Prosperity of North Khorasan onions in world markets
Annually, 18,200 hectares of agricultural lands in North Khorasan are dedicated to the cultivation of 26 vegetables and saifi, from which 450,000 tons of crops are harvested.
The average yield of onion production in the country is 42 tons per hectare, which is 52 tons per hectare in North Khorasan with an average increase of 10 tons.
Mohammad Taghi Kazemian, director of agriculture affairs of the North Khorasan Jihad Agricultural Organization, said: Most onion cultivation in the fields of this province has been done as seeds since February, and about 150 hectares have been planted as bare root seedlings since late April.
He mentioned the onion cultivars that can be cultivated in this province, including yellow or golden, white or sterling, and red or Azarshahri cultivar, and added: 87% of onions cultivated in the province belong to the yellow cultivar, and this cultivar has a durability due to its suitable weight. .
Regarding the technical and appearance characteristics of yellow onion, he said: This cultivar has good growth, has multi-layered skin, medium size and mild taste, which has many storage properties.
The director of agriculture affairs of North Khorasan Jihad Agricultural Organization said: Sefid or Stirling cultivar, whose cultivation area includes about 10% of the province’s fields, is mainly sold in Mazandaran and Golestan, and Qaram or Azarshahri cultivar, whose yield compared to the other two cultivars. It is less, it has a sharper taste, and in recent years, most of it has been exported to Arab countries, including Oman.
Kazemian said: Red or Azarshahri cultivar is mostly cultivated in Jajarm, Garmeh, Maneh and Samolghan counties and its cultivated area includes about three percent of the total onion farms in the province.
He added: The highest area under onion cultivation in the province is related to Maneh and Samolghan cities with an area of about 2,000 hectares.
He said: Currently, red onions are cultivated in North Khorasan due to the welcome of India and Pakistan, but most of the area under onion cultivation in the province is occupied by Zargan onions; And white onion cultivation has decreased in Corona and is less cultivated due to the low reception of Mazandaran and Golestan provinces.
Regarding the price of onions in the market, Kazemian said: Zargan onions sell for between 3,200 and 4,000 tomans. Red or Bonab onion is sold at a price of 5,000 to 5,500 tomans and white onion is sold at a price of 3,200 to 3,700 tomans.
He said: Currently, farmers in North Khorasan use seed machines to grow onions, which has increased the quality of the crop. This machine is also used for growing other crops such as rapeseed, cumin and tomatoes.
Farhadi, a vegetable and saffi expert of North Khorasan Agricultural Jihad, also said: North Khorasan ranks 6th in onion production in the country, but the exporters of this province face problems such as price fluctuations to export this product to target countries.
He pointed out that due to the weather conditions of North Khorasan and the cold weather, onions of the plateau or golden skin type are more cultivated, he said: This type of onion is better and is cultivated in large quantities.
He added: Maneh and Samolghan cities supply 20% of onion seeds produced in the province.
Exporting onions to different countries
Azad Fathi, one of the exporters of North Khorasan agricultural products, said: North Khorasan is the supplier of onions to the country of six million Turkmenistan, and farmers in North Khorasan are more inclined to cultivate onions from the seeds of the plateau or Zargan.
Fathi added: Some of the onion seeds used by farmers are of the plateau type, which are traditionally distributed in the leek fields.
Pointing out that red onion is one of the products demanded by most countries such as the Persian Gulf, Fathi said: It should be noted that the whole land can not be allocated to the production of one type of onion and other types of onions such as yellow should be He also cultivated white, but also paid special attention to the quality of the product.
In Maneh and Samolghan counties, as the agricultural hub of North Khorasan province, 54 types of crops and horticulture are cultivated.
