection and post-harvest handling were answered during interaction with farmers and students. Dr. S.J Gawande, Mr. N. Shaikh and Mr. Vishal Gurav managed the event activities.