Bangalore rose onion, locally called gulabi eerulli, is a variety of

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onio ...

grown in and around

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. It got the

Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

tag in 2015.

History

Bangalore rose onions are grown in the districts of

Bangalore Urban Bangalore Urban district is the most densely populated district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is surrounded by the Bangalore Rural district on the east and north, the Ramanagara district on the west and the Krishnagiri district of Tami ...

Bangalore Rural Bangalore Rural district, is one of the 31 districts in Karnataka, India. It was formed in 1986, when Bangalore District was divided into Bangalore Rural and Bangalore Urban. Presently in Bangalore Rural district, there are 1 division, 4 talu ...

Chikkaballapur Chikkaballapur is the district headquarters of the newly created Chikkaballapur district in the state of Karnataka, India, which is carved out from Kolar district. It is located within 3 km of Muddenahalli (the birthplace of eminent engine ...

and

Kolar Kolar or Kolara is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Kolar district. The city is known for its milk production and gold mines. It is also known for Someshwara temple and Kolaramma temple. History The Wes ...

. They were also grown in

Tumkur Tumkur, officially renamed as Tumakuru, is a city located in the southern part of Indian state of Karnataka. Tumkur is situated at a distance of northwest of Bangalore, the state capital along NH 48 and NH 73. It is the headquarters of the ...

Hassan Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

Davanagere Davanagere is a city in the centre of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the seventh largest city in the state, and the administrative headquarters of eponymous Davangere district. Hitherto being a cotton hub and hence popularly known ...

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

and Bagalkot. Rose onions are not cultivated in any other place in India.

Appearance and use

The onions of this variety have bulbs with flat base and are spherical. The other characteristics which make them unique are their deep scarlet red colour, anthocyanin, phenols and high pungency. They are also known to contain higher levels of protein, phosphorus, iron and carotene. The ideal conditions for growing rose onion are: soil with pH between 6.5 and 7, atmospheric

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

of 70 to 75% and average temperature of 25 °C to 30 °C. As these conditions are found around the Bangalore region, the variety is grown exclusively there. The pungent property of these onions make them suitable to be used in

pickles Pickles may refer to: Dogs * Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966 * Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball * Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in ...

Export

Bangalore rose onions are rarely used in India, but exported in large quantities to other countries such as

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

and Sri Lanka. During the financial year of 2010–11, over 22,000 tonnes of Bangalore rose onion were exported to other countries. This was lower compared to more than 36,000 and 32,000 tonnes exported in 2003–04 and 2005–06 respectively. More than 500 crore worth of rose onion was exported in five years after an AEZ (

Agri Export Zone An Agri Export Zone or AEZ is a specific geographic region in a country demarcated for setting up agriculture based processing industries, mainly for export. The term is widely used mainly in India India, officially the Republic of India ( ...

) was set up for the crop in Karnataka.

Geographical Indication

Bangalore rose onion was granted the Geographical Indication status in 2015. This allowed the Bangalore Rose Onion Growers' Association headquartered in

to get patent rights to cultivation of the variety.

References

{{Allium Onion cultivars Agriculture in Karnataka Economy of Bangalore Geographical indications in Karnataka Agricultural production in India by commodity

History

Appearance and use

Export

Geographical Indication

See also

References