Project title
MPI SFF 408098 Enhancing the profitability and value of New Zealand onions
Project Funding
MPI Sustainable Farming Fund
Onions New Zealand
Project Status
Purpose
Provide the industry with tools to monitor and manage low yields and variability in onion yield and bulb quality.
Approach
Project collaboration with Plant & Food Research.
Onions New Zealand Inc has identified low yields, variability in onion yield and bulb quality as key issues affecting grower profitability and the value of exports. This project aims to provide the industry with tools to monitor and manage these issues to enable the industry maintain sustainable growth.
This project will implement sensor technologies and develop protocols to monitor crop development and yield variation (spatially and temporally) and link these with crop modelling and agronomy to determine why variation is occurring. Crops will be traced from paddock through harvest and storage so that postharvest quality issues can be related to factors during growth.
Grower lead focus groups will be involved in analysis of results, and will assist in the development of practical tools they can use to monitor and quantify variability, identify the causes of loss of yield and quality and share best practice to improve sustainability and grower returns.
Progress
Get involved
Contact Dan Bloomer at LandWISE