The government intends to construct AI-powered warehouses to attempt to prevent the rotting of onions stored in storage.

According to two authorities, one-fourth of rabi onions seeded during winter rot in traditional storage facilities, resulting in an estimated yearly loss of ₹11,000 crore.

According to one of them, the government hopes to save around 5% of total waste by using AI-based warehouses. The goal is to deploy AI-powered sensors to collect real-time data about onions kept in warehouses. 

The pilot project is slated to start in March.

“Data will be acquired via IoT (internet of things). Farmers will get highly particular data, like as dryness and percentage of rot, via AI-based sensors, according to the second official. “Farmers will even come to know which onion in a batch of 100 is getting rotten.“

This would also enable the government to keep its onion buffer supply, which is generally used to stabilize retail prices when demand increases, according to the official. Onions are one of the most significant household vegetables in India, with over 1.3 million tonnes consumed each month.

The consumer affairs department and NCCF did not immediately respond to inquiries on the government’s plans for AI-based onion storage facilities.

The National Cooperative Consumers Federation will help create the first AI-based storage facility in Nashik, followed by Bheed, Latur, and other onion-growing areas including Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.

During the pilot phase, around 100 AI-based storage facilities are expected to be created in onion-growing states. According to authorities, this will be extended to include around 500 more centers over the following three years. 

While the authorities did not reveal how much the government would have to pay for the project, they said that it would be cost-effective.

The perishable nature of onions, coupled with inadequate processing facilities and storage infrastructure, results in significant post-harvest losses. This is even though the rabi type, which accounts for around 65% of all onions grown in India, has a longer shelf life of 5-7 months.

The kharif and late kharif onion, also known as red onion, seeded in the summer, is very perishable and cannot be kept for more than a month. 

In most areas, farmers produce rabi onions in April-May and sell them from June through July. Kharif harvesting occurs in October-November, and the produce remains accessible in the market until the rabi harvest.

This is not the government’s first effort to reduce onion waste in warehouses. In March, Mint reported that the government planned to irradiate onions with gamma rays before storing them on a trial basis, to reduce post-harvest losses to 10-12%, down from 25%.

India is the world’s second-largest onion grower, with over 1.4 million hectares under cultivation and an average annual output of 24 million tons.

However, onion output in India is expected to fall to 30.2 million tonnes in 2022–23, down from 31.7 million tonnes the previous year. 

Maharashtra accounts for around 43% of India’s onion output. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Maharashtra produced 5.32 million tonnes of onions in 2020-21, followed by Karnataka at 3.3 million tonnes and Madhya Pradesh at 3.87 million tonnes.