Introduction

Bellary onion (Allium cepa )

Varieties 

 Arka Kalyan, Agri Found Dark Red

Soil 

Soil needs to be well-drained, loose, and rich in nitrogen; compact soil affects bulb development. The optimum pH range is between 5.8 and 6.5.

Season

September last week to October first week is best season for planting seeds in nursery.

Seed rate
10 kg/ha seeds are required.

Raising Seeding

Onion seeds are sown in nursery beds to raise seedlings. To avoid rain we can raise nursery in rain shelter. The nursery beds should be irrigated 15-20 days before sowing and covered with 250 gauge transparent polythene for soil solarization. Application of Trichoderma and also pseudomonas are also recommended to manage damping off and raise healthy seedlings. The seeds after sowing should be covered with fine powdered farmyard manure or compost followed by light watering. Watering should be done by a water can as per the need till germination is completed. On tenth day, copper oxychloride @ 2g / litre of water is sprayed to protect the seedlings from damping off disease.

Preparation of main field 

Main field should get proper sunlight and the lime should be applied two weeks before planting is done.Also Plough the land to get a fine tilth and incorporate FYM at the time of last ploughing @ 25t/ha

Layout & Spacing:

Ridges & furrow type of layout is follow15x10 cm. spacing is given.
In case of onion preferably flat beds are used because.

1. As in flat beds plants accommodate are more than ridges & furrow so we get more yield.
2. In flat bed (leveled) there is equal distribution of water & fertilizers. So we get uniform size & compact bulb of onion which have good keeping quality in storage & transport.
3. In percentage of twines is less in flat beds than ridges & furrow.

Planting
Plant 45 days old seedlings at a spacing of 10-20 cm apart on both the sides of the ridges. Think of onions as a leaf crop, not a root crop. When planting onion sets, don’t bury them more than one inch under the soil; if more than the bottom third of the bulb is underground, bulb growth can be restricted

Irrigation 

Because of the shallow root system, onion needs frequent furrow irrigation.Stop irrigation 3 days before harvest.

Application of fertilizers 

Fertilize every two weeks with FYM or any other organic fertilizers. Cease fertilizing when the onions push the soil away and the bulbing process has started. Do not put the soil back around the onions; the bulb needs to emerge above the soil.

Harvest
Irrigation is stopped on a week before harvesting. Harvest is done when leaves start dried off or top fall stage ie 90- 100 days after planting. (During 1st week of Feb). Bulbs are harvested by hand pulling. Onion along with tops are kept in field for 2-3 days, curing for 3-4 days is necessary to remove excess moisture from outer skin and neck to reduce shrinkage and development of colour in storage.