Carolin, RathinakumariCHITTAPPA, B.2018-03-072018-03-072016-10-23Th-11561http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810041558Onion (Allium cepa, L.) is one of the important commercially cultivated vegetable crop grown throughout India. It is widely grown in different parts of the country mainly by all category of farmers and also consumed worldwide. Onion is one of the most important vegetable crop not only for internal consumption but also as highest foreign exchange earner among the fruits and vegetables (APEDA, 2016). China, India, United States, Russia and Spain are the leading producers of onions in the world. India is the second largest onion growing country in the world with the production of 203.33 lakh MT (2015-16) under the area of 11.78 lakh ha(Anon,2016). India has exported 12,01,245 MT of fresh onion worth of Rs. 2,74,741 lakhs (2015-16) Maharashtra ranks first in onion production (4905.0 thousand tons) with a share of 28 percent followed by Karnataka (2592.2 thousand tons), Gujarat (1514.1 thousand tons.), Bihar (1082.0 thousand tons.), Madhya Pradesh (1021.5 thousand tons.) and Andhra Pradesh 812.6 thousand tons (APEDA, 2016).ennullThesis