Onion Seed Yield and Quality as Affected by Irrigation Management

Brown, M.J. and Wright, J.L. and Kohl, R.A. (1977) Onion Seed Yield and Quality as Affected by Irrigation Management. Agronomy Journal. 69(3):369-372.

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Abstract

The effects of soil moisture, sprinkler irrigation, and
misting (5 min at 30-min intervals) on hybrid onion-seed
(Allium cepa L.) production were evaluated at Kimberly,
Idaho. Sprinkling and misting treatments were included
to determine if sprinkler irrigation could be used for
onion-seed production, and if evaporative cooling (misting)
would alleviate the scalding of umbels at excessively
high temperatures. Results showed that reasonable onionseed
yields could be obtained with sprinkler irrigation in
spite of anticipated adverse effects on pollination. In
areas with high daytime temperatures, misting could be
used to cool the umbels, as much as 15 C for about 20
min, although it does not seem necessary for the low 32
to 35 C daytime temperatures at Kimbqly. The highest
anion-seed yields were obtained with the furrow-irrigation
treatment where water was applied when tensiometers at
20-cm depth read about 0.5 bar soil moisture tension (furrow
adequate). The addition of misting to furrow irrigation
decreased seed yields 19%. Furrow irrigating at
0.4 bar decreased yields 26% below those obtained with irrigation
at 0.5 bar. While overirrigation adversely affected
yield, irrigation treatment had only a slight effect on
seed weight and vigor.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0385
Subjects:	Irrigated crops > Onion Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:51
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2017 17:34
Item ID:	325
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/325