The onion crop seed is short-lived and its germination capability stays up to one year, so the production of onion seed is required to be taken every year. It takes two years for the production of onion seeds. In the first year, prepare mother bulbs from the basic or hybrid seed. Later in the second year, the seed production should be done from this mother bulb. Method of seed production of onion: Method of creating seeds from bulbs: In this method, after the bulbs are ready, they are taken out and good bulbs are chosen and again replanted in the farm. This allows appropriate selection. Pure seeds are created and it results in more yield. This method increases cost and needs more time. However, this is the correct method of seed production. One year method : In this method, the sowing is done in the months of May-June and the saplings are planted in the months of July-August. The bulbs are ready in the month of November. They are uprooted and graded. Good quality bulbs are transplanted in other farm after 10-15 days. In this method, seeds are ready by the month of May. As the seeds are ready in one year, this is known as one year method. This method is used for seed production of kharif onion varieties. Two year method : In this method, the seeds should be sown in the months of October-November and the saplings should be planted at the end of December or at the start of January. The onions are ready by the month of May. Selected onions should be stored well till October. In November, the selected good bulbs are transplanted in the farm. This method needs almost one and half years to prepare seeds, so it is called as two year method.This method is used for seed production of rabbi onion varieties. Selection of varieties : In Maharashtra varieties like Nashik Red, Nashik-241(Gavran), Poona Fursungi, Phule Samartha, Prashant, Panchganga, Gajanan, East West etc. are selected for seed production. Considering, the scarcity of seeds of Pune Fursungi variety, the seed production is profitable. The Pune Fursungi variety has long shelf life after harvesting, so this variety is chosen. As these onions get higher price, the price of seeds is higher, too. In rabi season, Nashik-241 variety should be chosen for onion cultivation. It is good for high yield capacity as well as good storage capacity.The onion is medium flat and round and resistant to the abnormalities like bolting, double bulbs etc. The farmers call this variety as Garwa, Bhagava or Gavran, too. The breeder seeds of this variety should be bought from agricultural university or authentic seeds should be bought from a reliable farmer and improved seed production should be done. production The onion seeds have yield of 3-5 quintals per acre. In the storage house, medium uniform sized onions should be kept. Before storing the onions, the onion storage should be swept and cleaned. Mancozeb ( 3 gms/liter) should be sprayed. If such sprayings are done every month during the storage period, it keeps the amount of onion rot to minimum. In the rainy weather, if sulphur fumigation is done at the base of the storage, then the onion does not get rotten. Once the onion is stored in the storage, it should not be taken out or handled and the peels should not be removed. The peels protect the onion so they should be maintained. If the onion is stored with proper care, it lasts for 6 to 8 months in good condition. Separation for purity of the varieties : The onion bears fruits by cross pollination. If two varieties are planted for seed production within a distance of 1.5 kms or there are bolts in rabi onion crops, the cross pollination takes place and the varieties do not remain pure. So, for maintaining the purity of the varieties, when two varieties are sown for seed production, it is very important to keep minimum 1.5 kms of separation distance between them. Also if onion is planted near seed production and it has bolts, then it is important to pluck bolts before the flowers bloom. Otherwise, your good varieties may have increased tendency of bolting. Separation distance : • Basic seeds - 1000 meters • Standard Seeds - 500 meters As this crop is not included in the authorized government list, no support price has been fixed for it. The rates are determined as per the yield and demand. If the frustrated farmers avoid traditional cropping methods and take up professional and beneficial cropping methods like onion seed production, current situation can change. If the farmers come together and implement a program seed production of a single improved variety in a farm or in a village and create seeds, it will be easier to find the market. -Dr. Vinayak Shinde-Patil, Ahmednagar Founder-Principal admin, Krushi Samarpan group, Maharashtra state