Earn Ksh 800,000 from one acre of onions in three months Within 3 months from transplanting, an acre of Hybrid bulb onions can yield 20,000kgs bulbs × farmgate price of Ksh40 = 800,000 minus average production cost of Ksh150, 000 per acre =Ksh650, 000 Net income. Some of the high yielding varieties in the market today include Red pinoy F1, Jambar F1, Red passion F1, Red Comet F1. Start your bulb onions in the nursery for a bumper harvest Make a raised nursery bed 1 metre wide and any desired length. Apply well decomposed manure at a rate of 15kg per square metre. Apply DAP fertilizer at a rate of 20grams per metre square and mix well. Make shallow furrows 15 cm apart. Mix the seeds with dry ash, sand or soil at a ratio of 1:3 to help spread the small seeds. Plant the seeds and cover lightly with soil and apply mulches. We’ve used successfully an empty animal feeds polybag spread over the nursery as mulches when organic mulches like grass are difficult to get.In this case, we irrigate on top of the cover and the water seeps in gradually. Irrigate the bed liberally for the first 10 days and continue watering regularly. Germination of seeds takes about 7-10 days after which the mulches are removed and used to make a shade above the tender plants. Transplanting of seedlings takes place 6 weeks after planting seeds in the nursery. Transplant when the seedlings have pencil thick base and a height of approximately 15cm. Seedlings should have 3 to 5 well formed leaves at transplanting time. Two weeks before transplanting reduce the shade to improve seedling survival rate in the field. Onions take about 4 months to mature
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 08:51:45 +0000
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