Int.J.Curr.Microbiol.App.Sci (2018) 7(3): 1974-1984 1974 Original Research Article https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2018.703.233 Community Small Onion / Multiplier Onion (Allium cepa var aggregatum) Nursery as a Contingency Measure for Delayed Planting in NICRA Village of Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu, India C. Sharmila Bharathi 1* and B. Mohan 2 1 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu -637 002, India 2 Department of Animal Nutrition, Veterinary College and Research Institute, TANUVAS, Orathanadu, Thanjavur- 614625, India *Corresponding author ABSTRACT Introduction Small onion / Multiplier onion, Allium cepa var.aggregatum L is one of the most important commercial vegetable and spice crops. The area under multiplier onion is being increased in India especially in Tamil Nadu. The total area under onion in Tamil Nadu is 4.01 lakh hectares with a production of 47.27 lakh tonnes (Anon 2014). The study area of Vadavathur village, Erumapatti block, Namakkal District, Tamil Nadu is a drought prone village. The annual rainfall is 400 mm; hence this village was selected to implement International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 7 Number 03 (2018) Journal homepage: http://www.ijcmas.com Vadavathur in Namakkal District is a drought prone village. The annual rainfall is 400 mm. In Vadavathur village, small onion is cultivated in two main seasons viz., Early kharif (May – August) and Rabi (November – December). Generally small onion is propagated by means of bulbs. However, NICRA village Vadavathur experienced aberrant rainfall situations with minimum rainy days for the past 5 years during sowing season especially during Rabi impacting adversely small onion production and livelihood of farmers. It appears that failure of rain and prolonged dry spells in November – December is responsible, as sowing of small onion is delayed with resultant adverse affect on productivity. Delay in sowing of small onion affects productivity in terms of delayed sprouting, slow growth of vegetative phase and reduction in yield. To mitigate these problems, KVK, Namakkal established staggered community small onion var. Co (On) 5 nursery during October in an area of 0.4 ha covering 20 farmers as a local adaptation strategy at the village level to combat the problem experienced by farmers during deficit rainfall seasons. Majority of the farmers could take up transplanting using seedlings from the 1 st and 2 nd nursery raised on 1 st and 15 th October. Highest bulb yield of 77 gm/plant, 22.3 tonnes /ha and benefit cost ratio of 3.4 was obtained by transplanting of onion seedlings which coincides with rainy days during November when compared to bulbs directly sown during December. Keywords Community Nursery, Small onion, NICRA village Accepted: 16 February 2018 Available Online: 10 March 2018 Article Info