Onion Production Guideline 2014

1 SEEDS OF SUCCESSCUSTOMER SERVICES: 0860 782 753 MEMBER OF THE PLENNEGY GROUPONIONPRODUCTION GUIDELINESEEDS OF SUCCESSCUSTOMER SERVICES: 0860 782 753 MEMBER OF THE PLENNEGY GROUPONIONS 1. 1 HISTORY AND BACKGROUND Oni on s are part of th e Allium family which al so i nc ludes garlic a nd s hal lots. They are grown world-wi de and form an i mpo rtant p art of many nati onal d iets. Onion s have be en cul ti vat ed s inc e anc ient times and are a commercial ly sign ificant c rop o n all conti ne nts. 2. ADAPTABILI TY 2. 1 CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS Altho ugh on ion s are essen tial ly a cool s eas on c rop , i n Sou th Africa t hey are pl an ted vir tu al ly al l year roun d. In the North ern reg ions of th e coun tr y s owing i s no rmal y f rom Februa ry to Apr il, i n th e cen tr al r egi on f rom A pril to Jul y an d i n th e S ou th ern regi ons transplan ted f rom J ul y to Octo be r.

2 Bul b formati on i s l argely depe ndan t on day l en gth and ver y s pe cific v arieties are nee ded for each area. Ideal s oi l t empe rature for germina ti on : 11-25 c Ideal te mpe rature for growt h : 22 28 C 2. 2 SOIL REQUIREMENTS pH 6 Oni on s grow o n a wi de range of s oi ls but go od drainage i s impo rtant. 3. CULTIVATION PRACTICES 3. 1 SOIL PREPERATION It i s essen tial that soil is well-prepared f or an oni on crop. It shoul d be l oo se to a dep th of at l ea st 75 cm and i f heavy r ai n i s e xpe cted in the e arly s tages of growth, raised be ds wi ll r ed uc e the ef fec t o f any waterloggi ng. Where see d i s to be di rec t-sown a fine, even see d bed i s v ita l i n order to produc e an accep table stand. 3. 2 SOWING DATES Opti mal s owing dates v ar y wi th loc alit y, s oil t ype an d variety.

3 Sho rt day varieti es a re used in the Northern an d c en tr al areas of S ou th A frica with Intermed iate day-leng th v arieties us ed i n both cen tr al an d Southern regions . Gui del ine s are availab le from s up pl iers as t o which varieties s houl d be used at which ti me. 3. 3 PLANT POPULATION AND SPACING. A f inal populat ion of 700-800,000 plan ts pe r h ec tare gives the highes t p ropo rti on of med ium-sized bu lbs whi ch are preferred b y th e Sou th African market. S eed i s s own at a de pt h of 1 2c m. 3. 4 FERTILIZATION Guideline N 180 Kg/h a. 60 Kg pre-pl ant, 60Kg at 2 l ea f s tage 60 Kg at 4 week s. P 100Kg. A ll ap plied pre-pl ant. K 170 Kg. 110Kg pre-plant, 60Kg 7-8 weeks prior to harves t. A s oi l a nalysis is r eq uired for for mul ati on of a detaile d programme.

4 SEEDS OF SUCCESSCUSTOMER SERVICES: 0860 782 753 MEMBER OF THE PLENNEGY GROUP3. 5 IRRIGATION The s oi l profile shoul d be wet to a dep th of 50 60 c m. The amou nt of w at er appl ied wi ll v ar y ac cording to s oil t ype, irri gati on s ystem te mpe rature and growth stage of th e crop. Many growers now make use of mon itoring systems i n orde r to make th e be st u se of available water. Dr yland producti on of Onion s i s n ot rec ommen de d. Soi l s hou ld no t be allowed to dr y ou t, espe cial ly during bu lb for mati on . 3. 6 OTHER CULTURAL PRACTICES 1) Oni on s may b e direc t s own or tran splan ted . Whe re direc t s own, a fine , ev en s eed bed is es sen ti al f or best results . 2) A 3 year rotation i s r ec ommen ded. 3) Weed c on tr ol is vita l, e spec ial ly i n ear ly growth stages.

5 Chemical s are available, but con tr ol by hand may be neces sar y un til pl an ts are bi g en ough t o allow use of c hemical s. 4) Storage of mature bul bs is po ssibl e. Only c lean, mature, unda mag ed bul bs sho uld be us ed. The l on ger maturing varieti es are bett er suite d to t his purpo se. Bul bs sho uld be dry be fore storage and t here sho uld be free f low of a ir th rou gh th e s tacks o f s tored bul bs . 4 HARVESTING AND MARKETING Onc e t he Onion s h av e fal len t hey are lifted a nd lef t to dr y i n wi nd rows or heap s u nti l c ured. The curing proc es s al lows f or dev elopmen t o f s cal e l eaf c ol ou r a nd f irming of th e bu lbs. The bulbs are then ei the r c lea ned b y ha nd or mac hi ne and s ized, sorted, g rade d, a nd pac ked Most o nion s are mar keted i n 7 or 10 Kg ba gs th rou gh mun icipal mar kets.

6 A med ium s ized bul b i s p ref erred but there is al so de man d for smal ler and larger bulb sizes . The l argest deman d i n South Africa i s f or yellow or brown onions but there i s a smal l mar ket for red and pink v arieti es . 5 SOWING GUIDEVARIETYWEEK123456789 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Madal ynSTAR 55 16 Crist al inaSoberana STAR 55 17 AnnikaMat a HariRas taSowing dat eHarvest dat eRisk periodNOTEAPRMAYJANDECOCTNOVFal l da te is inf lue nced by da y len gt h, sowing or tran splan t da te, tempe rat ur e, pl an t po pu lat ion an d ni trog en fer tilizat ion .The se can result in variat ion from year to Region Sowing Guide SEEDS OF SUCCESSCUSTOMER SERVICES: 0860 782 753 MEMBER OF THE PLENNEGY GROUPINDEMNITYAll technical advice and/or Production guidelines given by STARKE AYRES or any of its personnel with reference to the use of its products, is based on the company s best judgement.

7 However, it must be expressly understood that STARKE AYRES does not assume responsibility for any advice given or for the results MedalEarl y GoldCeleri noLouisaSTAR 5523 MadalynSTAR 5516 Cri stalinaAnnikaSobera naSTAR 5517 STAR 5524 Mata HariRastaSTAR 5519 LucindaPatri ciaSTAR 5563 STAR 5560 STAR 5553 LombardiSowing Risk Peri odHarv estNOTEThe above dates are based on a normal year in the Northern Cape. Dates may differ with localit y and your local sales re presentative should be consulted for detaile d dates are influenced by many fact ors incl uding day length, temperature, so wing and transplanting date, transplant density, and nitrogen fertilization. This resu lts in va riation from year to S OWING AND HARVESTINGJANFEBMARAUGSl otColourVarietyOctNovVery E arl yBrownSTAR 5563 Earl yBrownSTAR 5560 BrownSTAR 5553 MediumRedPI NOTAGEB rownLOMBARDIRedRUDOLFLateRedSTAR 5559 BrownGOBLINB rownMANUKAVery LateBrownOLIV INESl otColourVarietyOctNovLate-ELKB rownGOLDARLKB rownELDORASTARKE AYRES INTERMEDIATE HYBRID ONIONSSTARKE AYRES INTERMEDIATE 'OP' O NIONSJulyAugustSept emberDecemberJanuaryFebruaryFebruaryDece mberJanuaryJulyAugustSept emberOPTIMUM TRANSPLANT & MATURIT Y INDICATION GUIDE FOR THE WESTERN CAPE