ONION INDUSTRY

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 159, 2 April 1937, Page 8

ONION INDUSTRY

Regulations to Stabilise Market CONTINUITY OF SUPPLY Since the announcement that onions have been made subject to Board of Trade regulations, by' which minimum prices and grades have been fixed, numerous inquiries have been received by the Department of Agriculture asking for fuller particulars as to the scope of the regulations and the effect that they will have on growers, merchants, and consumers. In an interview with “The Dominion” yesterday, Mr. R. B. Tennent, Director of the Fields Division of the department, who is directly responsible for administering the regulations, said that the onion industry of the Dominion was in such an unsatisfactory condition that reasonable steps had to be taken to regulate the market with a view to ensuring continuity of supply of properly-graded onions at a payable price to the grower and a reasonable price to the consumer.. The inception of the present regulations was the result of direct negotiations with producers and the immediate effect of the regulations should ensure a more satisfactory return to the growers and afford a more efficient control of the distribution of the produce. The regulations were published in the Gazette of March 18, and dealt with grading procedure, minimum prices and methods of disposal. For the purposes of the regulations also the Dominion had been divided into four onion districts, each island being split up into northern and southern portions. Onions grown in any one of the defined districts may not be disposed of by auction outside that district without a permit. Growers and vendors of onions were also required to submit at the end of each month a return showing their transactions during the month, thus enabling a check to be kept on available stocks and giving a guide to the necessity or otherwise of imports. Importation Under Licence. “It is.fully realised that under existing conditions the quantity and keeping qualities of Dominion-grown onions will not ensure an all-the-year round supply,” said Mr. Tennent, “and consequently importations will have to take place to supply the market during these months when New Zealand onions are in short supply. Indiscriminate importations, however, will not be allowed, and when the necessity to import becomes apparent, licences will be issued on a pro rata basis to merchants who have been recognised importers in the past. “To ensure the smooth working of the scheme and to facilitate its operation, the new regulations provide for the setting up of two Onion Marketing Advisory Committees, one for each island, the personnel of the committees comprising representatives of the Government, the producers, and merchants.

Breeding of Betted Strains. “Apart from the regulations! which are primarily intended to stabilise the onion industry, the Department of Agriculture is taking active steps to further the industry by breeding and selecting better strains of onion seed than are at present procurable on the market. Initial steps have already been taken in this direction, and from special lines of seed sown last season selections have been made from which it is hoped to build up nucleus strains of pedigree seed of high-producing and good-keeping quality. This work promises to be of considerable value to the industry, and hand-in-hand with it will be carried out investigations in regard to mauurial and cultural questions under varying soil and climatic conditions, with a view to determining the optimum conditions for onion production in the various localities.

"The possibilities of cold storage for extending the market over a longer period of the year will be thoroughly investigated, as will the packing and transport conditions affecting interisland trade. In all it can be summed up that it is the Government’s intention to place the ouion industry of the Dominion on a sound basis from a marketing viewpoint, and to assist the growers through the facilities of the department’s field staff in matters relating to the improvement of their crops.”