January 23: Onions worth more than Rs 2.5 billion were imported in Nepal in the first five months of the current fiscal year. Onion is produced in the country in large quantities but the domestic production is not sufficient to meet the local demand.

This has forced Nepali importers to import large quantities of onion from abroad including India.

According to the data of the Department of Customs, Nepal imported 73,200 metric tons of onion worth Rs 2.69 billion from various countries in the first five months (mid-July-mid-December) of the current fiscal year (FY).

In FY 2077/78, a total of 128,454 metric tons of onions worth Rs 4.95 billion were imported into Nepal. In FY 2078/79, this quantity increased to 173,829 metric tons worth Rs 6.44 billion.

In Nepal, onions are cultivated on about 20,000 hectares of land. According to the National Center for Potato, Vegetable and Spice Crop Development, about 2.5 million metric tons of onions are produced annually in the country.

Sandeep Subedi, horticulture development officer of the center, says that although the prospects are good, the production has not been able to meet the demand due to the government's inability to bring big programs in the production and promotion of onions. As a result, there is a compulsion to import large quantities of onions every year.

Subedi mentioned that the problem of seeds is huge as the seeds currently being used in Nepal are not of high quality and the seeds imported from India are not easily available, resulting in poor production.

Earlier, the government had announced to launch the potato and onion mission program under the federal government for four years from FY 2076/77, but it failed to do so. Even before that, the government had conducted a program to increase onion production from 2064 to 2069 in Siraha, Saptari, Dhanusha, Bara, Parsa and Rupandehi by spending Rs 50 million. The program could not succeed due to irregularities in the purchase and distribution of production materials. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development said that the government has not implemented any program at the central level to increase onion production. The ministry informed that no such program has been brought up since the previous efforts failed.