Crop of the Week: Onion seed
April 07, 2012 8:24 PM
• In 2005, Yuma County was the home of more than 150 acres of
onions grown for seed, with crop valued in excess of $1 million. The
Yuma climate is the perfect growing environment for onion seed, with its
cool winters and hot and dry summers.
• Hybrid seed production demands premium contracted grower prices. Typically in Yuma, onion seed is grown under a contract between a grower and a seed company. The grower is responsible for all production inputs while the seed company provides the parent seeds, technical advice and variety information.
• Onion seeds are planted from early August to September and harvested from late June to early August of the following year for a lengthy 10-month growing period.
• Onion flowers are pollinated by flying insects, so onions grown for seed must be isolated by a minimum of 1½ miles (and sometimes greater) from any other onion seed field to prevent cross-pollination.
• Bulb onions produce their characteristic “bulb” when onion leaf bases swell to form storage tissues. Bulb formation is triggered by increasing day lengths in late spring, during the first growing season. When given the proper environmental conditions, an onion plant forms one or more flower inflorescences that terminate in an umbel containing several hundred seeds.
• Bolting (the growth of the seed-producing inflorescence) is undesirable in onions grown for bulbs but is essential for onion seed production. Bolting requires a period of chilling at temperatures of 45 to 55 degrees for a month or longer.
• When the seed-laden inflorescence (a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem) that produce seeds has dried sufficiently in the field, they are cut from the mother plant and spread out on large plastic tarps and further dried for an additional three weeks. Later, the seed is thrashed using conventional combines.
• Most onion seed varieties are for the production of onion hybrids, which require special growth and management considerations. One critical factor involves the careful selection of parents that bloom at the same time.
• One acre of onions grown for seed production can yield up to 300 pounds of seed.
• The seed is distributed worldwide, mostly for commercial production.
Source: Kurt Nolte is an agriculture agent and Yuma County Cooperative Extension director. He can be reached at knolte@cals.arizona.edu or 726-3904.
• Hybrid seed production demands premium contracted grower prices. Typically in Yuma, onion seed is grown under a contract between a grower and a seed company. The grower is responsible for all production inputs while the seed company provides the parent seeds, technical advice and variety information.
• Onion seeds are planted from early August to September and harvested from late June to early August of the following year for a lengthy 10-month growing period.
• Onion flowers are pollinated by flying insects, so onions grown for seed must be isolated by a minimum of 1½ miles (and sometimes greater) from any other onion seed field to prevent cross-pollination.
• Bulb onions produce their characteristic “bulb” when onion leaf bases swell to form storage tissues. Bulb formation is triggered by increasing day lengths in late spring, during the first growing season. When given the proper environmental conditions, an onion plant forms one or more flower inflorescences that terminate in an umbel containing several hundred seeds.
• Bolting (the growth of the seed-producing inflorescence) is undesirable in onions grown for bulbs but is essential for onion seed production. Bolting requires a period of chilling at temperatures of 45 to 55 degrees for a month or longer.
• When the seed-laden inflorescence (a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem) that produce seeds has dried sufficiently in the field, they are cut from the mother plant and spread out on large plastic tarps and further dried for an additional three weeks. Later, the seed is thrashed using conventional combines.
• Most onion seed varieties are for the production of onion hybrids, which require special growth and management considerations. One critical factor involves the careful selection of parents that bloom at the same time.
• One acre of onions grown for seed production can yield up to 300 pounds of seed.
• The seed is distributed worldwide, mostly for commercial production.
Source: Kurt Nolte is an agriculture agent and Yuma County Cooperative Extension director. He can be reached at knolte@cals.arizona.edu or 726-3904.
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