Success with autumn-sown onions

Press, 25 November 1977, Page 6

Success with autumn-sown onions

At long last there is hope that Canterbury will he able to export onions to the northern hemisphere.

For this to be possible crops have to be harvested in December ready for marketing in January, February and March. Pukekohe growers have been able to take advantage of these markets but Canterbury growers up until now have not been able to as autumn-sown

onions mostly go to seed and are therefore useless for domestic purposes.

Sowings made in the spring here rarely mature before March, except in exceptional years on light land.

When he was in Britain last Mr R. A. (Bob) Crowder. senior lecturer in horticulture at Lincoln College. noticed that Japanese hybrid varieties were having a tremendous impact on the industry there where there had previously been a similar problem to that in Canterbury.

Seven Japanese varieties have been under trial on the horticulture research area at the college this season and Mr Crowder says that all look very promising. Yields look encouraging in spite of the late spring. One variety was ready for har-

vesting in the first week of this month. This means that these onions could already have been on the market — before Pukekohe onions could have been. Only one or two of the Japanese onions have gone to seed. Mid-February could be the optimum time f»r sowing. On the other hand all of an adjacent sowing of Porters Early Globe, an early selection of Pukekohe Long Keeper, have gone to seed. The Japanese onions are of a flat type and are naturally considered to be of the right size and shape for the Japanese market. The college is holding a field day for onion growers on the horticulture research area beginning at

10 a.m. on Friday, December 2, when Mr Crowder and Mr R. (Bob) Douglas, the research manager, will discuss preliminary results with the autumnsown Japanese onions and the problems associated with growing autumnsown onions in Canterbury. There are apparently new routines to follow with weed control and at present there are problems with mildew.