September/October 2015 ONION WORLD NOA Summer Convention Brazilian Onion Industry Managing Bacterial ONION WORLD 6777 NE Vinings Way #1324, Hillsboro, OR 97124 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Diseases Table of Contents EXECUTIVE OFFICE Columbia Publishing 6777 NE Vinings Way #1324 Hillsboro, Oregon 97124 Telephone: (509) 248-2452 ONION WORLD w w w . o n i o n w o r l d . n e t Volume 31, Number 6 September/October 2015 Onion World Contacts Denise [email protected] 6 Enza Zaden Short-Day Onion Tour: Brazil 2015 Editor J. Mike Stoker [email protected] Publisher / Advertising Manager 12 National Onion Association Summer Convention Jeraleh Kastner [email protected] NOA Meeting Showcases Onions as Gem of the Production / Circulation Manager Treasure Valley D. Brent Clement [email protected] Consultant 18 National Onion Association NOA Pushes to Prevent Problems at the Ports EDITORIAL INFORMATION Onion World is interested in newsworthy material re- lated to onion production and marketing. Contributions 20 National Onion Association from all segments of the industry are welcome. Submit Getting to Know Your Customers news releases, new product submissions, stories and photos via email to: dkeller@columbiapublications. com, or call (509) 697-9436. 22 Advances in Managing Onion Bacterial Diseases in the ADVERTISING SALES Northeastern US For information on advertising rates, mechanics, agency commissions, deadlines, copy submission, mailing, contract conditions and other information, call (208) 846-5955 or email: jmike@columbiapub- lications.com. Or call Patricia Zundel at (208) 201- 8781 or email [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS U.S. 1 year $16.00; 2 years $28.00, 3 years $36.00 Canada 1 year $27.00; 2 years $45.00; 3 years $60.00 Foreign 1 year $45.00; 2 years $80.00; 3 years $109.00 Payments may be made by check, Visa, MasterCard or American Express. Subscribe online at www. onionworld.net or call (509) 248-2452. Email ad- dress changes/corrections to jkastner@columbia- publications.com or mail to Onion World, 6777 NE Vinings Way #1324, Hillsboro, OR 97124. During the NOA group's visit to the Crookham Company nursery, Serge vanWinden looks at seed sets in Onion World magazine (ISSN 1071-6653), is the selfing program, which is used to develop and maintain inbred lines. Story on page 12. published 8 times a year and mailed under permit #410, paid at San Dimas, CA 91773. It is produced by On the Cover Columbia Publishing, 6777 NE Vinings Way #1324, The National Onion Association (NOA) Hillsboro, OR 97124. Copyright 2014. All rights hosted its Summer Convention in Boise, reserved. Departments Idaho. NOA staff planned a meeting packed No part of this publication may be reproduced or with educational presentations, social events transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or and an agricultural tour. Pictured in a field of Vaquero onions at Frisby Farms are Monna 10 Calendar mechanical, for any purpose without the express writ- Canaday, NOA administrative assistant, ten permission of Columbia Publishing. For informa- Wayne Mininger, NOA executive vice 10 In the News tion on reprints call (208) 846-5955. president, and Kim Reddin, NOA director of public and industry relations. Photo by Denise CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Send to: Onion World, Keller 19 In the Market 6777 NE Vinings Way #1324, Hillsboro, OR 97124 2 Onion World When you peel away our onions’ layers, you’ll find INNOVATION AFTER INNOVATION. As a leader in introducing new, improved varieties throughout the world, we are committed to bringing you the very best. Our onions are developed to give you increased yield potential and uniformity to maximize your growing potential. Backed by world class marker-assisting breeding technology and a global network of breeding scientists, it’s easy to see why we can say our seeds get better with every generation. Seminis® is a registered trademark of Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc. © 2014 Seminis Vegetable Seeds, Inc. Take Your Pick . SUBERIZER ENVELOPE or SUBERIZER CURVE Design sets Suberizer apart www.suberizer.com The Complete Storage ComQany Take Your Pick . SUBERIZER ENVELOPE or SUBERIZER CURVE Design sets Suberizer apart www.suberizer.com The Complete Storage ComQany had to beg the growers to leave tures. Also in the northeast, it was dry and there are approximately 45,000 hectares of our trials in the field for the hot which reduced yields, and Iris yellow onions grown from latitudes of 1 degree “IEnza Zaden Brazil Short-Day spot virus pressure is intense there. All this north to 32 degrees south. The market is Onion Tour!” said Leandro Queiros, Enza combined has created a “perfect storm” in divided into three main regions. Zaden Brazil area sales manager. onion supply. The Northeast is dry equatorial tropics, The price of onions in Brazil is $1.20 (4 A group of 40 people toured Minas and they plant and harvest onions all year Brazilian reals) per kg from the field, and Gerais and Goias, Brazil in July. Our group round on around 8,000 hectares (latitudes 6 the growers are in a harvesting frenzy. They had onion growers, seed sales representa- to 12 degrees south). The market is mostly are harvesting onions three weeks before tives, agronomists and breeders from most low technology (hand transplanting, fur- they are ready. Due to the high leaf-disease major short-day onion producing regions, row irrigation), but five years ago grow- pressure this year, not many growers have including South America, Central America, ers started converting to high-technology good yields, but those who do are making Africa, Australia, the U.S. and the Middle production with beds, direct sowing and drip a lot of money. The Netherlands exported East. We came together to share knowledge irrigation. Yields went from averages of 15 more than 90,000 tons of onions to Brazil of the Enza Zaden short-day onion range, tons per hectare to 60 tons per hectare with in the first half of 2015. In addition, 70 short-day onion machine harvest and as- higher technology and well adapted hybrid containers of short-day onions arrived from sorted facets of onion production. Our vision onion varieties such as Colossus. Spain this summer to help fill the gap in sup- was to impact the businesses of the tour While visiting the Northeast with Lewis ply, and this has never happened before. participants, as well as the short-day onion Lydon, Enza Zaden’s crop breeding man- The shortage in Brazil is caused by losses industry, as a whole, from each country ager, he immediately realized that heavy and in the storage crop from South Brazil and represented. widespread Iris yellow spot virus infection is Argentina due to rain at harvest. This is cou- a major factor in the massive yield decreases pled with reduced sowings due to drought, Growing Onions in Brazil currently found in the Northeast, as has been losses in central Brazil due to intense rain Brazil is a massive, tropical country with also experienced in many other major onion in February and March, and high tempera- a population of 200 million people, and production regions of the world. Enza Zaden Short-Day Onion Tour: Brazil 2015 By Nicholas Mendham, Portfolio Manager and Senior Crop Specialist (Onion), Enza Zaden 6 Onion World Sattar Pourian with Behta, Lewis Lydon with Enza Zaden Australia, and Louis de Kok, a grower from South Africa, show off samples of the onion variety Rebecca during a visit to Marcelo Morita’s farm in Cristalina, Goias, Brazil. There are around 26,000 hectares in the The farms we visited all had between South in high altitude and cool, wet condi- 100 and 200 hectares of onions. Plant tions. They grow late short-day and early populations are high: between 750,000 and intermediate open-pollinated varieties in the 1,000,000 plants per hectare. But this year mountains on small farms, where yields are most of the fields we visited lost around low. New regions are opening up inland, 20 percent of the plants, as they had 700 where with higher technology (irrigation, to 1,000mm of rain between sowing and direct sowing), large yield and quality ben- harvest. There was a lot of stemphylium efits are being realized with hybrids such as leaf disease this year, and the fields were the Python and Brunella. worst I have seen in 11 years of traveling We visited Central Brazil (Sao Paulo, there. Minas Gerais and Goias states, latitude 16 Size and quality requirements are dif- to 24 degrees south), where there are around ferent in Brazil compared to the U.S. They 9,000 hectares which are mostly hybrid, prefer medium-sized (55-65mm), firm bulbs direct sown and grown in large pivots. Pres- with good, brown skins. sure for foliage diseases is high, especially in the early sowing slots. The traditional Harvesting by Machine sowing slots are in March and April, with There is a large demand for machine har- early short-day varieties such as Cavalier vesting in many short-day onion regions due growing through the dry season. These days, to a shortage of labor. During a field day, we growers sow earlier and earlier in the wet hosted variety trials and demonstrations of a season to harvest when prices are usually number of harvesting machines. The 60 lo- higher, but leaf -disease pressure is extreme. cal Brazilian growers in attendance partici- “God told me to sow from March until pated in a practical exchange of knowledge Enza Zaden Short-Day Onion Tour partici- May, but I sow from December until April,” with Australian and South African growers pants and Brazilian growers pose for a group said Carmelo Beloni, a grower from Patro- on machine harvester types and operation.