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 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 NEWS Onion Farmer Bags Innovation Award  Shri. N. Y. Adhau, a progressive onion farmer of Deulgaon, District Akola has been selected for Innovative Farmer Award by IARI, New Delhi for 2014-15. The award will be presented during Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela being held at IARI during 10-12 March, 2015.
Shri. Namdeorao Yadavrao Adhau was nominated by this Directorate (ICAR-DOGR) for his contribution to onion cultivation in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Once a trainee of DOGR, Shri. Adhau has popularized ‘Bhima Shubhra’ – a white onion variety developed by ICAR-DOGR, Pune. He had purchased 5 kg seed of Bhima Shubhra from ICAR-DOGR and raised onion crop as recommended by ICAR-DOGR. He obtained a record marketable yield of 21 tons/acre of good quality onion bulbs and earned a net profit of Rs. 2.5 lakhs. Impressed by the performance, he decided to disseminate the technology to the farmers in his vicinity. He has formed a group of 300 farmers and cultivated Bhima Shubhra in more than 750 acres area. Mr. Adhau displayed the bulbs of Bhima Shubhra in various exhibitions including Krishi Vasant 2014 at CICR, Nagpur. Hon’ble President of India Shri Pranab Mukharjee was very impressed by the quality of Bhima Shubhra onion bulbs displayed in Krishi Vasant exhibition and remarked it as the ‘King of Onion’.
Annual Group Meeting of AINRPOG  The annual group meeting of All India Network Research Project on Onion & Garlic (AINRPOG) was organized by Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune and the University of Agriculture and Horticulture Sciences, Shivamogga at Davengere, Karnataka during 6-7th February, 2015. The meeting was attended by more than 60 onion and garlic research workers. Representatives from private onion seed producing companies, KVKs, and state agricultural department were also present. Some progressive farmers also participated in the deliberations. The inaugural session was chaired by Dr. C. Vasudevappa, Vice-Chancellor, UAHS, Shivamogga and co-chaired by Dr. R.P. Gupta, Director, NHRDF, Nasik. Dr. Jai Gopal, Director, DOGR, Rajgurunagar presented the project report. Five technical sessions were held, which were chaired and co-chaired by renowned invited experts. Detailed reports on various network multilocation trials were presented by the concerned Principal Investigators. Each presentation was followed by discussion which led to significant improvement in the technical programme. Dr. N.K. Krishna Kumar, Deputy Director General (HS), ICAR, New Delhi chaired the Plenary Session and had in depth deliberations on various recommendations and action points. Farmers’ queries were also answered. The success story of Bhima Super, a DOGR onion variety was narrated by farmers and the seed producing companies. The group meeting recommended one garlic variety G-386, one rabi onion variety namely Col.744 (red) and one kharif onion variety NRCWO-3 (white) for release. Already released onion varieties Bhima Super, Bhima Dark Red and Bhima Shweta were found suitable for sets production and recommended for raising Kharif crop for early harvest using sets. A new white onion variety ‘Bhima Safed’ for Kharif  In the recently held Annual Group Meeting of All India Network Research Project on Onion & Garlic at Davengere, Karnataka on 6-7th February, 2015, white onion line developed by the Directorate of Onion & Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar has been recommended for release. This line ‘NRCWO-3’ has been christened as ‘Bhima Safed’. It is suitable for cultivation in Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. This is a medium maturing (110-120 days) variety having white, round to oval bulbs of mainly 70-80 g. It has 11-12% TSS and is thus suitable both for table and processing. Its average yield in multilocational trials in the recommended zones was 185 q/ha. It has less than 5% doubles and bolters. Onion variety “Bhima Red” licensed  Onion variety “Bhima Red” has been licensed by Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research (DOGR) to M/s. Safalmantra Agro Farms Private Limited (SAFPL), Navi Mumbai.A Memorandum of Understanding in this regard was signed by the Directorate with SAFPL on 12/11/2014.SAFPL is all women lead organization, in the business of producing and marketing sustainable agro-products.As per MoU, DOGR has extended a non-exclusive license to SAFPL for seed production and distribution of Bhima Red.Bhima Red is a high yielding onion variety recommended for cultivation in kharif season in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamilnadu, in late kharif season in Gujarat, Karnataka and Maharashtra and for rabi in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.It matures in 105-110 days after transplanting in kharif season and in 110-120 days after transplanting in late kharif and rabi seasons. The MoU will promote the cultivation of this variety by ensuring the better availability of quality seed to the farmers.
Unique onion genetic stock (DOGR-1203-DR) registered with NBPGR  Dark red onion elite line ‘DOGR-1203-DR’ has been registered as genetic stock for very early maturity and uniform neck-fall. It has been provided with national identity, IC0598327 and Registration No. INGR 14057 vide approval of the Plant Germplasm Registration Committee (PGRC) of ICAR. ‘DOGR-1203-DR’ is the first common onion genotype of very early maturity (90 days after transplanting) having complete and uniform neck-fall during rabi. This genotype can be useful to incorporate earliness into improved common onion varieties. |
