A locally cultivated onion variety maintained by the indigenous Chiru community in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district has been formally described as a distinct variety of bunching onion by a team of researchers.
The study, published in Phytotaxa, identifies the onion as Allium fistulosum var. chirumaroi var. nov. It was documented in Bungte Chiru and Nungshai Chiru villages during explorations of Allium species in Manipur between 2017 and 2023.
The research was conducted by Anil Khar, P.S. Mariam Anal, Anjula Pandey, Pavan Kumar Malav, Abhishek Verma, S. Rajkumar and Masochon Zimik from the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), Central Agricultural University, Imphal, and the ICAR-National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources.
The name ‘Chiru Maroi’ comes from the Chiru tribe, an indigenous community of Manipur, and ‘Maroi’, a local term used for Allium species.
For the Chiru community, the onion is part of everyday food practices. Both the bulb and leaves are eaten fresh, much like spring onion. It has a pleasant aroma and onion-like pungency and is used as a substitute for onion in stews, salads, sauces, fritters, omelettes and pickles. It is also used as a garnish in local dishes such as Iromba and Paknam.
The study also records its use in traditional herbal medicine, where it is combined with other spices to treat ailments including boils, swellings, scars and colds.
Researchers collected plants from farmers’ fields in Bungte Chiru and compared them with A. fistulosum var. fistulosum, commonly known as Welsh or Japanese bunching onion. Morphological, cytological and molecular analyses supported its recognition as a distinct variety.
The new variety generally grows 40–45 cm tall and has a brownish-yellow outer bulb membrane, smaller globose to subglobose flower clusters and sterile pollen. These and other characteristics distinguish it from the commonly known bunching onion variety.
The onion continues to be grown in household kitchen gardens and traditional farming systems in the two villages. It is propagated through bulb division and is mainly cultivated from March to October.
For P.S. Mariam Anal, Assistant Professor at the College of Agriculture, Iroisemba, Central Agricultural University, Imphal, the recognition is the culmination of years of exploration and research.
“Manipur is blessed with vast biodiversity, and I have a keen interest in the exploration, identification and popularisation of plants that can contribute to the livelihoods of farming communities,” Anal said.
She said her interest in the local spring onion led her to Anil Khar, Principal Scientist at IARI, whom she met during a summer school at IARI Katrain, Himachal Pradesh, in 2017.
“I told him that I wanted to identify our local spring onion type. After working with him and other members of the team for more than eight years, we finally got this local spring onion or bunching onion of Manipur recognised as Allium fistulosum var. Chiru Maroi in Phytotaxa,” she said.
Anal said the recognition could have wider implications for farmers in the two villages.
“I am overwhelmed by this achievement for Manipur and for the nation. It has great potential for the economy as well as food security. The crop can be popularised as a commercial crop, including for export, while farmers can also explore a GI tag and other forms of recognition,” she said.
Researchers, however, have flagged concerns over the variety’s future. Its restricted geographic distribution and limited-scale production, coupled with a shift towards high-yielding commercial onion varieties, could threaten its continued cultivation and lead to genetic erosion.
Anil Khar, Head of the ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute Regional Station, Pune, said the scientific recognition could help farmers turn the traditional crop into a specialised commodity.
“This discovery will benefit farmers by helping them commercialise their produce as a specialised commodity and fetch a better price,” Khar said.
He added that the community could explore a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the variety in the future.
“Moreover, they could also be frontrunners in applying for the ‘Genome Saviour Award’ instituted by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA), New Delhi,” he said.
The researchers said the identification of Chiru Maroi adds to the documented genetic diversity of Northeast India, where Allium diversity remains under-documented. They called for further systematic exploration of Allium species across the northeastern Himalayan landscape.
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