India is the second largest producer of onions in the world after China, with over 15 million tonnes production in 2011-2012. Maximum onion production takes place in Maharashtra (49.05 lakh tons) state followed by Karnataka (25.92 lakh tons), Gujarat (15.141 lakh tons.), Bihar (10.82 lakh tons.), Madhya Pradesh (10.21 lakh tons.) and Andhra Pradesh (8.12 lakh tons). In Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh it is grown to some extent. The quality of Karnataka small onion is better in view of mild climate which prevails almost round the year there. Export has increased from 10 lakh tons in 2007-08 to 13 lakh tons in 2011-12. An increase of 30% in exports has been recorded.

At present, Rabi grown onion is steadily entering into markets of North Karnataka. Uncertainty of prices at harvest has made the farmers to think about the time and place of selling the produce. Under such a situation, to help the farmers to take right decisions regarding place and time of sale of the commodity, the prices of onion that would prevail in major markets of north Karnataka after harvest have been predicted by the Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC) established in the Department of Agri-business Management, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.

For determining the future prices, monthly modal price of onion for the past 20 years were gathered from Belgaum regulated market which is one of the lead markets of onion in North Karnataka These data were subjected to rigorous time series analysis by employing different models and at what prices the Onion would trade during February, March and April, 2013 were also established. These data were subjected to rigorous time series analysis by employing different models. The prices from the other major markets, import and export scenario and the future prices being announced by the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange of India (NCDEX) were also considered. The output prices were verified and fine tuned with the opinion of the traders, agricultural scientists and progressive farmers.

According to Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC) experts, the prices of rabi onion would prevail at Rs.1000-1200 per quintal in the month of February, Rs.800-900 per quintal in the month of March and April, 2013. So, farmers advised to sell rabi grown onion immediately to get better price for their produce. Well dried, uniform sized, clean and round bulbs fetch better prices in the market. Hence, farmers are advised to keep these things in mind while preparing the produce to the markets.