I lose a lot of onions in storage every year. How should I cure them after harvest to make them last?
How to cure onion (pyaaz) properly in the field and shade before storage in Nashik?
SSachin Gawade7 महीने पहले · 267 व्यू
7 जवाब
🌾Farmer.in Krishi Teamविशेषज्ञ ✓6 महीने पहले
Curing is what decides whether your onion lasts 5 to 6 months or rots in two. Do it in two stages. First, after pulling the bulbs, leave them in the field in windrows for 3 to 5 days with the tops of one row covering the bulbs of the next row so the bulbs are shaded but the necks dry, otherwise direct sun causes sun scald and black mould. Second, cut the tops leaving about 2 to 2.5 cm neck and move the bulbs to a ventilated shade for another 10 to 15 days until the necks are fully tight and the outer skins are papery. Only bulbs with dry, tight necks store well, so do not store thick necked or doubles. Confirm local timing with your KVK because curing days change with humidity.
PPopat Jadhav6 महीने पहले
I learnt the hard way that cutting the neck too short lets rot enter. Keep 2 cm neck and never store onions the same day you harvest, give them shade curing first.
RRavindra Deshmukh6 महीने पहले
One thing that helped me was not pulling the crop when the soil was wet. I stop water about two weeks before harvest so the bulbs and necks are already drier when they come out, then field curing finishes faster and there is less black mould near the neck.
AAnil Bankar6 महीने पहले
When I shifted the cured bulbs to shade I started laying them on a raised bamboo platform instead of straight on the floor, so air moves under the heap too. Bulbs sitting on damp ground sweat and the bottom layer rots. Sorting out the doubles and thick necks before storing also saved me a lot of loss.
BBalasaheb Pawar6 महीने पहले
Harvest at the right maturity, when the necks soften and the tops fall over in most of the crop. I used to pull too early when the tops were still green, and those bulbs never cured tight and rotted in storage. Waiting for the natural neck fall gave me much better keeping.
SSunita Gawade5 महीने पहले
Curing time changes a lot with the weather, so do not go by a fixed number of days. In a humid spell my shade curing took longer than usual and I had to keep checking the necks. I press the neck and only move bulbs to storage once it is fully tight and papery, whatever the calendar says.
PPrakash Wagh5 महीने पहले
One small thing that helped was not piling the bulbs too deep during shade curing. When my heaps were thick the bulbs in the middle stayed moist and did not dry evenly. Keeping the layer shallow with air around it cured them more uniformly.