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. 

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राजभाषा हिन्दी सप्ताह समारोह

भाकृअनुप–प्याज एवं लहसुन अनुसंधान निदेशालय में दिनांक 8-14 सितम्बर, 2016 के दौरान हिन्दी सप्ताह  मनाया गया। सचिव राजभाषा द्वारा गतवर्ष हिन्दी में किए गए कार्यों और भविष्य में हिन्दी भाषा के प्रयोग पर विस्तृत चर्चा की गई। हिन्दी सप्ताह के दौरान निदेशालय के कर्मिकों के लिए विभिन्न प्रतियोगिताओं का आयोजन किया गया, जिनमें सभी वर्गों ने बढ़-चढ़कर भाग लिया। हिन्दी सप्ताह के समापन समारोह में मुख्य अतिथि श्री मितेश घट्टे, पुलिस उपाधीक्षक खेड तालुक तथा विशिष्ट अतिथि श्री संजय भारद्वाज, अध्यक्ष (हिन्दी अंदोलन परिवार) एवं निदेशालय के निदेशक डा. जय गोपाल ने कार्यक्रम की शोभा बढ़ाई। इस अवसर पर निदेशक महोदय ने निदेशालय में हिन्दी में की गई प्रगति एवं हिन्दी को बढ़ावा देने के लिए किए जा रहे प्रयासों पर प्रकाश डाला और निदेशालय की मुख्य उपलब्धियों का संक्षिप्त वर्णन दिया। निदेशालय से प्रकाशित हिन्दी राजभाषा पत्रिका ‘कन्दिका’ के तृतीय अंक का विमोचन भी किया गया। इस समारोह में विभिन्न प्रतियोगिताओं में भाग लेने वाले सफल प्रतिभागियों को पुरस्कार प्रदान किए गए। तत्पश्चात श्री संजय भारद्वाज ने हिन्दी भाषा के प्रयोग, विश्व में हिन्दी का स्तर एवं उपलब्धियों से लोगों को अवगत कराया। ‍ श्री मितेश घट्टे ने अपने संभाषण में भरतीय संस्कृति और भाषा को बढ़ाने पर जोर दिया। डा. अमर जीत गुप्ता द्वारा धन्यवाद प्रस्ताव के साथ कार्यक्रम का समापन किया गया।

ICAR-DOGR CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL YOGA DAY

The International Yoga Day was organized at ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune on 21^st June 2016, in which all staff members participated.  Yoga lesson was delivered by Shri Yashwant Bombale and Shri Ramdas Tambe, Yoga Instructors from Patanjali Yog Peeth.  After welcoming the guests, Director spoke briefly on importance of Yoga.  The message for this occasion from the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India was read by the Nodal Officer, Shri Ram Bombale.  This was followed by 45 minutes yoga practice in which various yoga asans were performed by the staff members under the supervision of the yoga instructors.  The progamme ended with vote of thanks. 

DOGR Celebrates Foundation Day

The 19^th Foundation Day of ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research, Rajgurunagar, Pune was celebrated on 16^th June 2016.  Besides the present and past DOGR staff, it was attended by 55 farmers from different states of India.  Dr. T.A. More, Ex-VC, MPKV, Rahuri was the Chief Guest, Dr. P.G. Adsule, Ex-Director, NRC Grapes, Pune, Dr. P.S. Naik, Ex-Director, IIVR, Varanasi and Dr. S.K. Sharma, Head, IARI RS, Pune were the guests of honour.  PIs from seven centres of All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic and their representatives were also present on this occasion.  Dr. Jai Gopal, Director, ICAR-DOGR welcomed the guests and presented brief summary of the DOGR achievements and benefit it resulted in for the farming community.  The Chief Guest and guests of honour appreciated the work being done by the DOGR and congratulated the staff on this occasion.  Ten progressive farmers of onion and garlic from different parts of India were also felicitated on this occasion for their contribution to onion and garlic cultivation.  Samples of onion and garlic brought by the farmers were also displayed.  Recently created infrastructural facilities i.e. exhibition-cum-communication centre, Library, AKMU and Conference Room in the new building of DOGR were inaugurated by the chief guest and guests of honour.  A talk on improved cultivation practices for onion and garlic was delivered for the benefit of the farmers.  They were also shown the onion and garlic activities being carried out at DOGR.  The programme ended with the vote of thanks and national anthem.

TRAINING ORGANIZED UNDER TSP IN NANDURBAR

A two-days training on “Construction of low cost onion storage structure to improve bulb storability” was organized from 19-20^th May, 2016 in tribal belts of Nandurbar under TSP scheme in collaboration with KVK, Nandurbar at fields of Saikrupa Shetkari Gat, Shravani; and Pragati Shetkari Purush Gat, Palsuun. A total of 145 farmers participated in the programme from different parts of Nandurbar. The farmers were trained for construction of low cost onion storage structure developed by ICAR-DOGR. The team of Dr. A.J. Gupta, Sr. Scientist (Hort.) & Nodal Officer (TSP), Dr.  A. R. Wakhare, Technical Officer and Mr. R.M. Patil, SMS (Hort.) who arranged the training, observed that almost all the demonstrations have been conducted successfully. Onion variety ‘Bhima Kiran’ produced 200 q per acre marketable bulb yield at the field of Merali Yaha Bachat Gat, Palipada. The farmers earned net income of Rs. 80,000/- per acre even when onion bulbs were sold at the rate of Rs. 6/- per kg.    

BHIMA LIGHT RED - A NEW ONION VARIETY RECOMMENDED

Onion variety DOGR-571-LR developed by ICAR-DOGR has been recommended for release in Annual Group Meeting of All India Network Research Project on Onion & Garlic held at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh on 4-5 April, 2016.  It has been christened as ‘Bhima Light Red’.  It is recommended for cultivation in rabi season in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is a medium maturing (115 days after transplanting) variety having light red globe bulbs of about 70 g with thin neck and total soluble solids of 13%.  Its average yield in multilocation trials in the recommended zone was 385 q/ha.   Total weight losses after four months of storage was less than 25%. It is almost free of doubles and bolters.

Annual Workshop of Onion & Garlic (AINRPOG) organized at Kanpur

ICAR-Directorate of Onion & Garlic Research (DOGR), Rajgurunagar, Pune organized the VIth Annual Group meeting of All India Network Research Project on Onion and Garlic at Indian Institute of Pulse Research (IIPR), Kanpur in collaboration with Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology (CSAUAT), Kanpur on 4-5 April, 2016. The group meeting was attended by more than 80 delegates from various parts of the country. Farmers, students and other faculty members were also present.

The inaugural session was chaired by Dr. N. K. Krishna Kumar, DDG (HS), New Delhi. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dean, College of Agriculture, CSAUAT, Kanpur and Dr. N. P. Singh, Director, IIPR, Kanpur were guests of honour. Welcome address was given by Dr. H. G. Prakash, Director Research, CSAUAT, Kanpur. Dr. Jai Gopal, Director, ICAR-DOGR, presented the project report wherein he elaborated the achievements of AINRPOG and possibilities of increasing area and production of onion and garlic in India. Emphasis was laid on development of onion hybrids, virus free planting material of garlic and weed management studies. Dr. Vijay Mahajan, Nodal Officer presented action taken report. Dr. B. Singh, Director, IIVR, Varanasi, Dr. R.P. Gupta, Director, NHRDF, Nasik, Dr. Dip Jyoti Rajkhowa, Joint Director, ICAR Res. Comples, Nagaland, Dr. J.R. Yadav and Dr. J.P. Srivastava, Ex- Prof. & Head, Veg. Sci., CSAUAT, Kanpur chaired various sessions and gave valuable input for refining the technical programme. Recommendation were finalized in plenary session which was chaired by  Dr. T. Janaki Ram, ADG (HS), ICAR, New Delhi. Dr. S. L. Goswami, Vice-Chancellor, CSAUAT, Kanpur was the Chief Guest on this occasion.  

One light red onion variety DOGR-571 was recommended for rabi season for South Zone VI based on results of Dharwad, Chitradurga, Bangalore and Coimbatore. One long day garlic variety CITH-G-3 was recommended for temperate zone of the country based on results of Almora, Srinagar and Mukteshwar. Two production technologies one on use of micronutrients and other on salicylic acid were also recommended for increasing the productivity of onion in the country.

FIVE ONION AND ONE GARLIC VARIETIES NOTIFIED

Five varieties of onion & one variety of garlic of ICAR-DOGR have been notified vide Gazette Notification No. S.O.2277(E) (dated 20.8.2015) on the recommendation of Central Sub-Committee on Crop Standards, Notification and Release of Varieties for Horticultural Crops.

“THE ONION” – book released

A book – “THE ONION” edited by Drs. N.K. Krishnakumar,  Jai Gopal and V. A. Parthasarathy, has been released by Hon. Union Agriculture Minister, Shri. Radha Mohan Singh, on Sept. 22, 2015 in DAC-ICAR interface meeting. This publication from Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi contain 18 chapters covers all important aspect of onion research and development and written by experts in respective fields of onion. Hopefully, it would be a source of rich information for students and researchers and would be of great value for farmers and entrepreneurs alike.