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Punjab: After 3 years, ₹10-crore onion excellence centre project begins in Sangrur
Initially planned for Kheri village, just 6 km from Sangrur city, the project has now been relocated to Chural Kalan village in the Lehragaga block, which is around 60 km from the city
Announced three years ago, the work on the state-of-the-art Centre of Excellence for Onion has finally commenced in Sangrur. Officials said that the work, which started this month, is expected to be completed in nine months.
The ₹9.97-crore Indo-Dutch project, which is aimed at encouraging crop diversification, experienced delays because the project site could not be finalised earlier, said Hardeep Singh, deputy director of horticulture in Sangrur.
Initially planned for Kheri village, just 6 km from Sangrur city, the project has now been relocated to Chural Kalan village in the Lehragaga block, which is around 60 km from the city. Officials said the shift was necessitated due to the plan to construct a government medical college at the Kheri site.
According to officials, the centre, once operational, will focus on training farmers in onion cultivation, nursery preparation, seed production, storage techniques and departmental demonstrations.
According to Hardeep Singh, the onion demand in the state is 6,00,000 metric tonnes (MT) whereas the production is just 2,25,000 MT. “Farmers currently produce about 22.3 MT onions per hectare. With the introduction of the new centre’s techniques, the yield is expected to jump to 30 MT per hectare,” he said.
Sangrur PWD executive engineer Ajay Garg said the department was declared the executing agency in April this year. “The project is scheduled to be completed in nine months, subject to the availability of funds. Bills have been submitted seeking a 20% advance. The horticulture department has committed to release the same by the end of the month,” he added.
