Onion First to second week practices

First to second week:

Soil:

Onion can be grown on a wide range of soil. However, red loam or black soil and sandy loam to silly loam with good drainage facilities and deep friable is highly preferred for onion cultivation. The soil pH of 5.5-6.5 with mild season is preferred for better yield. Adding organic matter while preparing the land will boost the production of onion bulbs.

Soil treatment:

Apply organic manure like FYM/compost/well-decomposed press mud (about 10-15 t/ha FYM. 

Benefits of soil treatment:

Water benefits:

1. Healthy soil acts as a sponge: more rainwater is absorbed and stored in the ground, where it recharges groundwater and aquifers.
2. Healthy soil prevents run-off and erosion, and reduces evaporation.
3. Healthy soil improves water quality by filtering pollutants.

Nutritious food:

1. Healthy soil increases the nutritional value of food and forage.
2. Healthy soil provides plants with the nutrition they need and strengthens plants’ natural resistance to pests and diseases.

Economic security:

1. Healthy soil improves farm productivity and provides stability.
2. Healthy soil cuts down on inputs, which increases profit.
3. Healthy soil helps withstand extreme weather, floods and drought.

Environmental and health benefits:

1. Healthy soil helps reverse global warming by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere where it acts as a greenhouse gas.
2. Healthy soil provides habitat for soil microbes to flourish.
3. Healthy soil supports greater biodiversity and species stability.

Suitable Soil:

Loam soil:

Loam soil is a mixture of sand, silt and clay that are combined to avoid the negative effects of each type.

These soils are fertile, easy to work with and provide good drainage. Depending on their predominant composition they can be either sandy or clay loam.

As the soils are a perfect balance of soil particles, they are considered to be a gardenes best friend, but still benefit from topping up with additional organic matter.

Sandy soil:

Sandy Soil is light, warm, dry and tends to be acidic and low in nutrients. Sandy soils are often known as light soils due to their high proportion of sand and little clay (clay weighs more than sand).

These soils have quick water drainage and are easy to work with. They are quicker to warm up in spring than clay soils but tend to dry out in summer and suffer from low nutrients that are washed away by rain.

The addition of organic matter can help give plants an additional boost of nutrients by improving the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil.

Red and yellow soil:

Found in Deccan plateau, Western Ghat, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh.

Characteristics:

The soils are red due to iron oxide in them. The soils form when metamorphic rocks weather away. Rich in potash. Somewhat acidic. Poor in nitrogen, magnesium, lime, phosphorus, and organic matter. The Soil is sandy.

Soil and land preparation:

The land should be thoroughly prepared by giving 3 to 4 ploughings to make it flexible. Land should be brought to a fine tilth stage and made weed free. Make sure the land is prepared in such a way that the excessive water can be drained out easily. Supplement the field with 25 tons of well decomposed farm yard manure in last ploughing. Form ridges and furrows in the field. 

Sowing time:

Season	Time of seed sowing	Time of transplanting	Time of harvesting
Maharashtra and some parts of Gujarat
1. Early Kharif2. Kharif3. Late Kharif4. Rabi	Feb.-Mar.May-JuneAug.-Sept.Oct.-Nov.	April-MayJuly-Aug.Oct.-Nov.Dec.-Jan	Aug.-Sept.Oct.-Dec.Jan.-Mar.Apr.-May
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
1. Early Kharif2. Kharif3. Rabi	Feb.-AprilMay-JuneSept.-Oct.	April-JuneJuly-AugNov.-Dec.	July-Sept.Oct.-Nov.Mar.-Apr.
Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, UP and Bihar
1. Kharif2. Rabi	June-JulyOct.-Nov.	July-Aug.Dec.-Jan.	Oct.-Nov.May-June
West Bengal and Orissa
1. Kharif2. Late Kharif3. Rabi	June-JulyAug.-Sept.Sept.-Oct.	Aug.-Sept.Oct.-Nov.Nov.-Dec.	Nov.-Dec.Feb.-Mar.Mar.-Apr.
Hilly areas
1. Rabi2. Summer (Long day type)	Sept.-Oct.Nov.-Dec.	Oct.-Nov.Feb.-Mar.	June-JulyAug.-Oct.

Seed rate:

Seed rate depends on the variety and method of planting selected. In general, an average seed rate of 10 to 12 kg seeds is required for 1 hectare land.

Seed treatment:

Seeds can be treated with Azospirillum @400 gram/kg of seed using rice gruel as adhesive, dry under shade for 30 to 40 minutes and sow them. Apply VAM 1 kg/square metre in the beds along with farm yard manure 10 kg/square metre before sowing.

Nursery raising 

Onion seedlings are raised in the nursery beds. Nursery bed size is 0.6-0.8×3 m or 1.2×3-4 m having 15-20 cm height. Number of beds will depend upon the area to be covered. In general, 50-55 beds with 60-70 cm gaps are required for raising seedlings for one hectare or 8-9 beds for 1 Kani. Nursery soil is mixed with well rotten FYM and phorate granules to kill any soil borne insects. Thiram or captain of carbendazim @ 4-5g/m2 is also applied for eliminating soil borne diseases. Formalin 40% is drenched into nursery soil @ 200-250ml/10L water and the heap is covered with black polyethylene sheet for 7 days. Soil is then turned and left for 4-6 days. Such treated soil is free from all types of soil borne insects-diseases. 10-20g SSP is also mixed with the soil. Seed rate is 8-10 kg/ha (1-1.2kg/Kani). Trichoderma viride (1kg/kani) mixed with fine powdered farm yard manure (25kg/Kani) and incorporated into the soil. Seed sowing time is August-September to October or may be extended to the First week of November. Time of nursery raising and transplanting should be adjusted in such a way, so that bulbs escape pre -monsoon rain or monsoon during the final stage of maturity in the summer. Seeds are very light and black in colour. Onion seeds can be treated by captan/ thiram/ carbendazim @ 3gm/Kg seeds and Trichoderma viride (4g/kg seeds) before sowing. Line sowing of seeds with spacing of 3-5cm is done. The seeds are covered with fine powdered farmyard manure or compost after sowing and light watering is given. The beds are covered with dry straw or grass to maintain optimum temperature and moisture. Watering is done on alternate days. Dry straw or grass is removed immediately after germination. It is always beneficial to provide net cover over the nursery beds. Seedlings are ready in 35-45 days. Seedlings are also raised in portraits for long distance transpiration.

Methods of sowing:

Planting bulbs in the field: 

Small and medium sized bulbs about 10-12 quintals are dibbled keeping 30 cm distance between lines and 15 cm between bulbs. Irrigation can be applied within one to two days after dibbling.

Transplanting:

Transplanting is done at spacing of 10 cm plant to plant and 15 cm line to line. 

Fertilizer management:

• Basal at the time of sowing:
• N = 25kg/ha.
• P2O5 = 40kg/ha.
• K2O = 40kg/ha.
• Organic manures equivalent to 75 kg N
• (FYM – Approx. 15 t/ha or
• Poultry manure- Approx. 7.5 t/ha or
• Vermi-compost – Approx. 7.5 t/ha)

Irrigation:

Sown in well moisture available soil.

Weed management:

Pre-plant incorporation of Basalin (2 kg a.i./ha)