Till last fiscal year, the government was giving 50 percent subsidy to farmers in 11 Tarai districts for onion farming. Now, the ministry has diverted the subsidy amount to build a ventilated store-house this year. [break]
The government stopped the subsidy from this fiscal year, stating that the incentive has failed to slash country´s onion imports. Also, many complaints were lodged at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority against the unfair distribution of the subsidy amount.
A study team led by Bishnu Dutta Awasthi, former deputy director general of Department of Agriculture, last year concluded that the subsidy program was not helping reduce country´s onion imports. It had, instead, suggested to the government to support the farmers in the storage and transport of onions.
According to statistics, the country imported onions worth Rs 1.17 billion from India alone in the fiscal year of 2011/2012.
“Farmers have been complaining to us that they lack proper store house to store their produce so that they can sell when demand is high,” Tek Prasad Luitel, co-spokesperson of MoAD, told Republica.
Gajendra Sen Niroula, director of Directorate of Vegetables Development, said the subsidy was discontinued as the program failed to yield desired results and also because of piling up of complaints against the subsidy distribution at CIAA.
MoAD had started the subsidy program in Rupandehi, Nawalparasi and Kapilbastu five years ago to increase onion production during off-season. The program was extended to other eight districts in mid-Tarai after one year. During the five years, the ministry spent about Rs 200 million for the program.
According to officials, a group of technicians, including civil engineers, will visit Nashik of India in this fiscal year to study high-tech onion store houses there. They will replicate the technology here to build similar store houses in three different parts of Tarai.
The government has allocated Rs 50 million in this fiscal year to build high-tech store houses.
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