VG342 Evaluation and development of onion varieties for domestic and export markets

Ken Jackson QLD Department of Primary Industries

VG342

This report is published by the Horticultural Research and Development Corporation to pass on information concerning horticultural research and development undertaken for the vegetable industry.

The research contained in this report was funded by the Horticultural Research and Development Corporation with the support of the Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers.

All expressions of opinion are not to be regarded as expressing the opinion of the Horticultural Research and Development Corporation or any audiority of the Australian Government.

The Corporation and the Australian Government accept no responsibility for any of the opinions or the accuracy of the information contained in this report and readers should rely upon their own enquiries in making decisions concerning their own interests.

Cover price: $20.00 HRDC ISBN 1 86423 610 8

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Industry Summary Production in the Queensland onion industry has fluctuated between 20 000 - 25 000 tonnes per annum over recent years. Approximately 80% of this production occurs in the Lockyer Valley in SE Queensland. The crop is grown primarily for the domestic market, but export opportunities are developing. Currently, Queensland exports approximately 1 000 t but with the development of onions with a better keeping quality it is estimated that this could be increased by 8-10 fold with increased exports to Pacific rim countries and to untapped markets in SE Asia. This export market window exists between September and November.

The type of onions grown in Queensland are short day, salad onions with mild pungency. They are able to be grown over a wide range of planting dates commencing in February and ceasing in June. A major problem with this spread of planting dates is that a range of varieties is required to meet the changing climatic requirements occurring over this period as onion growth and development is highly sensitive to changing temperature and daylength. This project was undertaken to study the currently available varieties and potential new varieties to determine how well suited they were to the growing conditions in the Lockyer Valley and how well they met domestic and export market requirements.

In 1994 a total of 121 entries were evaluated in eight fortnightly plantings commencing in late February and ceasing in mid June. The second planting in this series (mid March) had to be abandoned due to adverse weather conditions at emergence. In 1995 a total of 147 varieties were evaluated in eight fortnightly plantings spread over a similar time span to the previous year. In both years, seven seed companies (South Pacific, Yates, New World, Hendersons, Magnus Kahl, Sandoz and Lefroy Valley East) as well as four local seed growers (Neuendorf, Reisenleiter, Else and Schulz) and Gatton Research Station supplied seed of various varieties for testing.

Details on the yield in various grades, percentages of seed heads and doubles and details on shape, number of shells and skin colour at harvest were recorded for each variety in each planting. A selection of bulbs from each variety in each planting was stored for twelve weeks and assessed for keeping quality. For the purpose of summarising the results, the varieties can be grouped into early to mid season varieties (February to March plantings), mid season varieties (April to mid May plantings) and late season varieties (late May to mid June plantings).

The trials revealed that the local varieties maintained by local seed growers were the best adapted varieties for the early to mid season plantings. Golden Brown was the outstanding variety in this category as it can be used for both domestic and export markets. In the mid season plantings, Golden Brown and Wallon Brown (an early selection of Gladalan Brown developed at Gatton Research Station) were the best of the local varieties. A number of potential hybrids and open pollinated lines were also identified within the seed company lines for this production period. In the late season planting times a number of seed company lines were identified for potential on the domestic and export markets. The storage quality of the late season lines was superior to the earlier season lines and the skin retention and colour of these later varieties was also generally superior to the earlier varieties.

The project has identified a suite of new varieties, particularly in the mid to late season growth period that with some further testing for optimum planting date and some trial testing on domestic and export markets should provide the Queensland onion industry with greater options for increased sales in the future. Seed companies have been closely involved with this project and have been keen to promote the findings by encouraging producers to test the potential new varieties on small areas within their onion growing program.

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Technical Summary This project was instigated by the Heavy Produce Committee of the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers because of concerns with the available onion varieties to meet the demands of domestic and export markets. Particular concern had arisen about the greening of Early Lockyer White onions and the poor skin retention of local lines which detracted from their export potential. Another concern was the lack of information of the correct planting date for potential new varieties.

The Queensland onion industry is primarily located in the Lockyer Valley in SE Queensland where plantings take place over an extended period (from late February to mid June). Because the onion growth and development is highly sensitive to climatic changes especially temperature and daylength, a wide range of varieties is required to meet the changing climatic conditions during the spread of planting dates. To determine the suitability of an array of potential new varieties being developed by seed companies and the suitability of locally produced varieties, it was decided to undertake an extensive testing program of this material by undertaking fortnightly plantings commencing in late February and ceasing in mid June in 1994 and repeating the procedure in 1995. A total of 121 entries in 1994 and 146 in 1995 were evaluated. Six seed companies (South Pacific, Yates, New World, Hendersons, Magnus Kahl, Sandoz and Lefroy Valley East) as well as four local seed growers (Neuendorf, Reisenleiter, Else and Schulz) and Gatton Research Station supplied seed of various varieties for testing.

Each planting consisted of three replicates of the nominated entries. After establishment through direct seeding, plots were hand-thinned to establish a standard population. At maturity detailed recordings were made on yield characteristics, percentages of seed heads, doubles and off types, bulb characteristics including shape, skin colour and skin retention as well as storage potential. The latter characteristic was determined after 12 weeks storage.

The results can be classified into early to mid season varieties (February to March plantings), Mid season varieties (April to May plantings) and late season plantings (late May to June plantings). In the early season plantings, local seed lines were the best adapted. These included selections of Early Lockyer Whites, Early Lockyer Brown and Golden Brown strains. These lines have been selected in the Lockyer Valley by local seed growers for many years and are well adapted to the shortening daylights experienced in the autumn. It is now apparent that these strains are among the best in the world for early season, short day onions as they were superior to seed company lines that have been sourced from many overseas breeding programs. In the mid season plantings, local strains of Golden Brown and an early selection of Gladalan Brown developed at Gatton Research Station performed well as did several new hybrids developed by the seed companies. In the late season plantings, a number of new hybrids developed by the seed companies demonstrated potential for both the domestic and export markets. These varieties developed better skin retention, better skin colour, and better storage characteristics than the earlier season material.

Throughout the trial series, it was evident that many of the varieties were not adapted to the temperature variations experienced during the various growing seasons in the Lockyer Valley. This was demonstrated by the number of varieties that produced excessive numbers of seed stems. The other noticeable occurrence was the number of varieties that did not bulb although they had been classified short day onions in their country of origin. While this project has identified a new suite of onion varieties with potential on the domestic and export markets, ongoing research is required to better identify optimum planting dates and trial assessments on these markets. These aspects are being addressed as part of the objectives of a subsequent project.

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Introduction

This project was undertaken at the request of the Heavy Produce Committee of the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers to evaluate potential varieties for the domestic and export markets. Commercial seed companies were invited to participate by entering lines that they had identified as having potential in Queensland. These companies also contributed to the funding of the project by paying an entry fee of $100 per variety per planting date in which the variety was entered. Local seed growers were asked to supply seed of their commercial strains so that they could be used as controls. A number of lines developed at Gatton Research Station in recent years were also used as controls.

Production of onions in Queensland is mainly confined to the Lockyer Valley and the Eastern Darling Downs. Annual production for Queensland ranges between 20 000 and 25 000 tonnes; 80% of which occurs in the afore mentioned regions. Plantings commence as early as February and continue until June in the Lockyer Valley whereas on the Darling Downs the planting season is much more confined with most plantings taking place in May. The wide range of planting dates in the Lockyer Valley requires the development of a suite of varieties that are adapted to the changing temperatures and daylengths that occur over the planting period as these two climatic variables have a significant influence on onion growth and development. To determine potential varieties, eight planting dates at fortnightly intervals commencing in February and ceasing in June were attempted in 1994 and 1995 at Gatton Research Station in the heart of the Lockyer Valley.

The type of onion grown in Queensland is a short day onion which is generally characterised by its milder pungency than the long day onion grown in Southern Australia. The low pungency onion is popular for cooking and as well as for use in salads. A major problem of these mild, salad onions is that they have poor skin retention and short shelf life. Early season, white onions also tend to green which is an unwanted trait in the presentation of salad onions. As part of the evaluation, emphasis was placed on identifying white varieties that had some resistance to greening and white and brown varieties that had improved skin retention and longer shelf life.

Queensland onions are grown primarily for the domestic market, but small shipments accounting for approximately 1 000 tonnes are made annually. These exports are to a range of destinations including Pacific rim as well as SE and North Asian countries where there has been a district interest in the mild salad type onions produced in Queensland. As part of the assessment conducted in both years, a sample was stored for as long as three months to determine varieties that had the storage capability to enable export.

The project has been a successful team effort which has included funding from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Horticultural Research and Development Corporation, Heavy Produce Committee of the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers and the seed companies Yates, South Pacific Seeds, Hendersons Seeds, Lefroy Valley East, Magnus Kahl Seeds, Sandoz Seeds and New World. Local seed growers also cooperated by providing seed for the inclusion of control varieties. Two well attended field days were held in each of the two years of the project. The research has indicated that the locally developed varieties are still the best adapted varieties for early plantings. However, a number of new varieties developed by the seed companies demonstrated potential in the later plantings. Some of these have since been released for commercial production.

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Section 1 - Comparison of 1994 and 1995 Trials

Materials and Methods

Eight plantings were attempted in 1994 and 1995 at approximately fortnightly intervals. Details for the 1994 and 1995 plantings are described respectively in Sections 2 and 3 of this report. In this section of the report, the mean values for various attributes measured on those varieties harvested for each of the successful plantings (all but the second planting in 1994) are presented. These attributes include days to harvest, yields within various grades, quality factors at harvest and storage characteristics.

Results and Discussion

Days to harvest

The time from planting to harvest for varieties are presented in Figure 1(a) [1994 plantings] and Figure 1(b) [1995 plantings]. There was little difference in the length of growing seasons among planting dates in either year except for the February plantings which were shorter than the rest. Overall the length of the growing seasons were between 160 and 170 days. In both years the longest growing season occurred with the mid May planting.

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Planting Date

Figure 1. Days to harvest averaged for each of the plantings in 1994;(a) and 1995;(b).

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Yield

Total marketable yield

Details of the total marketable yield are illustrated in Figure 2 (a) [1994 plantings] and Figure 2(b) [1995 plantings]. In 1994, yields increased with planting delay until the mid April planting and the dropped slightly for the next three plantings before falling sharply for the last planting. The pattern in 1995 started similar to that in 1994 but the development of downy mildew in the mid April planting and its effect in the next three plantings reduced potential yields. It was not until the last planting that control of this disease was achieved despite regular fungicidal sprays. From Figure 2(b) it can be seen that the disease had the largest impact in the mid May planting. As control was gradually achieved, yields again increased to a level similar to that achieved in 1994.

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Planting Date

Figure 2. Total marketable yield averaged for each of the plantings in 1994;(a) and 1995;(b).

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The pattern of yields measured in 1994 is believed to be the type of yield profile that can be expected with the range of planting dates. The lengthening days and the lower temperatures associated with the mid season plantings favour higher yields. The development of hybrid varieties for the later season plantings has improved the yielding capacity for this time of the year compared to the ability of the open pollinated varieties that were previously available. These later plantings are now becoming important as they are likely to provide supply for both the domestic and export markets at a time when competition from southern production areas is minimal.

The problem of disease spread from one planting to another is always a concern with sequential plantings especially when a number of varieties are included in each of the plantings as some varieties are often much more susceptible to downy mildew. These varieties then provide a ready source of infection to latter plantings.

Another reason for the poorer yields in the 1995 season compared to 1994 was the deteriorating quality of the irrigation water available. Water levels and quality in terms of salinity had reached the worst on record as drought had continued to impoverish the Lockyer Valley. The salinity problem was particularly associated with the retention of salts in the plant root zone which is believed to reduce bulb size which was reflected in lower yields. Leaching rains in the subsequent year were reflected in a significant increase in bulb size throughout the district.

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Grade yields

The yields of picklers, No 1 and No 1 large for the 1994 plantings are presented in Figure 3(a) and for 1995 plantings in Figure 3(b). In 1994, The No 1 large grade increased to a maximum in the mid April planting and then declined while the No 1 grade increased until the second last planting before falling. The yield of picklers was highest at the first and last plantings and remained at a relatively constant low level in the remainder of the plantings. The effect of downy mildew and poor water quality had a substantial effect on the grade composition in 1995. The major effect was the very low production of No 1 large grade onions in any of the plantings. The production of picklers followed a similar trend to that measured in 1994 except in the May plantings where mildew increased the production of picklers at the expense of the No 1 grade.

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Planting Date

Figure 3. Averaged yields (t/ha) within the pickler, No. 1 and No. 1 large grades for plantings in 1994;(a) and 1995;(b).

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Yield of doubles, off-types and purples

Details of non-marketable yields for the plantings in 1994 and 1995 are presented in Figure 4(a) and Figure 4(b) respectively. In both years the yield of doubles was most pronounced in the early plantings particularly in the March plantings. The cause of doubling in onions is not well understood. Factors involved are thought to involve temperature, nutrition, variety and mechanical injury. There is evidence that higher temperatures during the initiation of bulbing predispose the crop to a greater incidence of doubles as does any mechanical injury that may be incurred if mechanical weed control measures are used. High rates of nitrogen are also attributed to increasing the incidence of doubles. Finally, the open pollinated varieties appear to be more susceptible than the hybrids. In these trials the incidence was highest in the early season, open pollinated lines. There were insignificant amounts produced in the later season plantings.

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Planting Date

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28/2/95 14/3/95 30/3/95 11/4/95 26/4/95 16/5/95 30/5/95 13/6/95

Planting Dates

Figure 4. The yield (t/ha) of unmarketable grades from plantings in 1994; (a) and 1995;(b).

The incidence of off-types was generally negligible except in the mid-season plantings in 1994. This was particularly attributed to some contamination in Wallon White which was contaminated with a substantial percentage of brown bulbs.

The purpling of bulbs was mainly associated with the use of Early Lockyer Brown strains in this project. Despite attempts to select for the removal of this trait in this variety, it still appeared in variable amounts depending on the strain used. It was particularly apparent in the New World strain used in 1994 which was largely responsible for the incidence recorded in the April planting shown in Figure 4(a).

Incidence ofbullnecks and seed heads

Data for these characteristics are illustrated in Figure 5(a) and Figure 5(b) for 1994 and 1995 plantings respectively. The incidence ofbullnecks was below 1% in 1994 regardless of planting date. In 1995, levels started just above 3% and then gradually declined to a minimum of less than 1% in the late April planting before gradually increasing to above 3% by the last planting date. The percentage ofbullnecks is mainly increased by uneven plant stands or poorly adapted varieties to a particular planting date. The latter is the main reason for the increased incidence in 1995.

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Figure 5. The incidence ofbullnecks and seed heads in the various plantings in 1994;(a) and 1995;(b).

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The production of seed heads was most pronounced in the April plantings in both years being more evident in 1995. Two factors are necessary to induce the production of seed heads or bolting in onions. These are the physiological age of the plant and temperature. The optimum physiological age for the onion to be receptive to low temperature which results in floral initiation is the stage once the plant has 4-6 true leaves visible. The optimum temperature at this stage for floral initiation is 5-12 degrees Celsius. Varieties also vary in their reaction to these conditions, but it is obvious that that the greatest chance of the floral initiation requirements of a variety being met is likely to occur with April plantings.

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Post Harvest Measurements

Incidence of greening

Details illustrating the effect of planting time on greening of bulbs is shown in Figure 6(a) and Figure 6(b) for 1994 and 1995 respectively. Contrasting patterns occurred for the two years. In 1994, greening incidence was highest in the earliest planting then declined until rising in the last whereas in 1995 it peaked in the mid season plantings. In the first year, the greening followed an expected pattern being most prominent in the white varieties which has been a common commercial observation. In the second year, greening was recorded in all the Golden Brown strains. This developed in storage whereas the greening in the white varieties was already present at harvest and then intensified in storage. The general level of greening in both years was rated as slight, but still sufficient to be unattractive on some varieties.

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Figure 6. The occurrence of greening in the various plantings in 1994;(a) and 1995;(b).

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Number of skins

The number of complete shells for the various plantings for the both seasons is shown in Figure 7(a) for 1994 and Figure 7(b) for 1995. The number of complete skins averaged between two and three for all plantings in both years. The average skin number was slightly higher in the mid April planting in each of the years. Individual varieties developed between four and five skins and these are detailed in the results in Sections 2 and 3 of this report. Generally, both domestic and export markets are seeking good skin retention on onions; a problem that is associated with the short-day, salad onions.

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Figure 7. Average number of complete shells retained for bulbs in plantings in 1994;(a) and 1995;(b).

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Soundness and black mould incidence

The percentage of sound bulbs and the incidence of bulbs showing some symptoms of black mould for the various plantings are shown in Figure 8(a) and Figure 8(b) for 1994 and 1995 respectively. The keeping quality of the bulbs was superior in 1994. It is likely that the downy mildew affect on the late season plantings in 1995 was responsible for the poorer keeping quality of the onions stored from these plantings.

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Figure 8. The percentage of sound onions and the incidence of black mould after storage from plantings in 1994;(a) and 1995;(b).

The development of black mould is obviously a problem in storage of salad onions. Again bulbs from the late season plantings in 1995 were very susceptible. In 1994, black mould averaged 30% or more in bulbs stored from all plantings. While many bulbs had slight infection with black mould, they were still classed as sound ie no sign of obvious breakdown. It is felt that thrips in storage predispose onion bulbs to the development of black mould by rupturing the surface and providing a ready entry for the disease.

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Dry matter content

The average dry matter contents for the plantings in 1995 are shown in Figure 9. The dry matter content increased to 11% in the second planting and then declined to 8% by the last planting. It is generally considered the lower the dry matter the poorer the storage qualities of the onion. This was reflected by the 1995 data where the later plantings had fewer sound onions after storage compared to the earlier season varieties (Figure 8[b]). However, general experience has indicated that the later plantings produce the better storage onions.

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Planting Date

Figure 9. Dry matter averaged for each of the plantings in 1995.

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General Discussion

Extension/adoption by industry

Results of the project have been presented at field days and in extension publications. Two well attended field days were held at strategic times during the growing season in each of the years. Numerous individual visits were made by seed grower representatives, producers and marketers during the duration of the project.

Plate 1. Interested growers inspecting section of onion varieties on display at one of the four field days held during the progress of this project.

Plate 2. Growers inspect harvested bulbs from various varieties held in storage.

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The project established that the locally produced strains of Early Lockyer White, Early Lockyer Brown and Golden Brown were the best adapted varieties for early season production. The Neuendorf strain of Early Lockyer White was the best early season white onion. This strain originated from the line developed by the late Roy Brooking a resident of the Lockyer Valley. Several Golden Brown strains were evaluated and there was little difference among the performance of these strains. In the second year of the project, the Else strain performed well over a range of planting dates. The Golden Brown variety offers good potential for export provided care is taken with curing and post harvest storage. The Early Lockyer Brown variety which is thought to be the origin of the Golden Brown variety is still maintained at Gatton Research Station though it lost appeal on the domestic market. This series of trials demonstrated that there was some renewed interest in this variety as a potential export variety because of its relatively good skin retention and deep brown colour. There needs to be further selection in this variety however to try to reduce the level of purple skin offtypes..

In the mid season varieties, Golden Brown continued to perform well as did Wallon Brown, Yates hybrids Z512, Z516, Z550 and Centurion, Magnus Kahl's 688 and Diamond White (Lefroy Valley East RS 94518). MKS 688 appeared to show reasonable resistance to downy mildew. Diamond White demonstrated excellent resistance to greening, a problem particularly associated with Early Lockyer White in the early season plantings. The red skinned variety Red Rojo bulbed satisfactorily at this planting time, but bulb quality was only marginal.

The standard varieties Omega and Gladiator performed well in the late season plantings as well as a number of new hybrids including South Pacific Seeds 846, Yates E511 and Hendersons 640.

Plate 3. The varieties Wallon Brown (left), Diamond White (centre) and Gladiator (right) are examples of varieties that were identified as having potential on the domestic and export markets.

As a result of these trials Diamond White has become an established variety and small commercial plantings of some of the promising new hybrids are taking place. Golden Brown and Gladiator have established as export varieties to the Pacific Rim and SE and N Asia in small quantities.

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At the end of each year of the project, a progress report similar to Section 2 and Section 3 of this report was forwarded to the participants in the trials to enable them to make decisions for the next year's plantings.

Direction of future research

A new three project has been initiated to enable interested seed companies to continue the evaluation of their advanced lines. It is recognised that storage of short day onions is a problem but one that must be addressed if an export market is to become fully established. A start in this area of research has commenced by way of a postgraduate study which is monitoring the importance of harvest time on storage life as well as the importance of black mould and thrips on keeping quality. There is a need for future research to investigate methods of curing that enhance storage life.

Financial/commercial benefits

A major outcome of this work has been a clearer understanding of what varieties perform at various planting dates. Often material is introduced from overseas as short-day early onions but bolt when planted in the Lockyer Valley and thus result in costly failures. A suite of onion varieties have now been established to enable successful production of a wide range of varieties over a prolonged production period. The project also developed an excellent working relationship among the various participants including Queensland Department of Primary Industry research staff, seed company representatives, Queensland Fruit and Vegetable delegates, local seed growers and onion producers.

Acknowledgements

The Heavy Produce Committee of the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers and the Horticultural Research and Development Corporation are gratefully acknowledged for their financial support of this project as are the following seed companies who contributed funds on a per entry basis. The participating seed companies were Yates, Hendersons, Lefroy Valley East, Magnus Kahl, New World, Sandoz and South Pacific Seeds.

The supply of seed of local early varieties by Messrs Tom Else, Reg Neuendorf, Phillip Dunlop, Des Reisenleiter, and Edgar and Shane Schulz is also appreciated.

Publication Schedule

Jackson, K.J. and Duff, A.A. (1995). Onion varieties - performing in Queensland. Onions Australia 12:20-21

Jackson, K.J. and Duff, A.A. (1995). Onion variety testing. Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers Research Report, pp 12-13.

Jackson, K.J. and Duff, A.A. (1996). Evaluation of new varieties continues for Queensland. Onions Australia 13:15-18.

Two farm walks were organised in each of the years of the project at appropriate times to demonstrate the performance of the varieties. Numerous brief visits were made by individuals, particularly by seed company representatives to view the trials.

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Section 2 -1994 Trial Series

Materials and Methods

Eight planting dates (24/12, 14/3, 28/3, 14/4, 29/4, 16/5, 31/5 and 16/6) were undertaken. In each planting, 3 replicates or plots of each entry were established. Each plot consisted of 4 rows, 35cm apart and alO m long. Plots were established on beds with 1.5m centres. Germination tests were conducted prior to planting and an amount of seed to achieve slightly more than the desired plant stand was determined. Plant stands were hand thinned to an intra row spacing of 50mm to give a plant population of 55 plants/m2. Yield was measured from 8m of each of the central two rows leaving a buffer of 1.0 m at each end of the plot. Varieties were harvested when 80-100% of the tops were down and allowed to dry in trays before mechanical grading.

At harvest, the number of seed stems and bullnecks were counted. When grading the number of doubles and off-types (off-colours) were recorded as well as the numbers within the pickling, No. 1 and No. 1 large grades. These grades refer to bulb diameters with the pickling grade being 20-40mm, the No. 1 grade 40-75mm and No. 1 grade being greater than 75mm.

Immediately after harvest, 20 bulbs were randomly selected from the remaining unharvested portion of the central rows of each plot. Five of these were used to determine dry matter and the remaining 15 were stored in racks to determine the effect of storage on bulb quality. Two weeks after harvest the bulbs were tested for firmness. After a further 8-10 weeks, the bulbs were assessed for the number of skins (broken and complete), skin colour, bulb shape, soundness (incidence of breakdown), firmness, degree of greening (0-nil; 1- very slight; 2-slight; 3-marked; 4-intense) and incidence of sooty or black mould (Aipergillus niger).

Seven commercial seed companies, and four local seed growers contribute varieties for assessment. In addition, varieties developed at Gatton Research Station were also entered in various plantings. The seven seed companies were New World, Sandoz Seeds, Lefroy Valley East, Magnus Kahl, South Pacific, Yates and Hendersons. Local seed growers who participated were Tom Else, Reg Neuendorf, Des Reisenleiter and Edgar Schulz.

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The climatic data for 1994 are presented in Table 1 where certain components are compared with corresponding long-term averages.

Table 1. Average maximum and minimum monthly temperatures and monthly rainfall for 1994 as well as monthly daylength range for Gatton Research Station.

Month Av max temp (UC) Av mir i temp (UC) Rainfall (mm) Daylength (hrs) Month 1994 Long-term 1994 Long-term 1994 Long-term

Daylength (hrs)

January 34.2 29.8 20.4 18.2 70.2 113.0 14.1 - 13.7 February 28.9 30.5 18.8 18.8 112.8 100.3 13.7- 13.1 March 27.1 29.1 16.9 17.1 133.4 80.8 13.1 - 12.2 April 26.4 26.3 13.2 14.8 6.0 53.1 12.2- 11.4. May 24.7 22.6 8.0 9.8 9.2 43.9 11.4- 10.8 June 21.7 21.0 6.3 7.4 10.6 44.2 10.8- 10.6 July 21.3 20.3 4.5 6.1 13.6 41.0 10.6- 10.9 August 22.3 21.4 4.9 6.5 0.6 27.9 10.9-11.6 September 25.9 24.7 7.9 9.1 25.6 35.7 11.6- 12.4 October 28.4 27.7 11.9 12.8 19.4 65.6 12.4--13.0 November 32.0 29.1 17.0 15.7 7.6 74.1 13.0- 13.9 December 31.9 29.6 18.3 16.5 77.4 98.6 13.9--14.1

Results and Discussion

Seasonal conditions

A very dry season resulted in excellent quality onions being produced. Downy mildew occurrence was restricted by the dry conditions with the most serious outbreak being registered in the fourth planting where it was primarily limited to varieties that produced excessive seed heads.

Lower than average minimum temperatures probably accentuated the production of seed heads in some varieties. These varieties in milder seasons may have not been so susceptible to this unwanted characteristic. Varieties that produced in excess of 80% seed heads or those that did not bulb were not harvested.

Early to Mid-season Varieties

Early Lochyer Whites

The Neuendorf and Else strains produced the highest yields, this is consistent with previous testing which demonstrated the superiority of the locally produced Brooking strain which is the source of the former two strains. All ELW strains were subject to greening. Lower yields in the Schulz line was mainly due to low germination. This strain also produced round flat shaped onions compared to the globe shape present in the other lines. The South Pacific Seeds (SPS) strain produced a higher proportion of smaller onions than was evident in the other strains.

20

(iladalan White

The early Gladalan White strain (Wallon white) produced high yields but some seed head production (6.2%) was evident. However, the particular seed lot used was obviously contaminated as a high percentage of browns (19.6%) were harvested.

Browns

The Gatton Research Station strain of Early Lockyer Brown (Barton Brown) produced medium to high yields of good quality onions with reasonable skin development and a medium brown colour. A visiting, experienced exporter selected this variety as having excellent potential for the Korean market.

Generally the performance of the Golden Brown strains was similar. All yielded well and there was little difference in the number of skins developed. The appearance after grading was also similar with most skins being removed. This lack of skin cover and the resultant bright appearance of the onion has met with buyer resistance in the domestic market. However, an exporting firm has selected this variety as having potential for the Japanese market. It is likely that with prolonged curing a better skin retention can be achieved with this variety.

Of the experimental lines, SPS strain 778 produce high yields with a high proportion of large onions - a desirable characteristic for both domestic and export markets. However, in the early planting (3rd) it produced a high proportion of doubles (17.8%). This line appeared more suited to mid season plantings. The Yates strain Z516 performed well in the fourth planting and again in the mid season plantings (5 and 6). The early Gladalan Brown strain (Wallon Brown) yielded well in the fourth planting though some seed head production (8.8%) was evident. The variety produced high yields of firm brown onions and shows potential for plantings from mid April to mid May.

A number of lines including Henderson's Red Rojo, Henry's Special and Early Supreme White, Royal Sluis experimental lines and Yates A544 were not suited to these earlier plantings as demonstrated by the excessive seed head production (>80%) and consequently were not harvested.

Mid Season Varieties

Whites

In the fifth planting, SPS Lockrose White was the highest yielding variety. It is similar in appearance to the ELW strains but obviously superior to the SPS ELW strain in this planting. Wallon White performed reasonably in this planting also. All three whites in this planting were susceptible to greening.

A number of high yielding whites were harvested in the sixth planting. SPS Snowball and Yates A544 were the highest yielding varieties. The Royal Sluis line 94518 also produced high yields and demonstrated the best greening resistance of all whites tested. Generally, however, the Royal Sluis lines tended to produce top shaped rather than globe shaped onions.

21

Reds

Henderson's Red Rojo planted in the fifth planting was still too late for this planting time as evidenced by the high proportion of seed heads (>80%).

Golden Brown

The Neuendorf and Else strains were superior in the mid-season planting. The Schulz strain was obviously more suited to earlier plantings.

Browns

The New World Early Lockyer Brown strain tested in the fifth planting was low yielding due to the high percentage of purple coloured onions present (56%). A number of high yielding browns were harvested in the fifth planting. However either poor shape (Northrup King brown) or uneven colour and shape (Henderson's Henry's Special, Bronco and Grand Prix) detracted from the high yields. Wallon Brown, SPS 778 and Yates Z516 had better shape and more even colour.

In the sixth planting, the Yates selections Z512, Z516 and Centurion produced good quality, globe shape onions though yields were not as high as other brown strains evaluated.

Omega (SPS) was more uniform in shape and colour than the higher yielding SPS experimental line 791 which varied substantially in shape. The Royal Sluis browns tended to be uneven in colour and top rather globe shape. The New World Lockyer Gold variety appeared very similar to the Golden Brown strains tested in earlier plantings.

Late Plantings

Whites

In the seventh planting, Snowball and Yates B501 were the only white varieties entered. Yates B501 continued to produce a proportion of seed stems (10.1%). Snowball was a softer onion with a poorer keeping quality compared to Yates B501.

In the eighth planting all the whites produced similar yields and all had a tendency to break down in storage. The Royal Sluis line 94518 was the least susceptible.

Reds

Henderson's Red Rojo yielded well in the seventh planting indicating it suitability to late plantings rather than to early and mid season plantings.

22

Brawns

Daylength requirements for bulbing in the Magnus Kahl Cream Gold strains were not met in the seventh and eighth plantings as only the odd plant had bulbed by December in either planting. This was three to four weeks after the other entrants in these plantings had been harvested. Omega (SPS) was high yielding in both plantings with high proportions of the larger size being produced. The Yates varieties Centurion and Gladiator produced similar yields (mainly No. 1 Grade) of excellent quality onions in terms of colour and shape as well as potential for long term storage. The SPS experimental lines 767 and 791 tended to be uneven in shape while the Royal Sluis lines demonstrated unevenness in skin colour.

23

LEGEND

GRS-ELW Gatton Research Station - Early Lockyer White (Barton White) GRS-ELB Gatton Research Station - Early Lockyer Brown (Barton Brown) GRS-GoB Gatton Research Station - Golden Brown (Schroedon Brown) GRS-GLW Gatton Research Station - Gladalan White (Wallon White) GRS-GLB Gatton Research Station - Gladalan Brown (Wallon Brown) ELS-GoB Else- Golden Brown ELS-ELW Else- Early Lockyer White NEU-ELW Neuendorf - Early Lockyer White NEU-GoB Neuendorf - Golden Brown REI-ELW Reisenleiter - Early Lockyer White REI-GoB Reisenleiter - Golden Brown SCH-ELW Schulz - Early Lockyer White SCH-GoB Schulz - Golden Brown SPS-ELW South Pacific Seeds Early Lockyer White SPS-GoB South Pacific Seeds - Golden Brown SPS-LOC South Pacific Seeds Lockrose White SPS-OME South Pacific Seeds - Omega SPS-SNO South Pacific Seeds - Snowball SPS-767 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 767 SPS-778 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 778 SPS-791 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 791 HEN-BRC Hendersons Seeds - Bronco HEN-ESW Hendersons Seeds - Early Supreme White HEN-RED Hendersons Seeds - Red Rojo HEN-GRP Hendersons Seeds - Grand Prix HEN-HEN Hendersons Seeds - Henry's special YAT-GLA Yates Seeds - Gladiator YAT-CEN Yates Seeds - Centurion YAT-Z512 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXZ512 YAT-Z516 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXZ516 YAT-A544 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXA544 YAT-B501 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXB501 RS-94210 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94210 RS-94266 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94266 RS-94286 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94286 RS-94289 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94289 RS-94293 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94293 RS-94518 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94518 RS-94581 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94581 RS-94582 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line • 94582 RS-94595 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94595 RS-94599 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line -• 94599 MKS-1P Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line - V50-1P MKS-2SB Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line - V50-2SB MKS-3VE Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line - V50-3VE MKS-4VR Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line - V50-4VR SG-360 Sandoz Seeds - Experimental Line - ON 360 NEW-ELB New World - Early Lockyer Brown NEW-LG New World - Lockyer Gold NRK Northrup King Experimental Line - Brown

24

Table 2(a). Number of days to harvest and yield data (t/ha) for plantings 1, 3 and 4

Variety Days to Harvest

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety Days to

Harvest Picklers No. 1 N o l

Large Total Doubles Off-types Purple

PIanted:24.2.94

GRS - ELW 125 8.42 27.31 3.22 38.95 1.39 0.30

GRS - ELB 125 6.99 33.74 8.02 48.75 0.49 2.86

SPS - ELW 125 10.17 14.56 1.01 25.73 2.30 0.05

SPS - GoB 137 7.24 30.36 10.69 48.30 4.48 0.25

SCH-ELW 137 0.90 8.30 5.92 15.12 1.35 1.03

ELS - ELW 125 5.86 31.67 12.05 49.88 2.02 0.32

NEU - ELW 125 5.96 35.93 10.55 52.44 2.73 0.32

REI - ELW 125 7.21 30.86 1.85 39.92 3.07 0.00

LSD 5% 2.24 7.02 6.25 10.30 2.35 1.10

Planted: 28.3.94

GRS - ELW 159 0.96 23.48 30.11 54.54 1.86 0.00 0.00

GRS - ELB 159 1.65 21.33 35.14 58.12 0.89 3.85 1.84

GRS - GoB 159 3.32 33.42 25.94 62.68 5.07 0.00 0.00

SPS - ELW 151 3.79 32.21 7.20 43.20 7.51 0.03 0.00

SPS - GoB 167 6.71 20.08 46.74 73.54 7.89 0.60 0.00

SPS - 778 172 0.83 16.42 60.54 77.79 17.87 0.00 0.00

SCH - ELW 161 0.38 13.67 28.37 42.43 4.60 3.96 0.00

SCH - GoB 159 0.90 25.17 23.82 49.89 2.03 0.56 1.28

ELS - ELW 159 1.22 25.94 41.98 69.14 3.66 0.51 0.00

ELS - GoB 159 2.57 24.76 40.48 67.81 8.13 0.47 0.13

NEU - ELW 159 1.28 27.62 47.57 76.96 6.32 0.58 0.00

NEU - GoB 167 2.43 24.81 47.77 75.01 10.63 0.21 2.46

REI - ELW 159 1.66 29.53 30.69 61.87 7.56 0.02 0.00

REI - GoB 159 1.57 27.47 37.54 66.58 7.24 0.25 0.28

HEN - RED NH*

HEN - HEN NH

LSD 5% DS 9.82 10.68 13.91 5.81 1.36 ns

Planted: 14.4.94

GRS - GoB 146 1.58 36.45 43.95 81.98 6.58 0.00 0.22

GRS - G1W 150 0.89 28.04 44.75 73.68 4.56 20.64 0.00

GRS - GIB 150 0.84 19.73 67.82 88.39 6.70 0.00 0.22

SPS - ELW 131 5.73 38.73 7.92 52.39 2.81 0.08 0.00

SPS - GoB 146 1.80 33.22 47.54 82.56 9.23 0.27 0.64

SCH - GoB 138 3.66 43.32 24.70 71.68 2.70 0.48 2.82

ELS - GoB 146 1.43 31.96 53.58 86.96 7.99 0.60 1.15

NEU - GoB 146 1.59 35.12 44.49 81.20 8.80 1.15 0.12

REI - GoB 146 1.91 44.02 42.69 88.62 6.40 0.05 1.32

YAT-516 146 1.50 46.39 30.70 78.58 6.21 0.00 0.15

YAT - 544 NH

HEN - ESW NH

RS - 94210 NH

RS - 94286 NH

RS - 94293 NH

RS - 94518 NH

RS - 94599 NH

LSD 5% 1.66 12.87 11.65 9.09 2.40 1.25 1.14

* NH - Not Harvested

25

Table 3(a). Percent dry matter and bulbs occurring in saleable and unsaleable categories for plantings 1, 3 and 4.

Variety % Dry Matter

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety % Dry

Matter Picklers No. 1 No. 1

Large Total Doubles Off-types Purple Bullnecks Seed

Heads

Plantcd:24.2.94

GRS - ELW 40.2 54.5 3.1 97.7 1.7 0.5 0.0

GRS - ELB 29.0 57.6 7.4 93.9 0.4 5.7 0.0

SPS - ELW 62.3 32.9 1.1 96.3 3.5 0.1 0.0

SPS - GoB 33.9 50.9 10.0 94.9 4.7 0.3 0.1

SCH - ELW 17.3 52.3 19.8 89.4 5.7 4.9 0.0

ELS - ELW 27.0 58.1 12.3 97.4 2.3 0.3 0.0

NEU - ELW 24.4 61.1 10.0 95.5 4.1 0.4 0.0

REI - ELW 32.9 60.9 2.0 95.9 4.1 0.0 0.0

LSD 5% 10.5 8.5 7.2 3.8 ns 3.0 ns

Planted: 28.3.94

GRS - ELW 7.2 53.4 37.3 97.9 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.2

GRS - ELB 9.1 40.6 42.5 92.2 0.4 5.6 1.9 0.0

GRS - GoB 14.1 56.3 24.2 94.6 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.4

SPS - ELW 19.9 61.0 8.4 89.4 9.5 0.2 0.0 2.0

SPS - GoB 5.7 35.5 47.1 88.3 7.2 1.2 0.0 3.3

SPS - 778 4.5 29.6 50.5 84.6 13.3 0.0 0.0 2.1

SCH - ELW 4.1 36.6 45.5 86.1 7.1 6.5 0.0 0.3

SCH - GoB 6.4 57.6 30.1 94.2 2.2 1.2 2.4 0.0

ELS - ELW 7.9 44.3 42.9 95.1 3.4 0.8 0.0 0.7

ELS - GoB 11.9 41.2 36.1 89.1 7.9 0.7 0.2 2.0

NEU - ELW 9.5 46.2 40.2 95.9 3.3 0.6 0.2 0.0

NEU - GoB 10.9 39.2 39.3 89.4 8.4 0.3 0.5 1.4

REI - ELW 9.4 52.4 30.4 92.2 7.6 0.2 0.0 0.0

REI - GoB 10.0 41.4 40.3 91.6 6.9 0.7 0.4 0.4

HEN - RED

HEN - HEN

LSD 5% 4.7 9.3 8.8 6.3 4.4 1.8 ns ns

Planted: 14.4.94

GRS - GoB 0.1 50.2 37.2 93.7 5.7 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.4

GRS - GIW 0.1 31.1 35.4 70.3 3.9 19.6 0.0 0.0 6.2

GRS - GIB 0.1 29.7 52.4 86.3 4.8 0.0 0.1 0.0 8.8

SPS - ELW 0.2 64.6 8.2 96.1 3.1 0.1 0.0 0.6 0.1

SPS - GoB 0.1 44.6 39.1 90.5 7.8 0.3 0.9 0.2 0.4

SCH - GoB 0.1 59.7 20.3 93.5 2.5 0.7 3.3 0.0 0.0

ELS - GoB 0.1 43.3 43.5 92.3 6.3 07 0.1 0.1 0.5

NEU - GoB 0.1 46.6 36.5 89.4 7.3 1.2 0.8 0.3 1.0

REI - GoB 0.1 54.3 32.8 93.7 4.8 0.1 1.0 0.0 0.4

YAT-516 0.1 60.0 25.9 91.7 5.3 0.0 0.1 0.1 2.8

YAT - 544

HEN - ESW

RS - 94210

RS - 94286

RS - 94293

RS-94518

RS - 94599

LSD 5% 0.04 10.3 11.4 3.6 2.3 0.9 l . l 0.3 1.5

26

Table 4(a). Bulb description and storage data for plantings 1, 3 and 4.

Variety Number of Shells

Shape Skin Colour Soundness %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating*

Firmness Variety Number of Shells

Shape Skin Colour Soundness %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating*

Harvest 12 wks

Planted: 24.2.94

GRS - ELW 2.9 Globe White 86 55 3 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

GRS - ELB 2.1 Globe Mid-Brown 93 33 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

SPS - ELW 2.7 Globe White 69 0 4 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

SPS - GoB 2.1 Globe Light-Gold 88 55 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

SCH - ELW 1.7 Comp/Globe White 54 11 2 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

ELS - ELW 3.1 Globe White 93 22 2 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

NEU - ELW 3.1 Globe White 90 44 2 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

REI - ELW 2.7 Globe White 98 33 2 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

Planted: 28.3.94

GRS - ELW 2.2 Globe White 100 16 2 Firm-Hard Firm

GRS - ELB 2.0 Globe Mid-Brown 68 16 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

GRS - GoB 2.3 Globe Light-Gold 93 33 2 Hard Soft-Firm

SPS - ELW 2.3 Globe White 93 33 3 Firm Soft-Firm

SPS - GoB 2.3 Globe Light-Gold 93 33 3 Firm-Hard Firm

SPS - 778 2.2 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 16 0 Soft-Firm Firm

SCH - ELW 2.7 Comp/Globe White 67 50 3 Firm Soft-Firm

SCH - GoB 2.3 Flat/Globe Light-Gold 79 66 2 Firm Soft-Firm

ELS - ELW 2.3 Globe White 82 50 3 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

ELS - GoB 2.2 Globe Light-Gold 96 33 2 Firm-Hard Firm

NEU - ELW 2.5 Flat/Globe White 93 50 2 Hard Soft-Firm

NEU - GoB 2.6 Globe Light-Gold 93 66 2 Firm Soft-Firm

REI - ELW 2.8 Flat/Globe White 100 50 3 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

REI - GoB 2.2 Flat/Globe Light-Gold 100 66 2 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

HEN - RED

HEN - HEN

Planted: 14.4.94

GRS - GoB 2.9 Globe Light-Gold 88 77 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

GRS - G1W 3.3 Globe/Top White 100 88 2 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

GRS - GIB 2.9 Flat/Globe/To Dark-Brown 85 100 0 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

SPS - ELW 3.7 Globe White 91 22 3 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

SPS-GoB 2.7 Globe Light-Gold 91 66 0 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

SCH - GoB 2.8 Globe/Flat Gold 100 66 0 Firm Soft-Firm

ELS - GoB 2.6 Top/Globe Gold 90 88 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

NEU - GoB 2.6 Globe Light-Gold 100 44 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

REI - GoB 2.7 Globe Gold 95 44 2 Firm Soft-Firm

YAT-516 2.9 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 55 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

YAT - 544

HEN - ESW

RS- 94210

RS - 94286

RS - 94293

RS - 94518

RS - 94599

* Greening Scale: 0 - nil; 1 - very slight; 2 - slight; 3 - marked; 4 - pronounced.

27

Table 2(b). Number of days to harvest and yield data (t/ha) for plantings 5 and 6.

Variety Days to Harvest

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety Days to

Harvest Picklcrs No. 1 No. 1

Large Total Doubles Off-types Purple

Planted: 29.4.94

GRS - GoB 153 3.45 45.48 17.20 66.13 0.00 0.00 0.08

GRS - G1W 166 2.30 34.14 29.76 67.20 0.36 18.48 0.00

GRS - GIB 166 1.40 37.45 50.44 89.29 0.73 0.00 0.00

SPS - 778 166 1.07 42.49 55.14 98.70 0.93 0.00 0.00

SPS - ELW 151 5.94 36.17 6.97 49.08 1.10 0.21 0.00

SPS-LOC 151 1.89 48.51 34.02 84.42 0.11 0.11 0.00

NEU - GoB 160 2.81 41.45 41.56 85.82 0.84 0.54 0.00

ELS - GoB 160 2.76 37.95 39.71 80.42 0.92 0.53 0.07

SCH - GoB 151 5.47 35.84 6.23 47.54 0.20 0.13 1.51

REI - GoB 153 3.86 48.10 13.17 65.13 0.12 0.00 0.17

NEW - ELB 160 2.30 17.34 8.06 27.70 0.32 0.06 40.70

YAT-516 160 2.20 49.41 25.75 77.36 0.75 0.00 0.00

YAT - 544 NH*

NRK 185 1.95 35.12 57.99 95.06 0.00 0.00 0.43

HEN - RED NH

HEN - HEN 185 1.71 36.56 49.57 87.84 0.86 0.06 0.00

HEN - BRC 160 3.01 38.77 24.02 65.80 0.44 0.16 0.27

HEN - GRP 185 1.78 27.37 57.92 87.07 0.00 0.07 0.06

LSD 5% 1.23 6.38 8.57 5.82 ns 0.66 1.38

Planted: 16.5.94

GRS - G1W 158 1.90 37.44 19.23 58.57 0.30 16.10 0.00

GRS - GIB 158 1.30 38.34 42.80 82.44 0.20 0.17 0.00

SPS - 791 168 1.65 28.48 50.71 80.84 0.06 0.17 0.00

SPS - OME 172 3.26 47.05 19.90 70.21 0.13 0.13 0.12

SPS - SNO 168 1.41 50.38 31.06 82.85 1.12 0.45 0.00

NEW - LG 158 2.23 47.48 16.11 65.82 0.15 0.30 0.17

HEN - ESW 168 2.83 38.83 38.22 79.88 0.00 1.24 0.00

YAT - 512 178 1.61 43.44 18.87 63.92 0.29 0.00 0.10

YAT-516 158 2.18 50.77 20.78 73.73 0.20 0.00 0.00

YAT - 501 186 1.30 39.95 14.40 55.65 0.00 0.48 0.00

YAT - 544 172 1.62 36.62 42.99 81.23 0.00 0.45 0.00

YAT-CEN 178 3.39 48.08 11.42 62.89 0.00 0.45 0.00

RS - 94286 172 2.61 48.89 28.33 79.83 0.33 0.00 0.00

RS - 94293 168 2.17 37.08 43.51 82.76 0.00 0.00 0.00

RS - 94518 168 2.48 39.71 32.02 74.21 0.00 0.10 0.00

RS - 94582 172 1.23 41.32 36.73 79.28 0.93 0.18 0.18

LSD 5% 0.96 7.90 11.13 7.19 0.66 0.99 ns

* NH - Not Harvested

28

Table 3(b). Percent dry matter and bulbs occurring in saleable and unsaleable categories for plantings 5 and 6.

Variety % Do-Matter

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety % Do-

Matter Picklers No. 1 No. 1

Large Total Doubles Off-types Purple Bullnecks Seed

Heads

nanted:29.4.94

GRS - GoB 14.0 69.3 16.3 99.6 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.3

GRS - G1W 9.0 47.4 22.8 79.2 0.3 20.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

GRS - GIB 6.9 50.2 40.1 97.2 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.2

SPS - 778 4.7 50.7 42.5 98.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.2

SPS - ELW 26.1 64.8 7.3 98.2 1.3 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.3

SPS-LOC 7.9 63.8 28.1 99.7 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.1 0.0

NEU - GoB 9.9 54.3 34.0 98.2 0.6 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.6

ELS - GoB 11.4 53.5 33.3 98.2 0.7 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.2

SCH - GoB 26.4 64.3 6.2 97.0 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.0 0.0

REI - GoB 16.0 71.6 12.1 99.7 0.1 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0

NEW - ELB 8.9 26.8 7.5 43.1 0.3 0.1 56.0 0.1 0.3

YAT-516 8.0 66.4 23.2 97.6 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.7

YAT - 544

NRK 8.8 43.2 45.0 97.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.1 2.5

HEN - RED

HEN - HEN 6.4 45.5 38.1 90.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.6 8.5

HEN - BRC 11.2 54.6 21.7 87.5 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.5 11.2

HEN - GRP 7.3 39.6 44.0 90.9 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.1 8.7

LSD 5% 4.6 7.3 6.8 2.9 ns 1.2 1.3 0.3 2.2

Planted:16.5.94

GRS - G1W 10.49 8.0 54.1 17.8 79.9 0.3 19.7 0.0 0.0 0.0

GRS - GIB 9.20 6.3 53.3 39.0 98.7 1.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0

SPS - 791 11.09 7.2 64.0 28.4 99.6 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.0

SPS - OME 10.09 7.7 41.0 49.2 97.8 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.6 0.3

SPS - SNO 10.64 12.8 65.5 19.6 97.8 1.4 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.2

NEW - LG 10.21 10.4 72.9 15.8 99.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.0

HEN - ESW 10.47 11.0 52.6 33.7 97.3 0.0 1.6 0.0 0.3 0.8

YAT - 512 12.66 7.7 67.5 19.6 94.8 0.4 0.0 0.1 0.5 4.2

YAT - 516 9.81 9.1 71.0 19.6 99.8 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YAT - 501 5.5 56.9 18.2 80.6 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 18.4

YAT - 544 10.07 7.1 51.2 38.3 96.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.2 2.7

YAT-CEN 11.22 12.6 75.0 11.5 99.1 0.0 0.6 0.0 0.3 0.0

RS - 94286 9.98 9.0 62.8 24.6 96.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 1.9 1.5

RS - 94293 10.02 7.9 50.2 39.4 97.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7 1.8

RS - 94518 9.99 12.0 55.9 30.6 98.6 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.4 0.7

RS - 94582 10.64 6.3 57.1 32.6 95.9 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.3 2.7

LSD 5% 1.03 6.3 9.9 9.9 3.3 0.6 1.2 ns 0.9 3.1

29

Table 4(b). Bulb description and storage data for plantings 5 and 6.

Variety Number of Shells

Shape Skin Colour Soundncs s %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating*

Firmness Variety Number of Shells

Shape Skin Colour Soundncs s %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating*

Harvest 12 wks

Planted: 29.4.94

GRS - GoB 2.4 Globe Light-Gold 100 100 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

GRS - G1W 2.6 Globe White 88 22 2 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

GRS - GIB 3.1 Globe/Flat Dark-Brown 100 55 0 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

SPS - 778 2.9 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 44 0 Firm Firm

SPS - ELW 2.1 Globe White 93 11 3 Firm Soft-Firm

SPS-LOC 2.6 Globe/Flat White 95 77 2 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

NEU - GoB 2.4 Globe Light-Gold 100 11 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

ELS - GoB 2.4 Globe Light-Gold 100 11 0 Firm Soft-Firm

SCH - GoB 2.2 Globe Light-Gold 97 55 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

REI - GoB 2.2 Globe Light-Gold 100 55 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

NEW - ELB 2.6 Globe Mid-Brown 88 88 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

YAT-516 2.4 Globe Light-Brown 92 66 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

YAT - 544

NRK 2.7 Elongated Mid-Brown 100 55 0 Firm-Hard Firm

HEN - RED

HEN - HEN 2.8 Top Light-Brown 97 88 0 Firm Firm

HEN - BRC 2.3 Top/Globe Light-Brown 93 8 0 Firm Soft-Firm

HEN - GRP 2.6 Top Light-Brown 100 100 0 Firm Firm

Planted: 16.5.94

GRS - G1W 2.1 Globe/Top White 88 33 1 Firm-Hard Firm

GRS - GIB 2.0 Flat/Globe Mid-Brown 100 55 0 Firm-Hard Firm

SPS - 791 2.7 Flat/Globe/T Light-Brown 100 77 0 Firm-Hard Hard

SPS - OME 3.3 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 66 0 Firm Soft-Firm

SPS - SNO 2.7 Globe/Top White 95 66 0 Firm Firm

NEW - LG 2.2 Globe Gold 100 0 0 Firm-Hard Firm

HEN - ESW 3.2 Globe/Top White 93 44 1 Firm-Hard Firm

YAT - 512 2.9 Globe Dark-Brown 100 3 0 Hard Hard

YAT-516 2.0 Globe Light-Brown 100 11 0 Firm-Hard Hard

YAT - 501 3.0 Globe/Top White 97 33 1 Firm-Hard Firm

YAT - 544 2.4 Globe White 100 33 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

YAT-CEN 3.0 Globe Mid-Brown 100 0 0 Hard Hard

RS - 94286 3.0 Globe/Top White 97 0 1 Firm-Hard Firm

RS - 94293 3.0 FlafGlobe/T Mid-Brown 97 44 0 Firm Hard

RS - 94518 2.7 Globe/Top White 95 0 0 Hard Firm

RS - 94582 2.7 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 77 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

* Greening Scale: 0 - nil; 1 - very slight; 2 - slight; 3 - marked; 4 - pronounced.

30

Table 2(c). Number of days to harvest and yield data (t/ha) for plantings 7 and 8.

Variety Days to Harvest

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety Days to

Harvest Picklcrs No. 1 No. 1

Large Total Doubles Off-types Purple

Planted: 31.5.94

SPS - OME 163 1.31 37.87 46.93 86.11 0.23 0.48 0.12

SPS - SNO 157 2.75 48.09 15.99 66.83 0.77 0.49 0.00

SPS-791 157 1.12 58.18 18.37 77.67 0.06 0.46 0.12

YAT - 501 167 1.29 45.35 12.52 59.16 0.00 0.57 0.00

YAT-512 171 1.96 49.46 14.62 66.04 0.57 0.00 0.00

YAT-CEN 171 2.14 49.9 9.13 61.17 0.09 0.58 0.00

YAT-GLA 171 2.85 50.74 9.29 62.88 0.00 1.39 0.00

HEN - RED 163 1.80 54.61 19.69 76.10 0.00 0.00 0.00

HEN - BRC 157 2.19 44.66 19.07 65.92 0.25 0.36 0.00

HEN - HEN 163 2.11 50.53 28.73 81.37 0.39 0.20 0.09

HEN - GRP 163 2.83 41.20 33.62 77.65 0.00 0.50 0.06

MAG - IP NH*

MAG - 2SB NH

LSD 5% 0.98 10.51 15.94 ns 0.48 0.64 ns

Planted: 16.6.94

SPS - OME 147 1.71 36.96 23.86 62.53 0.10 0.04 0.20

SPS - SNO 147 7.89 40.34 1.32 49.46 0.52 0.15 0.08

SPS - 791 147 3.61 53.27 0.66 57.84 0.00 0.25 0.08

SPS - 767 155 0.52 13.02 24.59 38.12 0.40 0.00 0.00

YAT-CEN 161 5.15 38.52 0.29 43.96 0.00 0.62 0.00

YAT-GLA 161 4.80 42.61 0.71 48.12 0.18 0.57 0.00

NRK 147 2.36 51.39 6.25 60.00 0.00 0.10 0.00

HEN-ESW 147 4.34 48.00 6.50 54.84 0.00 1.25 0.0

MAG - 3VE NH

MAG - 4VR NH

RS - 94286 147 4.12 52.02 2.91 59.05 0.18 0.00 0.00

RS - 94293 147 4.21 48.44 7.55 60.21 0.06 0.04 0.00

RS - 94518 147 3.71 48.96 2.68 51.64 0.00 0.43 0.00

RS - 94599 147 6.04 41.70 0.87 48.61 0.00 0.12 0.00

LSD 5% 1.67 8.00 6.77 6.88 ns 0.44 ns

* NH- Not Harve sted

31

Table 3(c). Percent dry matter and bulbs occurring in saleable and unsaleable categories for plantings 7 and 8.

Variety % Dry Matter

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety

% Dry Matter

Picklers No. 1 No. 1 Large

Total Doubles Off-types Purple Bullnecks Seed Heads

Planted: 31.5.94

SPS - OME 9.29 5.8 50.7 42.2 98.7 0.2 0.6 0.1 0.2 0.2

SPS - SNO 10.28 11.5 71.9 15.3 98.7 0.8 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0

SPS - 791 11.18 5.2 75.8 18.1 99.1 0.1 0.6 0.2 0.0 0.0

YAT - 501 11.68 5.8 69.8 12.9 88.5 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 10.7

YAT-512 12.90 8.4 74.7 13.8 97.0 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.9 1.5

YAT-CEN 12.35 9.1 78.6 9.9 97.7 0.1 0.8 0.0 1.0 0.4

YAT-GLA 12.14 10.4 75.2 8.9 94.5 0.0 1.7 0.0 3.6 0.2

HEN - RED 9.93 7.3 75.0 17.7 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

HEN - BRC 9.88 9.0 71.2 18.7 98.8 0.4 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0

HEN - HEN 9.10 7.9 66.6 24.7 99.2 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.0 0.0

HEN - GRP 9.14 11.0 59.0 29.2 99.2 0.0 0.7 0.1 0.0 0.0

MAG - IP

MAG - 2SB

LSD 5% 0.98 2.8 12.3 11.6 3.4 ns 0.8 ns 1.5 2.4

Planted: 16.6.94

SPS - OME 8.57 8.2 64.9 24.7 97.7 0.1 0.6 0.3 1.3

SPS - SNO 9.51 27.9 69.7 1.3 98.9 0.7 0.3 0.1 0.0

SPS - 791 9.87 13.6 85.3 0.6 99.6 0.0 0.3 0.1 0.0

SPS - 767 7.84 5.8 45.2 47.9 99.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YAT-CEN 11.55 21.3 77.2 0.3 98.8 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.2

YAT-GLA 11.05 19.2 77.1 0.7 97.0 0.3 0.7 0.0 1.8

NRK 8.34 8.4 84.6 6.8 99.8 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0

HEN - ESW 9.12 15.7 76.0 6.4 98.1 0.0 1.9 0.0 0.0

MAG - 3VE

MAG -4VR

RS - 94286 8.88 15.0 82.0 2.8 99.8 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0

RS - 94293 8.55 15.8 76.4 7.6 99.8 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.0

RS-94518 9.20 13.5 82.8 3.0 99.3 0.0 0.7 0.0 0.0

RS - 94599 9.97 21.6 77.3 0.9 99.8 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0

LSD 5% 1.01 5.2 9.7 8.4 1.2 ns 0.8 ns 0.7

32

Table 4(c). Bulb description and storage data for plantings 7 and 8.

Variety Number of Shells

Shape Skin Colour Soundness %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating*

Firmness Variety Number of Shells

Shape Skin Colour Soundness %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating*

Harvest 12 wks

Planted: 31.5.94

SPS - OME 3.4 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 8 0 Firm Firm

SPS - SNO 3.0 Globe/Top White 90 66 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

SPS - 791 2.7 Flat/Globe/To Light-Brown 100 44 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

YAT - 501 2.5 Globe/Top White 100 0 1 Firm-Hard Firm

YAT-512 3.2 Globe Mid-Brown 100 88 0 Hard Hard

YAT-CEN 3.0 Globe Mid-Brown 100 66 0 Hard Hard

YAT-GLA 2.4 Globe/Top Dark-Brown 100 88 0 Hard Hard

HEN - RED 2.4 Flat/Globe/To Red 100 77 0 Firm-Hard Firm

HEN - BRC 2.3 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 77 0 Firm-Hard Firm

HEN - HEN 3.0 Flat/Globe/To Light-Brown 100 66 0 Soft-Firm Firm

HEN - GRP 2.8 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 66 0 Firm-Hard Firm

MAG - IP

MAG - 2SB

Planted: 16.6.94

SPS - OME 2.4 Flat/Top Light-Brown 100 11 0 Firm-Hard Firm

SPS - SNO 2.5 Flat/Globe/To White 85 50 1 Firm Soft-Firm

SPS - 791 2.4 Flat/Globe/To Light-Brown 100 33 0 Firm-Hard Firm

SPS - 767 2.5 Flat/Globe/To Light-Brown 100 33 2 Firm Firm

YAT - CEN 2.8 Globe Mid-Brown 100 22 1 Hard Hard

YAT - GLA 2.9 Globe Dark-Brown 100 44 0 Hard Hard

NRK 2.9 Globe/Top Light-Brown 100 44 0 Firm-Hard Firm

HEN-ESW 2.8 Globe White 85 22 3 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

MAG - 3VE

MAG -4VR

RS - 94286 2.7 Flat/Globe Mid-Brown 100 66 0 Firm Firm

RS - 94293 2.2 Globe/Top Mid-Brown 100 22 0 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

RS-94518 2.8 Top/Globe/Fl White 93 44 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

RS - 94599 3.4 Flat/Globe White 79 11 3 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm

* Greening Scale: 0 - nil; 1 - very slight; 2 - slight; 3 - marked; 4 - pronounced.

33

Section 3 - 1995 Trial Series

Materials and Methods

Eight plantings (28/2, 14/3, 30/3, 11/4, 26/4, 16/5, 30/5 and 13/6) were undertaken, 3 replicates or plots of each entry were established. Each plot consisted of a pair of twin rows (used to determine yield) and a single guard row on either side. Plots were established on beds with 1.5m centres (Figure 1). Germination tests were conducted prior to planting and an amount of seed to achieve slightly more than the desired plant stand was determined. Plant stands were hand thinned to an intra row spacing of 75mm to give a plant population of 53 plants/m . Plots were 5m long and yield was measured from 4m of each of the twin rows leaving a buffer of 0.5m at each end of the plot. Varieties were harvested when 80-100% of the tops were down and allowed to dry in trays before mechanical grading.

Figure 1. Layout of rows within a plot on 1.5m wide beds.

At harvest, the number of seed stems and bullnecks were counted. When grading the number of doubles and off-types (off-colours) were recorded as well as the numbers within the pickling, No. 1 and No. 1 large grades. These grades refer to bulb diameters with the pickling grade being 20-40mm, the No. 1 grade 40-75mm and No. 1 grade being greater than 75mm.

Immediately after harvest, 20 bulbs were randomly selected from the remaining unharvested portion of the central rows of each plot. Five of these were used to determine dry matter and the remaining 15 were stored in racks to determine the effect of storage on bulb quality. Two weeks after harvest the bulbs were tested for firmness. After a further 8-10 weeks, the bulbs were assessed for the number of skins (broken and complete), skin colour, bulb shape, soundness (incidence of breakdown), firmness, degree of greening (0-nil; l-very slight; 2-slight; 3-marked; 4-pronounced) and incidence of sooty or black mould {Aspergillus niger).

Seven commercial seed companies, and four local seed growers contribute varieties for assessment. In addition, varieties developed at Gatton Research Station were also entered in various plantings. The seven seed companies were New World, Sandoz Seeds, Lefroy Valley East, Magnus Kahl, South Pacific, Yates and Hendersons.

34

Local seed growers who participated were Tom Else, Reg Neuendorf, Des Reisenleiter and Edgar Schulz.

The climatic data for 1995 are presented in Table 1 where certain components are compared with corresponding long-term averages.

Table 1 Average maximum and minimum monthly temperatures and monthly rainfall for 1995 as well as monthly daylength range for Gatton Research Station.

Month Av max temp (UC) Av mir I temp (UC) Rainfall (mm) Daylength (hrs) Month 1995 Long-term 1995 Long-term 1995 Long-term

Daylength (hrs)

January 31.4 29.8 18.6 18.2 76.4 113.0 14.1 - 13.7 February 29.7 30.5 19.9 18.8 183.0 100.3 13.7- 13.1 March 30.8 29.1 16.9 17.1 55.8 80.8 13.1 - 12.2 April 27.3 26.3 12.8 14.8 34.0 53.1 12.2- 11.4. May 23.7 22.6 12.1 9.8 21.2 43.9 11.4- 10.8 June 20.4 21.0 7.7 7.4 35.0 44.2 10.8- 10.6 July 20.7 20.3 5.7 6.1 32.0 41.0 10.6-10.9 August 22.9 21.4 7.2 6.5 8.6 27.9 10.9- 11.6 September 25.5 24.7 10.5 9.1 25.7 35.7 11.6-12.4 October 28.0 27.7 13.2 12.8 56.4 65.6 12.4--13.0 November 30.9 29.1 17.6 15.7 203.2 74.1 13.0- 13.9 December 30.1 L_ 29.6 17.9 16.5 179.6 98.6 13.9--14.1

Results and Discussion

All eight planned plantings in 1995 were successfully completed. Yields expressed in t/ha of saleable onions (picklers, No. 1 grade and No. 1 grade large) as well as yields of reject bulbs (doubles, off-types and coloured) are presented in Tables 2(a) (plantings 1 and 2), 2 (b) (plantings 3 and 4), 2 (c) (plantings 5 and 6) and 2 (d) (plantings 7 and 8). Similarly, the percentages of bulbs per plot falling into the various categories presented in Tables 2(a), 2(b), 2(c) and 2(d) and additionally dry matter and seed stem production are presented in Tables 3(a) (plantings 1 and 2), 3(b) (plantings 3 and 4). 3(c) (plantings 5 and 6) and 3(d) (plantings 7 and 8). Shape, colour and storage details from the various plantings are presented in Tables 4(a) (plantings 1 and 2), 4(b) (plantings 3 and 4), 4(c) (plantings 5 and 6) and 4(d) (plantings 7 and 8).

Seasonal conditions

Although most of the growing season received below average rainfall, a severe outbreak of downy mildew affected yields in plantings 4-6. Minimum temperatures were not as low as the previous year and possibly was the major reason for the lower incidence of seed stems production compared to the previous year. Varieties that produced more than 50% seed stems or those that did not bulb were not harvested. The occurrence of doubles was evident in the first five plantings, but was negligible in the last three plantings. The cause of this undesirable character is not fully understood, but breeding, nutrition and climate are involved. Doubling was widely reported in early and mid-season commercial crops as well.

35

The continuing drought conditions throughout most of the season and the resultant decline in water quality affected plant vigour in all plantings. Pink root {Pyrenochaeta terrestris) was quite prevalent in all varieties in the later plantings. This disease was also widespread in commercial sowings in 1995. The high temperatures experienced in October and November would have favoured the development of this disease.

Early season varieties (Plantings 1-3; February - March)

Early Lockyer Whites

The Neuendorf strain produced the highest yields in all three plantings. This strain originated from a selection by Brooking which has been recognised as a superior selection in the past. The Else strain which was also derived from the Brooking selection was not available for testing in 1995. The Neuendorf strain did however produce the highest incidence of doubles (Tables 3(a) and (b)). The Reisenleiter strain was the most consistent of the remaining lines. The flat shoulder which was common in the Schulz strain is an undesirable character.

Browns

The best onion variety grown during this period was the Golden Brown. A number of local strains as well as an South Pacific Seeds (SPS) selection were tested. The Else strain was the most consistent high yielding strain. A number of new brown strains entered by Magnus Kahl Seeds (MKS) showed initial promise in that most of them bulbed in response to the short daylengths, but either poor shape (pointed bulbs) or high incidence of doubling indicated that they would not compete with the Golden Brown variety. The Henderson line 673 also yielded well in the second planting but produced pointed bulbs and was not harvested in later plantings (3 and 4) because of excessive seed stem production. The Sandoz Seeds lines 355 and 360 which were entered in the third planting bulbed up well but again bulb shape was pointed and thus lacked appeal compared to Golden Brown.

The other brown to feature at these planting times was Early Lockyer Brown which is an old variety maintained at Gatton Research Station. While it is well adapted to these early plantings and produces a uniform globe shaped bulb, its main detraction is the low incidence of discoloured (primarily purple) off-types produced.

Reds

The only red variety entered in this group of plantings was SPS 837 which is possibly the earliest red variety available. While bulb shape was not ideal, it offers potential as an early season red.

Mid-Season Varieties (Plantings 4, 5 and 6; April - mid May)

Whites

Of the two white varieties included in the fourth planting (GRS-Gladalan White (Wallon White) and Henderson's 681), the Gladalan White was marginally suited to this planting time while in the other line seed stem production was excessive (42%). In the fifth planting. the Gladalan White and the Else mid-season white performed satisfactorily.

36

All of the whites (7) entered in the sixth planting were adapted to this time of planting. The line that was most attractive was the Lefroy Valley East line RS94518 particularly because of its storage ability.

Browns

There was a wide range of browns entered in this group of plantings. Traditionally, this planting period has been dominated in the early part of the season by Golden Browns and in the later part by Gladalan Brown. In the first of the mid-season plantings, Golden Brown strains continued to dominate with the Else strain continuing to stand out. The early selection of Gladalan Brown (Wallon Brown) also yielded well producing well shaped firm bulbs but seed stem production (10%) detracts from the appeal of this variety. Selection is continuing to try to reduce this level of seed stem production. The recently released Yates hybrid Z516 also performed well in this planting.

In the fifth planting the Golden Brown strains continued to perform well demonstrating the versatility of this variety to adapt to a wide range of planting dates. Again Wallon Brown yielded well but seed stem production remained around the 10% level. The Yates' hybrids Z516 and Z550 also dominated in this planting. The Sandoz Seed's line SG355 performed well although bulbs tended to produce pointed bases rather than the preferred globe shape.

A number of promising browns were entered in the sixth planting and these warrant further evaluation. These include the Yates' hybrids E511 and Z512, Magnus Kahl lines 688 and 817 and Lefroy Valley East's RS94293. Wallon Brown also performed well in this planting as did the control varieties Omega and Gladiator.

Reds

The only red variety entered was Henderson's Red Rojo which was entered in the sixth planting where it bulbed satisfactorily. Bulb quality however, was only marginal.

Late Season Varieties (Plantings 7 and 8; late May to mid June)

Whites

The only whites entered in this group of plantings were Yates' A544 and Else's mid-season white. These were entered in the seventh planting where A544 was the better of the two.

Browns

Again the control brown varieties Omega and Gladiator performed well in these plantings. The SPS line 846 was particularly impressive in both plantings. Other lines to stand out were Yates' E511 in the seventh planting and the Henderson entries 640, 641 and 674. Line 640 and SPS 846 were the outstanding entries in the eighth planting.

37

Downy Mildew Rating

There was an opportunity to rate all varieties in the last three plantings for severity of downy mildew infection as no entries in these plantings had been harvested when the outbreak had reached its peak. Ratings were done on a 1-5 scale with 1 representing 0-20% incidence of leaf infection and 5 representing 80-100% infection. The intervening ratings progressed in 20% intervals. The ratings for planting 6 are reported in Table 4(c) and for the last two plantings in Table 4(d). As can be seen from these tables, most entries were quite susceptible. However, the Lefroy Valley East entry RS Crop Early Globe which was entered in all three plantings that were rated had the best resistance. However, this variety is not adapted to the daylengths occurring during these plantings resulting in partial bulb development, but it does offer potential to be utilised in plant breeding programs as a source of resistance to this major onion disease.

The other entry that showed consistent tolerance of the disease was the commercial Yates, hybrid Gladiator. It should be noted that of the three plantings, the disease was most severe in the sixth planting where the Magnus Kahl entry 688 demonstrated good resistance. This entry was mentioned above as having potential as a mid season variety as it was relatively high yielding and bulb characters were satisfactory.

38

LEGEND

GRS-ELW Gatton Research Station - Early Lockyer White (Barton White) GRS-ELB Gatton Research Station - Early Lockyer Brown (Barton Brown) GRS-GoB Gatton Research Station - Golden Brown (Schroedon Brown) GRS-GLW Gatton Research Station - Gladalan White (Wallon White) GRS-GLB Gatton Research Station - Gladalan Brown (Wallon Brown) ELS-GoB Else - Golden Brown ELS-LAW Else- Late White NEU-ELW Neuendorf - Early Lockyer White NEU-GoB Neuendorf - Golden Brown NEU-WAB Neuendorf - Wallon Brown REI-ELW Reisenleiter - Early Lockyer White REI-GoB Reisenleiter - Golden Brown SCH-ELW Schulz - Early Lockyer White SCH-GoB Schulz - Golden Brown SPS-GoB South Pacific Seeds - Golden Brown SPS-OME South Pacific Seeds - Omega SPS-SNO South Pacific Seeds - Snowball SPS-767 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 767 SPS-791 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 791 SPS-837 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 837 SPS-846 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 846 SPS-848 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 848 SPS-852 South Pacific Seeds - Experimental Line 852 HEN-BRC Hendersons Seeds - Bronco HEN-EAS Hendersons Seeds - Early Supreme White HEN-RED Hendersons Seeds - Red Rojo HEN-640 Hendersons Seeds - Experimental Line S.640.G HEN-641 Hendersons Seeds - Experimental Line S.641.G HEN-673 Hendersons Seeds - Experimental Line S.673.E HEN-674 Hendersons Seeds - Experimental Line S.674.E HEN-680 Hendersons Seeds - Experimental Line S.680.C HEN-681 Hendersons Seeds - Experimental Line S.681.C YAT-GLA Yates Seeds - Gladiator YAT-E510 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line E510 YAT-E511 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line E511 YAT-Z512 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXZ512 YAT-Z516 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXZ516 YAT-A544 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXA544 YAT-Z550 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXZ550 YAT-Z551 Yates Seeds - Experimental Line YXZ551 RS-CEG Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis - Crop Early Globe RS-RED Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis - Red Comet RS-236 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94236 RS-286 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94286 RS-289 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94289 RS-293 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94293 RS-518 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94518 RS-582 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94582 RS-599 Lefroy Valley East - Royal Sluis Experimental Line - 94599

39

MKS-7 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • • V50-7 MKS-9 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • - V50-9 MKS-60 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line -• V50-60 MKS-489 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • • V50-489 MKS-688 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line -• V50-688 MKS-735 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • • V50-735 MKS-815 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line -•V50-815 MKS-817 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • -V50-817 MKS-822 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line -• V50-822 MKS-890 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • • V50-890 MKS-892 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line -- V50-892 MKS-944 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • • V50-944 MKS-950 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line -• V50-950 MKS-2000 Magnus Kahl Seeds - Experimental Line • • V50-2000 SG-355 Sandoz Seeds - Experimental Line -• ON 355 SG-358 Sandoz Seeds - Experimental Line -• ON 358 SG-360 Sandoz Seeds - Experimental Line - ON 360 NW-LOG New World - Lockyer Gold NW-G33 New World - Granex 33

40

Table 2(a). Number of days to harvest and yield data (t/ha) for plantings 1 and 2.

Variety Days to

Harvest

SALEABLE REJECTS

Variety Days to

Harvest

Picklers N o . l No. 1

Large

Total Doubles Off-Types Purple

Planted:28.2.95

GRS - ELW 142 9.4 29.1 4.1 42.7 3.8 0.1 0.0

GRS - ELB 149 6.1 23.9 7.3 37.3 1.4 2.0 1.4

GRS- GOB 161 4.5 18.3 8.1 31.0 7.8 0.4 0.0

NEU-ELW 142 8.3 45.3 4.7 58.3 3.3 0.2 0.0

SCH-ELW 142 12.9 22.2 4.3 39.4 1.5 2.2 0.0

REI - ELW 161 4.1 19.5 9.7 43.3 9.1 0.0 0.0

SPS - GOB 161 7.4 35.9 12.0 55.3 9.4 0.5 0.1

SPS-848 NH*

LSD 5% 5.6 10.4 3.9 10.8 2.8 0.9 0.4

Planted:14.3.95

GRS - ELW 135 8.2 19.9 1.1 29.2 0.9 0.4 0.0

GRS - ELB 135 7.3 31.5 2.1 40.9 0.7 2.3 0.5

GRS - GOB 164 4.4 37.4 13.5 55.3 10.5 0.0 0.0

NEU - ELW 164 2.8 32.3 19.0 54.2 14.5 0.3 0.0

NEU - GOB 164 4.2 37.1 10.2 51.5 11.2 0.1 0.0

ELS - GOB 164 4.0 40.7 16.2 60.9 7.9 0.4 0.0

SCH - ELW 135 6.5 25.4 0.2 32.2 2.2 1.3 0.0

SCH - GOB 148 5.8 36.0 1.9 43.8 1.6 0.9 0.3

REI - ELW 168 2.7 34.0 9.6 46.2 10.4 0.0 0.0

REI-GOB 164 3.5 39.3 13.9 56.7 7.6 0.3 0.1

SPS-GOB 164 3.0 34.5 11.1 48.5 9.2 0.5 0.3

SPS-848 NH

SPS - 837 184 2.9 33.2 8.4 44.6 17.3 0.0 0.0

HEN - 673 184 0.7 25.6 26.2 54.5 9.0 0.0 0.0

HEN - 680 NH

MKS-735 177 0.6 36.5 15.0 52.0 21.9 0.0 0.0

MKS-890 177 4.5 26.8 5.7 37.0 11.1 1.6 0.0

MKS-892 177 2.3 29.7 15.6 47.6 11.9 0.0 0.0

RS - 94286 NH

RS-94518 NH

RS - 94581 NH

RS - 94599 NH

RS-RED NH

LSD 5% 2.1 ns 2.5 15.0 1.8 0.3 ns

* NH - Not Harvested

41

Table 3(a). Percent dry matter and bulbs occurring in saleable and unsaleable categories for plantings 1 and 2.

Variety % Dry

Matter

SALEABLE REJECTS

Variety % Dry

Matter

Picklers No. 1 No.l

Large

Total Doubles Off-types Purple Builneck s

Seed

Heads

Plantcd:28.2.95

GRS - ELW 10.21 44.8 43.3 3.2 91.2 3.4 0.2 0.0 5.2 0.0

GRS - ELB 9.68 33.0 45.9 7.2 86.2 1.6 6.0 3.0 3.1 0.0

GRS- GOB 10.41 32.9 44.3 7.7 84.8 9.3 0.4 0.0 5.4 0.0

NEU - ELW 9.86 30.0 61.0 3.4 94.4 4.3 0.6 0.0 0.8 0.0

SCH - ELW 9.96 56.0 35.1 3.1 94.2 1.7 3.9 0.0 0.2 0.0

REI - ELW 10.95 28.3 51.6 9.7 89.6 8.3 0.0 0.0 2.1 0.0

SPS-GOB 10.49 30.2 47.3 8.2 85.6 7.3 0.9 0.3 5.8 0.0

SPS-848 NH

LSD 5% 0.92 17.0 11.7 3.9 ns 3.5 2.2 0.6 ns ns

Planted:14.3.95

GRS - ELW 21.12 43.1 51.9 1.2 96.2 0.2 0.8 0.0 2.9 0.0

GRS - ELB 10.06 33.4 56.1 1.7 91.2 0.9 6.4 1.3 0.2 0.0

GRS- GOB 10.41 18.8 60.0 11.9 90.7 9.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

NEU - ELW 10.57 12.6 54.1 18.1 84.8 13.6 1.0 0.0 0.4 0.2

NEU - GOB 10.79 17.3 61.8 9.1 88.2 10.2 0.2 0.0 1.5 0.0

ELS-GOB 9.57 16.7 63.0 12.8 92.5 6.8 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.0

SCH - ELW 11.24 36.7 55.1 0.2 92.0 3.8 3.7 0.0 0.5 0.0

SCH - GOB 10.80 29.1 64.5 1.5 95.2 2.3 1.9 0.6 0.0 0.0

REI - ELW 11.26 13.1 65.0 6.5 87.6 11.1 0.5 0.0 0.3 0.5

REI-GOB 10.72 16.2 62.9 12.8 91.9 7.1 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2

SPS-GOB 10.52 13.9 58.3 10.9 83.1 9.2 0.6 0.4 5.9 0.8

SPS-848 NH

SPS - 837 11.09 10.4 39.5 7.1 57.0 19.1 0.0 0.0 8.6 15.3

HEN - 673 9.99 3.6 23.9 22.7 50.2 8.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 41.6

HEN - 680 NH

MKS-735 11.25 2.7 60.5 12.0 74.2 20.3 0.0 0.0 4.8 0.8

MKS-890 10.56 18.5 48.3 5.5 72.3 11.8 2.3 0.0 11.9 1.8

MKS-892 9.54 9.9 53.9 11.3 75.1 10.2 0.0 0.0 7.6 7.1

RS - 94286 NH

RS-94518 NH

RS - 94581 NH

RS - 94599 NH

RS-RED NH

LSD 5% 0.44 3.1 3.8 2.1 2.6 5.2 1.6 0.6 3.6 1.1

42

Table 4(a) Bulb description and storage data for plantings 1 and 2.

Variety Shells Shape Skin Colour

Soundness %

Black Mould %

Greening Rating*

Firmness Variety Shells Shape Skin Colour

Soundness %

Black Mould %

Greening Rating*

Harvest 12 Weeks

Planted:28.2.95

GRS-ELW 2.3 Globe White 100.0 17.8 Firm Son

GRS - ELB 2.7 Globe Brown 97.8 31.1 Firm Soft

GRS- GOB 2.4 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 31.1 Firm Soft

NEU-ELW 2.2 Globe White 93.3 46.7 Firm Soft

SCH - ELW 2.6 Flat/Globe White 86.7 11.1 2 Firm Firm-Soft

REI - ELW 2.6 Globe White 88.9 20.0 1.5 Firm Soft

SPS - GOB 2.9 Globe Gld Brown 97.8 40.0 Firm Soft

Planted:14.3.95

GRS - ELW 2.6 Globe White 91.1 42.2 Firm Soft

GRS - ELB 2.0 Globe Brown 97.8 26.7 Firm Soft

GRS - GOB 2.2 Globe Gld Brown 93.3 4.4 1.5 Firm Soft

NEU - ELW 2.7 Globe White 95.6 17.8 Firm Soft

NEU - GOB 2.4 Globe Gld Brown 93.3 17.8 Firm Firm-Soft

ELS-GOB 2.7 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 17.8 Firm Soft

SCH - ELW 3.0 Flat/Globe White 97.8 24.4 1.5 Firm Firm-Soft

SCH - GOB 2.4 Flat/top/Globe Gld Brown 93.3 33.3 Firm Soft

REI-ELW 3.0 Globe White 95.6 37.8 Firm Soft

REI-GOB 2.7 Globe Gld Brown 97.8 33.3 Firm Soft

SPS-GOB 2.7 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 8.9 Firm Firm-Soft

SPS -848

SPS - 837 2.4 Top/Globe Red 97.8 6.7 Firm Firm

HEN - 673 3.0 Elongated Lt Brown 86.7 13.3 Firm Soft

HEN - 680

MKS-735 3.2 Flat Dk Brown 95.6 44.4 Finn Firm-Soft

MKS-890 2.4 Elongated Brown 95.6 15.6 Firm Firm-Soft

MKS-892 2.6 Elongated Brown 100.0 4.4 Firm Soft-Firm

RS - 94286

RS - 94518

RS - 94581

RS - 94599

RS-RED

* Greening scale: 0 - nil; 1 - very slight; 2 - slight; 3 - marked; 4 - pronounced.

43

Table 2(b) Number of days to harvest and yield data (t/ha) for plantings 3 and 4.

Variety Days to

Harvest

SALEABLE REJECTS

Variety Days to

Harvest

Picklers N o . l No. 1

Large

Total Doubles Off-Types Purple

Planted:30.3.95

GRS-ELW 151 3.4 39.3 4.3 47.0 2.1 0.2 0.0

GRS - ELB 151 1.7 48.4 12.7 62.7 1.1 2.4 0.0

GRS- GOB 161 2.4 42.4 20.8 65.6 9.7 0.1 0.0

NEU - ELW 161 1.8 43.8 17.3 62.9 10.1 0.0 0.0

NEU - GOB 161 3.1 49.7 13.8 66.5 6.2 0.2 0.1

ELS - GOB 161 1.3 49.6 17.0 67.8 6.8 0.1 0.0

SCH - ELW 151 1.7 39.2 6.3 47.2 2.5 3.0 0.0

SCH - GOB 161 1.3 43.4 14.3 59.0 4.3 0.4 0.1

REI - ELW 161 2.3 43.1 6.3 51.7 6.3 0.2 0.0

REI - GOB 161 2.3 50.8 10.9 64.0 5.0 0.0 0.0

HEN - 673 NH*

MKS-7 NH

MKS-9 175 0.6 18.4 12.6 31.6 11.5 0.1 0.0

MKS-815 NH

MFCS-944 161 3.1 36.3 12.0 51.4 7.4 0.0 0.0

MKS-950 175 0.6 23.0 15.8 39.4 8.3 0.0 0.0

SG - 355 168 4.0 31.6 5.0 40.6 10.8 4.2 0.0

SG-360 168 2.4 33.7 8.7 44.8 9.2 0.3 0.0

LSD 5% 1.5 7.8 5.0 8.2 ' 4.3 1.3 ns

Planted:11.4.95

GRS - GOB 155 1.6 42.0 12.3 56.0 3.2 0.1 0.0

GRS-GLW 161 1.6 26.8 8.0 36.4 5.8 11.2 0.0

GRS - GLB 161 2.2 31.6 17.5 51.3 4.8 0.0 0.0

NEU - GOB 155 2.1 43.8 6.0 51.9 2.9 0.2 0.0

NEU - WAB 161 0.7 41.5 17.0 59.2 3.3 0.0 0.0

ELS-GOB 155 0.6 41.1 21.3 63.0 3.3 0.6 0.0

SCH - GOB 155 2.1 38.8 12.0 52.9 4.3 0.0 0.7

REI-GOB 161 2.5 44.6 7.1 54.2 4.0 0.0 0.0

YAT-E510 NH

YAT-Z516 155 1.8 36.3 12.1 50.1 1.7 0.2 0.0

YAT - Z550 155 1.9 42.6 2.6 47.0 1.5 2.5 0.0

SPS-GOB 161 1.2 41.1 11.0 53.4 5.8 0.6 0.0

SPS - 837 169 3.9 23.8 0.2 27.8 2.9 0.0 0.0

SPS-848 176 9.1 14.7 0.0 23.8 3.0 0.0 0.0

SPS - SNO 169 2.8 26.3 3.3 32.3 7.9 0.0 0.0

HEN - 673 NH

HEN - 680 NH

HEN - 681 169 1.4 21.2 3.9 26.4 2.9 0.2 0.0

NW-LOG 155 1.9 37.1 11.0 50.1 5.6 0.0 0.0

RS - CEG NH

LSD 5% 1.9 8.0 8.7 7.1 ns 1.9 ns

* NH - Not Harvested

44

Table 3(b) Percent dry matter and bulbs occurring in saleable and unsaleable categories for plantings 3 and 4.

Variety % Dry

Matter

SALEABLE REJECTS

Variety % Dry

Matter

Picklers No . l No.l

Large

Total Doubles Off-types Purple Bullnecks Seed

Heads

Ptanted:30.3.95

GRS - ELW 10.99 14.3 75.0 4.5 93.9 2.6 0.4 0.0 0.0 3.1

GRS - ELB 10.17 6.7 75.4 11.6 93.7 1.0 4.4 0.0 0.4 0.5

GRS- GOB 10.07 9.9 62.0 18.0 89.8 8.9 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.9

NEU - ELW 10.13 6.2 63.9 15.1 85.2 10.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.9

NEU - GOB 10.58 10.3 69.7 11.0 90.8 6.4 0.5 0.2 0.8 1.3

ELS-GOB 10.37 4.8 70.6 15.3 90.7 6.8 0.4 0.0 0.4 1.8

SCH - ELW 11.29 9.2 74.2 6.8 90.2 3.4 5.1 0.0 0.0 1.4

SCH - GOB 10.70 5.2 72.8 14.5 92.5 4.6 0.6 0.3 0.4 1.5

REI - ELW 10.69 9.7 75.3 6.5 91.5 7.8 0.2 0.0 0.2 0.2

REI-GOB 10.25 8.5 74.8 10.0 93.3 5.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.9

HEN - 673

M K S - 7

MKS-9 9.61 2.7 33.8 12.8 49.4 12.36 0.2 0.0 0.0 37.8

MRS-815

MKS-944 10.25 12.1 61.6 11.4 85.1 7.5 0.0 0.0 2.9 4.4

MRS-950 8.74 2.3 35.1 15.6 53.0 8.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.0

SG - 355 10.95 12.3 50.0 4.6 66.9 11.0 6.3 0.0 8.8 7.0

SG-360 10.21 8.9 57.5 9.4 75.7 10.6 0.2 0.0 1.0 12.5

LSD 5% 0.70 4.4 6.6 5.4 6.5 4.8 2.1 ns 3.4 4.4

Planted:11.4.95

GRS- GOB 9.83 7.6 73.6 13.4 94.5 4.0 0.2 0.0 0.2 1.1

GRS-GLW 10.53 7.8 47.3 7.8 62.9 6.6 17.1 0.0 0.0 13.4

GRS-GLB 9.25 11.5 55.6 17.7 84.8 6.4 0.0 0.0 0.7 8.1

NEU - GOB 9.79 9.2 78.1 6.6 93.9 3.8 0.8 0.0 0.4 1.2

NEU - WAB 9.59 3.3 66.4 14.9 84.6 4.4 0.0 0.0 0.8 10.2

ELS - GOB 9.30 2.8 67.3 22.1 92.2 4.2 1.2 0.0 0.9 1.5

SCH - GOB 9.75 11.7 68.6 12.9 93.2 4.3 0.0 0.7 0.4 1.3

REI-GOB 9.04 14.6 70.4 7.0 92.0 5.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 2.8

YAT-E510

YAT-Z516 10.69 6.8 68.0 14.8 89.6 2.3 0.2 0.0 0.6 7.3

YAT - Z550 10.56 7.5 77.3 3.0 87.8 2.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 6.1

SPS - GOB 9.18 5.2 68.0 10.8 84.0 7.4 0.6 0.0 1.5 6.4

SPS - 837 9.56 15.9 47.7 0.2 63.8 4.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 31.6

SPS-848 11.96 38.2 36.6 0.0 74.7 7.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 18.2

SPS - SNO 9.68 11.2 53.6 3.9 68.8 16.1 0.0 0.0 0.4 14.7

HEN - 673

HEN - 680

HEN - 681 10.67 7.7 40.6 4.7 53.1 4.4 0.2 0.0 0.0 42.3

NW-LOG 10.40 9.5 68.7 12.5 90.6 7.7 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.3

RS - CEG 4.9

LSD 5% 0.91 7.4 13.2 10.1 8.0 5.3 3.1 ns ns

45

Table 4(b). Bulb description and storage data for plantings 3 and 4.

Variety Sheas Shape Skin Colour Soundness

% Black

Mould %

Greening

Rating*

Firmness Variety Sheas Shape Skin Colour Soundness

% Black

Mould %

Greening

Rating*

Harvest 12 Weeks

Plantcd:30.3.95

GRS - ELW 2.2 Globe White 68.9 11.1 3 Firm Firm-Soft

GRS - ELB 2.1 Globe Brown 84.4 2.2 1 Firm Soft

GRS- GOB 2.6 Globe Gld Brown 91.1 13.3 1 Firm Soft

NEU - ELW 2.4 Globe White 97.8 8.9 1 Firm Firm

NEU - GOB 2.0 Globe Gld Brown 95.6 11.1 2 Firm Firm-Soft

ELS - GOB 1.8 Globe Gld-Brown 97.8 15.6 1 Firm Soft

SCH - ELW 2.7 Flat/Globe White 82.2 20.0 3 Firm Soft

SCH - GOB 1.9 Globe Gld Brown 95.6 8.9 2 Firm Firm-Soft

REI - ELW 2.3 Globe White 97.8 6.7 1 Firm Firm

REI - GOB 2.3 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 6.7 4 Firm Firm-Soft

HEN - 673

MKS-7

MKS-9 2.4 Elongated Brown 91.1 24.4 1 Firm Firm-Soft

MKS-815

MKS-944 2.2 Globe/Bottom Lt Brown 100.0 37.8 1 Firm Firm-Soft

MKS-950 2.3 Elongated Brown 97.8 15.6 1 Firm Soft

SG - 355 3.4 Elongated Lt Brown 97.8 31.1 1 Firm-Hard Firm

SG-360 2.2 Top/Globe Brown 97.8 31.1 1 Firm Firm

Planted:11.4.95

GRS-GOB 2.6 Globe Gld Brown 95.6 11.1 1 Firm-Hard Soft

GRS-GLW 3.1 Globe White 100.0 4.4 3.5 Firm-Hard Firm

GRS-GLB 2.6 Globe Brown 100.0 6.7 1 Firm Firm

NEU-GOB 2.7 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 8.9 1 Firm Soft

NEU - WAB 2.4 Globe Lt Brown 100.0 24.4 2 Firm-Hard Firm-Soft

ELS-GOB 2.6 Globe Gld Brown 97.8 2.2 3 Firm Soft

SCH - GOB 2.7 Flat/Globe Gld Brown 73.3 0.0 2 Firm Soft

REI-GOB 2.4 Globe Gld Brown 97.8 15.6 2 Firm-Hard Firm

YAT - E510

YAT-Z516 2.6 Globe Brown 97.8 8.9 2 Firm-Hard Firm

YAT - Z550 2.4 Globe Lt Brown 97.8 2.2 3 Firm-Hard Firm

SPS-GOB 2.1 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 17.8 1 Firm-Hard Firm-Soft

SPS - 837 2.6 Elongated Red 100.0 0 0 Firm Firm-Soft

SPS-848 4.6 Top/Globe Dk Brown 100.0 31.1 1 Firm-Hard Firm

SPS - SNO 3.6 Globe White 100.0 6.7 3 Firm-Hard Soft

HEN - 673

HEN -680

HEN - 681 2.3 Mix/Globe White 93.3 2.2 2 Firm Firm-soft

NW-LOG 2.7 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 22.2 2 Firm Firm

RS - CEG

* Greening scale: 0 - nil; 1 - very slight; 2 - slight; 3 - marked; 4 - pronounced.

46

Table 2(c) Number of days to harvest and yield (t/ha) data for plantings 5 and 6.

Variety Days to

Harvest

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety Days to

Harvest

Picklcrs No. l No. 1

Large

Total Doubles Off-Types Purple

Plantcd:26.4.95 GRS -GOB 147 4.5 45.3 1.6 51.4 1.7 0.2 0.0 GRS - GLW 155 4.6 33.2 0.5 38.3 0.8 10.9 0.0 GRS - GLB 155 3.4 47.4 9.0 59.8 2.2 0.0 0.0 NEU - GOB 147 5.3 42.6 0.2 48.0 1.2 0.2 0.0 NEU - WAB 155 2.4 46.2 8.4 57.0 3.4 0.0 0.0 ELS - GOB 147 3.9 51.0 0.4 55.4 1.3 0.4 0.0 ELS - LAW 155 4.2 46.8 1.0 51.9 0.9 0.4 0.0 SCH - GOB 147 4.6 44.2 2.2 51.0 1.4 0.8 0.0 REI - GOB 155 5.9 47.7 0.7 54.0 0.4 0.2 0.0 YAT-E510 NH* YAT-E511 NH YAT-Z512 NH YAT-Z516 147 9.7 36.5 0.0 46.2 0.7 0.0 0.0 YAT - Z550 147 2.2 50.5 0.6 53.2 0.7 0.0 0.0 YAT-Z551 NH YAT - A544 NH HEN - BRC 162 3.2 18.9 0.2 22.2 0.6 0.2 0.0 HEN - EAS NH HEN - RED NH MKS-2000 162 4.4 19.1 1.1 24.6 0.4 0.0 0.0 SG - 355 155 6.6 34.9 0.2 41.7 2.7 2.1 0.0 SG-360 155 6.6 29.6 0.2 36.4 3.1 0.0 0.0 NW-LOG 155 4.4 45.2 3.1 52.7 1.2 1.0 0.1

LSD 5% 2.6 6.3 1.7 6.1 1.2 0.9 ns

Planted:16.5.95 GRS-GLW 168 11.3 26.7 0.0 38.0 0.3 2.2 GRS - GLB 150 6.7 42.3 1.0 50.1 0.0 0.0 NEU - WAB 150 10.8 34.2 0.0 45.0 0.0 0.0 ELS - LAW 150 18.3 16.7 0.0 35.0 0.0 0.1 YAT-E510 169 6.0 35.0 0.6 41.5 0.0 0.0 YAT-E511 169 3.8 40.7 0.4 45.0 0.0 0.9

YAT - Z512 177 16.6 16.9 0.0 33.5 0.0 0.0 YAT-Z516 150 21.0 13.6 0.0 34.6 0.0 0.0 YAT - A544 168 6.8 30.7 0.0 37.5 0.1 0.0 YAT - Z550 150 11.5 22.3 0.0 33.8 0.0 0.0 YAT-Z551 169 14.8 16.7 0.2 31.6 0.0 0.0 YAT - GLA 181 7.4 36.4 0.0 43.8 0.0 0.2 SPS - OME 168 5.3 37.9 0.0 43.2 0.0 0.0 SPS - SNO 168 15.3 18.9 0.0 34.2 0.0 0.0 SPS - 791 168 8.9 27.6 0.0 36.6 0.0 0.0 HEN - BRS 168 11.9 24.7 0.0 36.6 0.0 0.0 HEN - EAS 168 14.0 24.6 0.0 38.7 0.0 0.0 HEN - RED 169 15.8 17.8 0.0 33.6 0.0 0.0

MKS-60 169 10.7 27.4 0.0 38.1 0.1 0.0 MKS-489 177 20.2 17.6 0.0 37.8 0.0 0.2 MKS-688 202 5.8 40.4 0.0 46.1 2.1 0.0

MKS-817 169 11.4 29.8 0.0 41.1 0.0 0.0

MKS-822 181 8.4 21.8 0.0 30.2 0.1 5.8

NW-G33 168 13.5 23.4 0.0 37.0 0.0 0.0 RS - CEG 202 4.2 21.4 5.3 30.8 1.2 0.0

RS - 94236 168 10.4 36.3 0.0 46.6 0.0 0.0

RS - 94286 168 8.9 35.0 0.0 43.9 0.2 0.0 RS - 94289 168 10.7 31.8 0.0 42.5 0.1 0.0 RS - 94293 168 7.7 38.6 0.0 46.3 0.0 0.0 RS-94518 168 11.6 27.7 0.0 39.2 0.0 0.0 RS - 94582 168 12.5 25.0 0.0 37.5 0.0 0.0

LSD 5% 4.6 9.1 1.0 6.6 0.7 1.3

* NH - Not Harvested.

47

Table 3(c) Percent dry matter and bulbs occurring in saleable and unsaleable categories for plantings 5 and 6.

Variety % Dry

Matter

SALEABLE REJECTS

Variety % Dry

Matter Picklers No. 1 No.l

Large

Total Doubles Off-types Purple Bulluecks Seed

Heads

Planted:26.4.95 GRS -GOB 9.11 17.1 77.2 1.5 95.8 2.1 0.3 0.0 0.9 0.9 GRS - GLW 10.77 18.1 54.0 0.5 72.7 0.7 19.0 0.0 0.0 7.7 GRS - GLB 9.16 12.3 68.8 7.7 88.8 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.2 NEU - GOB 9.63 19.4 76.1 0.2 95.7 1.7 0.6 0.0 0.0 2.0 NEU - WAB 9.04 9.6 68.0 7.6 85.3 4.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.5 ELS - GOB 9.25 13.6 81.7 0.3 95.6 1.6 0.5 0.0 0.7 1.6 ELS - LAW 9.27 15.8 72.9 0.8 89.6 1.2 0.7 0.0 0.0 8.6

SCH - GOB 9.39 19.9 73.6 2.1 95.6 1.7 1.6 0.0 0.0 1.2

REI - GOB 8.68 21.1 76.1 0.7 97.9 0.5 0.3 0.0 0.0 1.2

YAT-E510 YAT-E511

YAT - Z512 YAT-Z516 9.78 31.9 62.3 0.0 94.2 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.4 4.6 YAT - Z550 9.78 8.0 85.1 0.5 93.6 0.7 0.0 0.0 0.2 5.6

YAT - Z551 YAT - A544 HEN - BRC 9.02 15.7 41.3 0.2 57.2 1.1 0.7 0.0 0.0 40.9 HEN - EAS HEN - RED MKS-2000 8.90 19.0 42.5 1.3 62.8 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 36.6 SG - 355 9.77 20.7 62.5 0.2 83.4 3.9 4.5 0.0 2.7 5.3 SG-360 9.62 22.0 52.9 0.2 75.0 4.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 20.1 NW-LOG 9.40 16.3 74.4 3.1 93.8 1.4 0.5 0.2 0.2 3.9

LSD 5% 0.87 8.4 7.0 1.6 4.4 2.0 0.5 ns 1.2 4.6

Planted:16.5.95 GRS - GLW 7.78 45.8 49.6 0.0 95.5 0.6 4.0 0.0 0.0 GRS - GLB 8.34 24.0 74.6 1.2 99.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

NEU - WAB 8.21 38.1 61.6 0.0 99.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 ELS - LAW 8.36 64.6 34.9 0.0 99.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 YAT-E510 8.46 22.7 73.3 0.5 96.6 0.0 0.0 1.1 2.3 YAT-E511 7.75 15.1 81.5 0.7 97.3 0.0 2.3 0.0 0.4 YAT - Z512 9.82 61.9 33.6 0.0 95.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.6 YAT-Z516 8.56 72.4 27.6 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 YAT - A544 8.50 35.7 62.1 0.0 97.8 0.2 0.0 0.0 2.0 YAT - Z550 8.32 46.4 53.4 0.0 99.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 YAT-Z551 9.76 54.9 37.7 0.2 92.8 0.0 0.0 0.7 6.4 YAT-GLA 9.44 26.5 69.1 0.0 95.7 0.0 0.2 3.1 1.0 SPS - OME 7.50 21.2 77.4 0.0 98.6 0.0 0.0 1.4 0.0

SPS - SNO 7.31 54.1 45.7 0.0 99.8 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0 SPS - 791 7.72 38.1 61.4 0.0 99.6 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2

HEN - BRS 7.52 41.8 56.9 0.0 98.7 0.0 0.0 0.2 1.1

HEN - EAS 7.84 54.4 44.4 0.0 99.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.1

HEN - RED 7.32 49.2 50.3 0.0 99.5 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.2

MKS-60 8.67 40.2 55.0 0.0 95.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 4.6

MKS-489 9.34 64.3 35.2 0.0 99.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0

MKS-688 10.77 24.2 70.8 0.0 95.0 3.5 0.0 1.1 0.4

MKS-817 9.06 40.5 57.3 0.0 97.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.2

MKS-822 8.59 33.6 48.4 0.0 82.0 0.2 11.4 4.6 1.8

NW-G33 7.49 50.4 49.2 0.0 99.7 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0

RS - CEG 9.68 21.0 42.1 6.0 69.2 2.2 0.0 28.6 0.0

RS - 94236 6.66 37.4 62.5 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

RS - 94286 7.74 32.2 67.2 0.0 99.4 0.2 0.0 0.4 0.0

RS - 94289 7.13 37.8 62.1 0.0 99.8 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0

RS - 94293 6.80 28.7 71.3 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 RS - 94518 8.17 45.4 54.2 0.0 99.6 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2 RS - 94582 7.72 43.8 52.7 0.0 96.6 0.0 0.0 0.2 3.3

LSD 5% 0.65 15.4 14.9 1.4 3.6 1.1 2.5 1.9 2.3

48

Table 4(c) Downy mildew rating (Planting 6) and bulb description and storage data for plantings 5 and 6

Variety

m Shells Shape Skin

Colour

Soundness

%

Black

Mould

%

Greening

Rating"

Firmness Variety

m Shells Shape Skin

Colour

Soundness

%

Black

Mould

%

Greening

Rating"

Harvest 12 Weeks

Planted:26.4.95 GRS-GOB 2.2 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 6.7 3 Firm-Hard Firm GRS - GLW 2.2 Globe White 86.7 8.9 3 Firm Soft-Firm GRS - GLB 2.6 Globe Brown 95.6 0.0 1 Firm Firm NEU - GOB 2.1 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 2.2 2 Firm Soft-Firm NEU - WAB 3.0 Globe Brown 100.0 0.0 2 Firm Firm ELS-GOB 1.9 Globe Gld Brown 100.0 0.0 3 Firm Soft-Firm ELS - LAW 2.7 Rat/Globe White 100.0 0.0 2 Firm-Hard Finn SCH - GOB 2.0 Flat/Globe Gld Brown 100.0 0.0 3 Firm Soft-Firm REI - GOB 1.9 Globe/Flat Gld Brown 100.0 2.2 3 Firm Firm YAT-E510 YAT-E511

YAT-Z512 YAT-Z516 2.1 Globe Gd-Lt 100.0 6.7 2.5 Firm Soft-Finn YAT - Z550 2.1 Globe Gd-Lt 97.8 2.2 3 Firm Soft-Finn YAT-ZS51

YAT - A544 HEN - BRC 3.4 El/Globe Brown 93.3 8.9 1 Firm Firm HEN - EAS HEN - RED MKS-2000 3.0 Elongated Br-Dk 100.0 0.0 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Finn SG - 355 2.8 Elongated Lt Brown 100.0 0.0 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Finn SG-360 2.9 Elongated Lt Brown 100.0 0.0 3 Firm-Hard Firm NW-LOG 2.0 Globe Gld brown 97.8 8.9 3 Firm Soft-Firm

Planted:16.5.95 GRS - GLW 4.2 2.3 Globe White 46.7 38.1 1 Firm-Hard Soft-firm GRS - GLB 4.7 2.2 Globe Brown 82.2 70.3 1 Firm-Hard Firm NEU - WAB 5.0 2.1 Globe Brown 84.4 81.6 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm ELS - LAW | _ 5.0 2.0 Flat White 44.4 10.0 1 Firm Soft-Finn YAT-E510 3.0 2.3 Globe Lt Brown 84.4 89.5 1 Finn Finn YAT-E511 2.8 2.7 Globe Lt Brown 80.0 94.4 3 Firm Finn YAT - Z512 2.7 2.4 Globe Brown 97.8 65.9 1 Firm Finn YAT-Z516 5.0 1.8 Globe Brown 91.1 26.7 1.5 Firm Firm YAT - A544 5.0 1.9 Globe White 46.7 38.1 1.5 Firm Firm YAT - Z550 5.0 2.4 Globe Lt Brown 64.4 17.2 2 Firm Soft-Finn YAT - Z551 3.0 2.2 Globe Brown 88.9 52.5 1 Firm Firm YAT - GLA 2.2 2.8 Globe Dk Brown 84.4 94.7 1 Hard Firm-Hard SPS - OME 4.3 2.9 Globe/Bottom Lt Brown 86.7 59.0 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Firm SPS - SNO 5.0 2.0 Globe/Bottom White 42.2 26.3 1 Soft-Firm Soft-firm SPS - 791 4.7 2.1 Globe/Hat Brown 57.8 88.5 1 Firm Firm HEN - BRS 5.0 2.3 Globe Brown 44.4 70.0 1.5 Firm Firm HEN - EAS 4.3 2.7 Globe/Flat White 48.9 59.1 1 Firm Soft-Firm HEN-RED 3.5 2.6 Globe Red 62.2 39.3 1 Firm Firm

MKS-60 3.0 2.1 Flat Brown 88.9 75.0 1.5 Firm Firm

MKS-489 2.7 2.7 Flat Br-Dk 91.1 26.8 1 Finn-Hard Firm-Hard

MKS-688 1.8 2.9 Globe Dk Brown 86.7 51.3 1 Firm Firm

MKS-817 4.0 2.1 Globe Lt Brown 97.8 75.0 2 Firm Soft-Firm

MKS-822 2.5 2.1 Globe LtBr- 88.9 30.0 1 Finn-Hard Firm-Hard

NW-G33 4.5 3.1 Flat Brown 71.1 81.3 1 Firm Soft-Firm

RS - CEG 1.0 2.8 Pear Brown 42.2 31.6 1 Hard Firm-Hard

RS - 236 4.3 2.8 Flat/Globe/Bt Lt Brown 48.9 77.3 1 Finn-Hard Firm

RS - 286 3.3 2.9 Flat/Globe Lt Brown 77.8 77.1 1 Firm Firm

RS - 289 4.0 2.6 Flat/Globe/Bt Lt Brown 68.9 71.0 1 Firm Soft-Finn

RS - 293 4.0 2.4 Globe Lt Brown 48.9 54.5 1.5 Firm Finn RS-518 3.5 2.4 Globe White 64.4 51.7 1 Firm-Hard Finn

RS - 582 4.0 2.6 Globe White 33.3 53.3 1 Firm-Hard Soft-Finn

LSD 5% 0.5

* 1 = 0-20% leaf affected; 2 = 20-40% leaf affected; 3 = 40=60% leaf affected; 4 = 60-80% leaf affected; 5 = >80% leaf affected ** Greening scale: 0 - nil; 1 - very slight; 2 - slight; 3 - marked; 4 - pronounced.

49

Table 2(d) Number of days to harvest and yield data (t/ha) for plantings 7 and 8.

Variety Days to

Harvest

SALEABLE REJECTS Variety Days to

Harvest

Picklers No . l No. 1

Large

Total Doubles Off-Types Purple

Planted:30.5.95

ELS - ELW 154 18.9 11.6 0.0 30.5 0.0 0.0

YAT-E511 163 3.0 48.1 3.0 54.1 0.0 0.0

YAT-Z512 163 18.0 23.7 0.0 41.7 0.7 0.0

YAT - A544 154 6.5 33.4 0.0 39.9 0.0 0.0

YAT-Z551 163 14.4 25.4 0.0 39.8 0.0 0.2

YAT - GLA 178 6.3 43.9 1.7 51.9 0.0 0.0

SPS- OME 155 7.2 36.2 1.2 44.6 0.0 0.4

SPS - 791 154 16.1 14.8 0.0 30.9 0.0 0.0

SPS-846 155 7.8 42.8 5.4 56.0 0.0 0.0

SPS - 852 154 8.4 35.7 0.0 44.1 0.0 0.0

HEN - 674 155 9.5 38.2 0.0 47.7 0.0 0.0

SG - 358 167 4.6 29.7 0.0 34.3 0.8 4.5

NW-G33 155 18.3 20.0 0.0 38.3 0.0 0.0

RS-CEG 188 3.4 22.5 2.4 28.3 0.7 0.0

LSD 5% 3.9 6.5 2.8 5.0 ns 0.8

Planted:13.6.95

YAT - GLA 164 2.3 49.6 1.1 53.0 0.0 0.3

SPS - OME 149 2.8 43.7 6.3 52.8 1.2 1.1

SPS - 767 149 5.2 46.0 2.9 54.0 0.0 0.8

SPS - 791 149 13.8 18.3 1.6 33.7 0.0 0.7

SPS-846 149 4.2 48.1 7.2 59.4 0.0 2.9

SPS - 852 141 6.7 37.0 0.0 43.7 0.0 0.0

HEN -640 164 1.2 47.4 11.9 60.6 0.0 1.3

HEN-641 174 1.2 45.5 5.5 52.2 0.0 1.8

HEN - 674 149 5.5 38.8 1.9 46.2 0.3 0.4

SG - 358 164 2.0 28.5 4.7 35.2 6.9 8.5

RS-CEG 174 2.7 17.5 2.0 22.1 0.2 0.1

LSD 5% 3.2 6.5 3.9 7.8 2.0 2.9

50

Table 3(d) Percent dry matter and bulbs occurring in saleable and unsaleable categories for plantings 7 and 8

Variety % Dry

Matter

SALEABLE REJECTS

Variety % Dry

Matter Picklers No. 1 No.l

Large

Total Doubles Off-types Purple Bullnecks Seed

Heads

P!anted:30.5.95

ELS - ELW 7.14 74.7 25.3 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YAT-E511 7.32 12.8 84.2 3.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YAT-Z512 10.26 54.0 44.7 0.3 99.0 1.0 0.0 0.0

YAT - A544 8.52 29.8 70.2 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

YAT - Z551 10.10 51.6 47.7 0.0 99.3 0.0 0.8 0.0

YAT - GLA 10.24 23.1 74.8 1.8 99.6 0.0 0.0 0.4

SPS- OME 7.21 28.4 68.6 1.1 98.1 0.0 0.8 1.1

SPS - 791 9.32 64.9 35.1 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

SPS-846 6.46 27.5 67.9 4.6 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

SPS - 852 6.98 32.3 67.7 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

HEN - 674 6.83 33.5 64.8 0.0 98.3 1.0 0.0 0.7

SG - 358 8.62 23.5 61.1 0.0 84.6 0.0 9.4 6.0

NW-G33 9.01 61.9 38.1 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

RS - CEG 9.45 22.3 51.9 3.1 77.3 1.1 0.0 21.6

LSD 5% 0.52 13.4 12.9 2.9 5.1 ns 1.7 4.8

Planted:13.6.95

YAT - GLA 9.97 11.9 86.7 1.1 99.6 0.0 0.4 0.0

SPS-OME 7.26 11.8 76.6 6.8 95.1 1.6 2.3 1.1

SPS - 767 6.58 21.4 74.7 2.5 98.6 0.0 1.4 0.0

SPS - 791 7.64 57.4 38.8 2.0 98.2 0.0 1.8 0.0

SPS-846 6.70 13.7 74.9 6.0 94.6 0.0 5.1 0.3

SPS - 852 7.12 25.8 73.5 0.0 99.3 0.0 0.0 0.7

HEN - 640 6.80 7.4 73.0 11.4 91.8 0.0 0.7 7.5

HEN-641 6.32 7.1 72.2 7.8 87.2 0.0 1.7 11.2

HEN - 674 6.32 22.2 74.6 1.5 98.4 0.4 1.2 0.0

SG - 358 8.79 11.4 56.5 5.5 73.4 11.4 14.7 0.5

RS - CEG 9.84 21.7 50.2 3.1 75.0 0.5 0.5 23.9

LSD 5% 0.69 9.7 10.8 4.1 6.8 3.1 4.8 2.4

51

Table 4(d) Downy mildew rating and bulb description and storage data for plantings 7 and 8

Variety

111

Shells Shape Skin Colour Soundness %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating

Firmness Variety

111

Shells Shape Skin Colour Soundness %

Black Mould

%

Greening Rating

Harvest 12 Weeks

Planted:30.5.95

ELS - ELW 5.0 1.6 Globe White 68.9 12.9 1.5 Firm Soft-firm

YAT-E511 2.7 2.3 Globe Lt Brown 84.4 73.7 2 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

YAT-Z512 3.0 2.6 Globe Lt Br-Brown 100.0 75.6 1 Hard Firm-Hard

YAT - A544 4.2 2.2 Globe White 28.9 30.8 1 Finn Firm

YAT-Z551 3.2 2.4 Globe Lt Brown 91.1 75.6 2 Firm-Hard Firm-Hard

YAT - GLA 2.2 3.1 Globe Brown 77.8 74.3 1 Hard Hard

SPS- OME 3.3 2.2 Globe Lt Brown 93.3 61.9 1.5 Firm Soft-firm

SPS - 791 4.0 2.4 Flat Brown 91.1 56.1 2 Firm Firm

SPS-846 3.5 2.6 Globe Lt Brown 93.3 38.1 1 Firm Firm

SPS - 852 4.2 2.3 Globe Lt Brown 80.0 30.6 2 Firm Firm

HEN - 674 3.5 2.6 Globe Lt Brown 91.1 68.3 2 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

SG - 358 3.0 2.6 Globe Brown 84.4 71.1 1 Firm Firm

NW-G33 3.8 2.3 Flat Lt Brown 77.8 68.6 2 Firm-Hard Firm

RS-CEG 1.0 3.1 Globe/Pear Lt Br-Brown 57.8 88.5 1 Hard Hard

LSD 5% 0.4

Planted:13.6.95

YAT - GLA 1.5 2.6 Globe Brown 93.3 33.3 1 Hard Hard

SPS - OME 2.3 2.2 Mix/Globe Lt Brown 88.9 45.0 1 Firm Firm

SPS - 767 2.5 1.8 Globe Lt Brown 88.9 40.0 1 Soft-Firm Firm

SPS - 791 3.0 2.3 Flat- Brown 93.3 40.5 1 Finn Firm

SPS-846 1.8 2.3 ^sSfe^ Lt Br-Brown 68.9 35.5 1 Soft-Firm Finn

SPS - 852 3.2 2.1 Globe Lt Brown 100.0 53.3 1.5 Firm Firm

HEN-640 1.5 2.1 Globe Lt Brown 97.8 50.0 2 Soft-Finn Firm

HEN-641 2.0 3.0 Globe Lt Br-Brown 82.2 97.3 1 Soft-Firm Soft-Firm

HEN - 674 2.7 2.2 Globe Lt Brown 91.1 19.5 1 Soft-Firm Firm

SG - 358 2.2 2.1 Globe Brown 95.6 46.5 1 Hard Hard

RS - CEG 1.0 3.6 Globe/Pear Brown 73.3 97.0 2 Hard Firm-Hard

LSD 5% 0.5

* 1 = 0-20% leaf affected; 2 = 20-40% leaf affected; 3 = 40=60% leaf affected; 4 = 60-80% leaf affected; S = >80% leaf affected " Greening scale: 0 - nil; 1 - very sHght; 2 - slight; 3 - marked; 4 - pronounced.

52

neui v a r i e t i e s

Evaluat ion of Hem Var ie t ies continue for Queensland

tv ,.. \ f'• lUKII .hlHH-l

<en Jackson is a Senior Research Agronomist and Alan

Duff is a Senior Experimentalist at Gatton Research Station

In 1995, onion varietal assessment in eight plantings

commencing in late February and continuing at

approximately fortnightly intervals until mid June were

carried out. This series is a continuation of the trials

reported last year.

A new three year project commences in 1996 A

component of this will be the opportunity to continue

testing advanced lines in replicated trials at four planting

dates instead of eight as in the previous two years.

1 9 9 5 p a r t i c i p a n t s

Seven commercial seed companies, and four local seed

growers contributed varieties for assessment, In addition,

varieties developed at Gatton Research Station were also

entered in various plantings. The seven seed companies

were New World, Sandoz Seeds, Lefroy Valley East,

Magnus Kahl, South Pacific, Yates and Hendersons Local

seed growers who participated were Tom Else, Reg

Neuendorf, Des Reisenleiter and Edgar Schulz

Climatic data

The climatic data for 1995 are presented in Table 1 where

certain components are compared with corresponding

long-term averages.

Table 1 Average maximum and minimum monthly

temperatures and monthly rainfall for 1995 as well as

monthly daylength range for Gatton Research Station,

S e a s o n a l c o n d i t i o n s

Although most of the growing season received below

average rainfall a severe outbreak of downy mildew

affected yields in plantings 4 - 6 Minimum temperatures

were not as low as the previous year and possibly was the

major reason for the lower incidence of seed stems

production compared to the previous year Varieties that

produced more than 50% seed stems or those that did not

bulb were not harvested The occurrence of doubles was

evident in the first five plantings, but was negligible in the

last three plantings The cause of this undesirable

character is not fully understood, but breeding, nutrition

and climate are involved Doubling was widely reported in

early and mid-season commercial crops as well. The

continuing drought conditions throughout most of the

season and the resultant decline in water quality affected

plant vigour in all plantings. Pink root (Pyrenochaeta

terrestris) was quite prevalent in all varieties in the later

plantings This disease was also widespread in

commercial sowings in 1995 The high temperatures

experienced in October and November would have

favoured the development of this disease.

eorlq s easons variet ies [p l in l ings l - l ; Februart|-t1arch] Early Lockyer Whites

The Neuendorf strain produced the highest yields in all

three plantings. This strain originated from a selection by

<temp(°C) Avnmntemp(°C) Month Av max

1995 '**>•: Long-term: 1995 ,; ^Long-term

f Rainfall (mm) .

1995 Long-term

Daytenght (hrs)

January 31.458 76.4 113.0 "s|Bt 4.1 M

February " 29.7;•:•;v_.-_30.5 •'W&Mm&fr 183.0 100.3 V13,7>-;i 3.1

March 3Q.8 V , 29.1' :-i', .16.9- |p| f l | .1 . 55.8 80.8, '113,1-12.2

j.4 O O •-'-•"i i

May 23.7 22.61 :'2i.2"?S r--*43^9 ^ f f i ^ - ' i o . B ,

'ix^im.A June 20.4. 21.0 35.0 44.2 ,-.10.8-10.6

July 20.7- V?. 20.3

2 2 . 9 i ! i t i P

32.0 41.0 : i l 0 . 6 -10.9

August 8.6 > fc27,9jfji10.9^8.,

September £ 2 5 . 5 1 ^ ^ ^ 7 ^ ? ,25.7 !>J5.fe?

October £ 28.0! 27.7; • 56.4 \ ^ •a !6S.6!t©l 2.4 ,T:1 3:0?

November 1 30.9;' 29.V8r* •mmmmmmm December 30.1 • P 29.6 179.6 3.6"'*: 13.9 -14,1

^P

neHI v a r i e t i e s

Brooking which has been recognised as a superior

selection in the past The Else strain which was also

derived from the Brooking selection was not available for

testing in 1995. The Neuendorf strain did however produce

the highest incidence of doubles The Reisenleiter strain

was the most consistent of the remaining lines The flat

shoulder which was common in the Schulz strain is an

undesirable character.

Browns

The best onion variety grown during this period was the

Golden Brown A number of local strains as well as a

South Pacific Seeds (SPS) selection were tested The Else

strain was the most consistent high yielding strain. A

number of new brown strains entered by Magnus Kahl

Seeds (MKS) showed initial promise in that most of them

bulbed in response to the short daylengths, but either poor

shape (pointed bulbs) or high incidence of doubling

indicated that they would not compete with the Golden

Brown variety. The Henderson line 673 also yielded well in

the second planting but produced pointed bulbs and was

not harvested in later plantings (3 and 4) because of

excessive seed stem production The Sandoz Seeds lines

355 and 360 which were entered in the third planting

bulbed up well but again bulb shape was pointed and thus

lacked appeal compared to Golden Brown

The other brown varieties to feature at these planting times

was Early Lockyer Brown which is an old variety

maintained at Gatton Research Station While it is well

adapted to these early plantings and produces a uniform

globe shaped bulb, its main detraction is the low incidence

of discoloured (primarily purple) off-types produced

Reds

The only red variety entered in this group of plantings was

SPS 837 which is possibly the earliest red variety available.

While bulb shape was not ideal, it offers potential as an

early season red.

mid-season va i ie f ies [ploNajsU t f; Ipiil-miHaii] W h i t e s

Of the two white varieties included in the fourth planting

(GRS-Gladalan White (Wallon White) and Hendersons'

681), the Gladalan White was marginally suited to this

planting time while in the other line seed stem production

W9 rrr

• J

IT •c-1 rzr

HENDERSON

S E E D 3

QUALITY YIELD IN EVERY FIELD OF ONIONS Onions to Sing and Dance About!

BROWNS REDS WHITES

m

i

*_3

8

i

3

| NOW YOU CAN GROW WORLD CLASS ONIONS IN AUSTRALIA I

new var ie t ies

was excessive (42%) In Ihe fifth planting the Gladaian White and

the Else mid-season white performed well

All of the whites (7) entered in the sixth planting were adapted to this

•ime of planting The line that was most attractive was the Lefroy

Valley East line RS94518 particularly because of its storage ability.

B r o w n s

There was a wide range of browns entered in this group of

olantings Traditionally, this planting period has been dominated in

the early part of the season by Golden Browns and in the later part

by Gladaian Brown in the first of the mid-season plantings, Golden

Brown strains continued to dominate with the Else strain continuing

to stand out The early selection of Gladaian Brown (Wallon Brown)

also yielded well producing well shaped firm bulbs but seed stem

production (10%) detracts from the appeal of this variety Selection is

continuing to try to reduce this level of seed stem production. The

recently released Yates hybrid Z516 also performed well in this

planting.

In the fifth planting the Golden Brawn strains continued to perform

well demonstrating the versatility of this variety to adapt to a wide

range of planting dates. This versatility of Golden Brown is illustrated

in Figure 1 where the yield of this variety is compared with the

average yield of all varieties harvested in each of the first five

olantings.

Again Wallon Brown yielded well but seed stem production

-emained around the 10% level The Yates' hybrids Z516 and Z550

also dominated in this planting The Sandoz Seed's line SG355

performed well although bulbs tended to produce pointed bases

rather than the globe shape.

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new var iet ies

A number of promising browns were entered in the sixth

planting and these warrant further evaluation These

include the Yates' hybrids E511 and Z512, Magnus Kahl

lines 688 and 817 and Lefroy Valley Easts RS94293

Wallon Brown also performed well in this planting as did

the control varieties Omega and Gladiator

Reds

The only red variety entered was Henderson's Red Rojo

which was entered in the sixth planting where it bulbed

satisfactorily Bulb quality however, was only marginal.

lute seasons vaf ief ies [plantings 1 & I ; laie Han-mid June Whites

The only whites entered in this group of plantings were

Yates' A544 and Else's mid-season white These were

entered in the seventh planting where A544 was the better

of the two,

Browns

Again the control brown varieties Omega and Gladiator

performed well in these plantings The SPS line 846 was

particularly impressive in both plantings Other lines to

stand out were Yates1 E511 in the seventh planting and the

Henderson entries 640, 641 and 674 Line 640 and SPS

846 were the outstanding entries in the eighth planting.

Downy Mildew Rating

There was an opportunity to rate all varieties in the last

three plantings for severity of downy mildew infection as no

entries in these plantings had been harvested when the

outbreak had reached its peak. Most entries were quite

susceptible However, the Lefroy Valley East entry RS Crop

Early Globe which was entered in all three plantings that

were rated had the best resistance. However, this variety is

not adapted to the daylengths occurring during these

plantings resulting in partial bulb development, but it does

offer potential to be utilised in plant breeding programs as

a source of resistance to this major onion disease.

The other entry that showed consistent tolerance of the

disease was the commercial Yates, hybrid Gladiator It

should be noted that of the three plantings, the disease

was most severe in the sixth planting where the Magnus

Kahl entry 688 demonstrated good resistance. This entry

was mentioned above as having potential as a mid

season variety as it was relatively high yielding and bulb

characters were satisfactory.

Conclusions

The evaluation program has attracted keen interest from

the seed companies and the producers In 1995 there

were 147 entries in the eight trials Continued interest in

the development of new varieties is demonstrated by the

fact that evaluation will continue over the next three yearsj

In each of these years four planting times at

approximately monthly intervals will be conducted.

A number of potential new lines have been identified I

particularly for late season production, the period when I

the potential is likely to be greatest for export opportur.it e

because of the better keeping quality of the onions j

produced at this time. Most of these late season vanetie^

that show potential are hybrids in contrast with the

successful varieties for the early season production whic*

are mainly open pollinated. The local seed industry

remains the best source of early onion varieties. The mc=

outstanding of these early varieties is Golden Brown wha

can be planted over a large range of planting dates

(Figure 1) This variety has the potential to lift the image :

the Queensland onion industry both on the domestic ana

export markets provided it is promoted as a sweet salad

onion as it has excellent flavour and good storage

qualities for an early season onion provided it is treated

carefully

70 H

28-Feb 14-Mar 30-Mar 11-Apr

Planting Date Fii/ure 1. Yield of Golden Briar it comiiared to the t/ield of all entries at fire conseeidirr plmitiny did

<ir<r"<n

ide> '

o

Onion variety evaluation

Introduction

Early Lockyer White and Golden Brown onions currently represent the major varieties grown as early season onions in the Lockyer Valley. Seed of each variety is supplied as different strains from several sources, primarily local seed growers. Work needed to be done to establish the performance of onion varieties from different sources.

Issues

Growers have suspected variability in the performance of these local strains and part of the assessment program was aimed at determining this variability. Greening of early season white onions and shelling or skinning of brown onions are major factors depressing prices of Lockyer Valley onions. Commercial companies have also developed a number of hybrid mid to late-season varieties with export potential for Asia and the Pacific rim. The trial series offered an opportunity to assess these varieties.

Background

A series of onion trials were conducted at Gatton Research Station in 1994 with plantings commencing in February and continuing until June. Plantings were established at fortnightly intervals resulting in eight times of sowing. All plantings were harvested except the second planting (mid-March) which was abandoned due to uneven

emergence following adverse weather conditions at plantings. Four local seed growers and seven commercial companies participated in the trial. This report details the results of the first, third and fourth plantings

which cover the early season varieties.

Two successful field walks were conducted during the trial series. A number of potential early to mid-season brown-skinned

PLANTING VARIETY PICKLERS NO. 1 NO. 1 LARGE

TOTAL

1 (24/2/94) Barton White (ELW) 8.4 27.3 3.2 38.9 Barton Brown (ELB) 7.0 33.7 8.0 South Pacific Seeds (ELW) 10.2 14.6 1.0 South Pacific Seeds (GoB) 7.2 30.4 10.7 Schulz (ELW) Local 0.9 8.3 5.9 Else (ELW) Local 5.9 31.7 12.1 Neuendorf (ELW) Local 6.0 35.9 10.6 Reisenleiter (ELW) Local 7.2 30.9 1.9

48.7 25.8 48.3 15.1 49.7 52.5 40.0

3 (28/3/94) Barton White (ELW) 1.0 23.5 30.1 Barton Brown (ELB) 1.7 21.3 35.1 Schrodon Brown (GoB) 3.3 33.4 25.9 South Pacific Seeds (ELW) 3.8 32.2 7.2 South Pacific Seeds (GoB) 6.7 20.1 46.7 South Pacific Seeds 778 (Brown) 0.8 16.4 60.5 Schulz (ELW) Local 0.4 13.7 28.4 Schulz (GoB) Local 0.9 25.2 23.8 Else (ELW) Local 1.2 25.9 42.0 Else (GoB) Local 2.6 24.8 40.5 Neuendorf (ELW) Local 1.3 27.6 47.6 Neuendorf (GoB) Local 2.4 24.8 47.8 Reisenleiter (ELW) Local 1.7 29.5 30.7 Reisenleiter (GoB) Local 1.6 27.5 37.5

Hendersons Red Rojo Not suited to this planting Hendersons Henry's Special Not suited to this planting

54,6 58.1 62.6 43.2 73.5 77.7 42.5 49.9 69.1 67.9 76.5 75.0 61.9 66.6

4 (14/4/94) Schrodon Brown (GoB) 1.6 36.5 44.0 Wallon White (GIW) 0.9 28.0 44.8 Wallon Brown (GIB) 0.8 19.7 67.8 South Pacific Seeds (ELW) 5.7 38.7 7,9 South Pacific Seeds (GoB) 1.8 33.2 47.5 , Schulz (GoB) Local 3.7 43.3 24.7 ' Else (GoB) Local 1.4 32.0 53.6 Neuendorf (GoB) Local 1.6 35.1 44.5 Reisenleiter (GoB) Local 1.9 44.0 42.7 Yates 516 (Brown) 1.5 46.4 30.7

Yates 544 (White) Not suited to this planting Hendersons (Early Season White) Not suited to this planting Royal Sluis 94210 (Yellow) Not suited to this planting Royal Sluis 94286 (Yellow) Not suited to this planting Royal Sluis 94293 (Yellow) Not suited to this planting Royal Sluis 94518 (White) Not suited to this planting Royal Sluis 94599 (White) Not suited to this planting

82.1 73.7 88.3 52.3 82.5 71.7 87.0 81.2 88.6 78.6

Onion yields (t/ha) in various grades of early to mid season onions in three plantings at Gatton Research Station. (ELW)-Early Lockyer White, (ELB)-Early Lockyer Brown, (GoB)-Golden Brown, (GIB)-Gladalan Brown, (GlW)-Gladalan White.

12

Ken Jackson senior agronomist Gatton Research Station DPI

Alan Duff experimentalist Gatton Research Station DPI

varieties were identified. The Brooking strain of Early Lockyer White remains the dominant early season white onion. Several strains of Golden Brown with similar yielding potential are available.

Results

In the first planting, major emphasis was on the evaluation of Early Lockyer White strains. The strain originally developed by Brooking, and now produced by local seed growers Neuendorf and Else, was superior. This superiority was again demonstrated in the third planting. This supports previous research which indicated that the best Early Lockyer White strain was that selected by Brooking. All Early Lockyer White strains tested were susceptible to greening as they matured.

In the third planting, evaluation of strains of the Golden Brown variety was the major interest. The two highest yielding lines were supplied by South Pacific Seeds and the local seed grower Neuendorf. In the fourth planting where Golden Brown strains were again the main entries, there was little difference among the various seed sources. All strains were subject to skin loss during grading, indicating that the future of this variety may be limited. In addition to the Early Lockyer White strains and the Golden Brown strains, mention should be made of four brown types and one white type that have potential. Barton Brown (an Early Lockyer Brown selection), Wallon Brown and Wallon White (early selections of Gladalan Brown and White respectively), South Pacific Seeds 778 (brown) and Yates 516 (brown) demonstrated good shell

development in the case of the brown types and less greening in the white type. Barton Brown, Wallon Brown and Wallon White were originally selected and developed at Gatton Research Station.

Conclusion

The early season trials indicated that there were differences in the performance of local strains of Early Lockyer White and Golden Brown strains. There was little difference in the degree of greening in the Early Lockyer White strains and skinning in the Golden Brown strains. Gatton Research Station selections of Early Lockyer Brown, Gladalan Brown and Gladalan White as well as Yates 516 and South Pacific Seeds 778 showed potential as new early to mid-season varieties.

This project was funded by the Heavy Produce Committee and the

Horticultural Research & Development Corporation

The following commercial seed companies also supported this

project: Henderson Seed Co Lefroy Valley East

Magnus Kahl Seeds New World Seeds

S & G Seeds South Pacific Seeds Arthur Yates & Co

13

I — " !

pnion Varieties - Performing • j in Queensland

I i Jackson, Senior Research Agronomist & Alan Duff, Experimentalist are at Gatton Research Station

t in 1994 a series of plantings commencing in February

finishing in Junk were undertaken at Gatton Research

uiion.

I Plantings were &t approximately rtnightly intervals. this was the first

r of a two year testing program to ss current varieties and advanced

s for both domestic and export arkets. Seven seed |ompanies (South

tific, Yates, New Wwld, Henderson's »nus Kahl, Nortgrup King (now

indoz) and Lefroy'

Ial seed grow^ senleuter, Else

itton Research Sta!

Evarious varieties

:le outlines th tings conducted ii

alley East), four s (Neuendorf, d Schulz) and n supplied seed r testing. This results of the 1994.

I •linens A very dry selson resulted in

iellent quality J | onions being I •duced. Downy B restricted by tl th the most serio'

stered in the foui as primarily limit

ir

I [ldew occurrence

dry conditions outbreak being planting where

I to varieties that oduced excessive Sjged heads.

I Lower than a j mperatures probat

Kjuction of seedp eties. These vg ;ons may have

sceptible to

Iacteristic. Variet xcess of 80% see

at did not bulb were

:rage minimum accentuated the heads in some ieties in milder

not been so is unwanted

;s that produced heads or those

not harvested.

r:i d - S :

uarv son

to

f fy Lockyer Whites (. -LW)

^

The Neuendorf uced the highes) yields.

and Else strains This is

consistent with previous testing w h i c h demonstrated the

superiority of the locally produced Brooking strain which is the source of the former two strains. All ELW strains were subject to greening. Lower yields in the Schulz line was mainly due to low germination. This strain also produced round flat shaped onions compared to the globe shape present in the other lines. The South Pacific Seeds (SPS) strain produced a higher proportion of smaller onions than was evident in the other strains.

Browns The Gatton Research Station

strain of Early Lockyer Brown (Barton Brown) produced medium to high yields of good quality onions with reasonable skin development and a medium brown colour. A visiting, experienced exporter selected this variety as having excellent potential for the Korean market.

Generally the performance of the various Golden Brown strains was similar. All yielded well and there was little difference in the number of skins developed. The appearance after grading was also similar with most skins being removed. This lack of skin cover and the resultant bright appearance of the onion has met with buyer resistance in the domestic market. However, an exporting firm has selected this variety as having potential for the Japanese market. It is likely that with prolonged curing a better skin retention can be achieved with this variety. Of the experimental lines, SPS strain 778 produced high yields with a high proportion of large onions - a desirable characteristic for both domestic and export markets. However, in the early planting (planting

3) it produced a high proportion of doubles (17.8%). This line appeared more suited to mid season plantings. The Yates strain Z516 performed well in the fourth planting and again in the mid season plantings (plantings 5 and 6). The early Gladalan Brown strain (Wallon Brown) yielded well in the fourth planting though some seed head production (8.8%) was evident. The variety produced high yields of firm brown onions and shows potential for plantings from mid April to mid May.

A number of lines including Henderson's Red Rojo, Henry's Special and Early Supreme White, Lefroy Valley East experimental lines and Yates A544 were not suited to these earlier plantings as demonstrated by the excessive seed head production (>80%) and consequently were not harvested.

beason to Mid •A~ • [April

Plantings]

Whites In the fifth planting, SPS Lockrose

White was the highest yielding variety. It is similar in appearance to the ELW strains but obviously superior to the SPS ELW strain in this planting. Wallon White performed reasonably in this planting also. All three whites in this planting were susceptible to greening.

A number of high yielding whites were harvested in the sixth planting. SPS Snowball and Yates A544 were the highest yielding varieties. The Lefroy Valley East (LVE) produced high yields and demonstrated the best greening resistance of all whites tested. Generally, however, the (LVE) lines tended to produce top shaped rather than globe shaped onions.

Henderson's R< the fifth planting wall this planting time as, high proportion of se

Rojo planted in still too late for videnced by the i heads (>80%).

The NeuendorSand Else strains were superior injlihe mid-season planting. The SCMUIZ strain was obviously more | | | t ed to earlier plantings. ,•*<

The New Wbr|| Early Lockyer Brown strain tested; was low yielding' percentage of purpl present (56%).

A number of r were harvested in However either pa King Brown) or uHven shape (Henderson*! Henry Bronco and Grand Pj the high yields. W; and Yates Z516 hai more even colour.

In the sixth selections Z512, produced good qui onions though yiek as other brown stn

Omega (SPS) w shape and colour? yielding SPS experl

the fifth planting je to the high coloured onions

yielding browns i fifth planting.

shape (Northrup colour and

s Special, :) detracted from

Brown, SPS 778 etter shape and

which varied substi itially in shape. The LVE browns tend i to be uneven in colour and top ratheij han globe shape. The New World L o ^ e r Gold variety

the Golden Brown strains te ed in earlier plantings.

nting, the Yates and Centurion

y, globe shaped ere not as high

evaluated.

more uniform in lan the higher lental line 791

Late Season 1 U : ' .ri r ; e s (late May to mid i n e Plantings]

Whites In the seventh planting, Snowball

and Yates B501 were the only white varieties entered. Yates B501 continued to produce a proportion of seed stems (10.1%). Snowball was a softer onion with a poorer keeping quality compared to Yates B501. In the eighth planting all the whites produced similar yields and all had a tendency to break down in storage. The LVE line 94518 was the least susceptible.

Reds Henderson's Red Rojo yielded

well in the seventh planting indicating its suitability to late plantings rather than to early and mid season plantings.

Browns Daylength requirements for

bulbing in the Magnus Kahl Cream Gold strains were not met in the seventh and eighth plantings as only the odd plant had bulbed by December in either planting. This was three to four weeks after the other entrants in these plantings had been harvested. Omega (SPS) was high yielding in both plantings with high proportions of the larger grade size being produced. The Yates varieties Centurion and Gladiator produced similar yields (mainly No. 1 Grade) of excellent quality onions in terms of colour and shape as well as potential for long term storage. The SPS experimental lines 767 and 791 tended to be uneven in shape while the LVE lines demonstrated unevenness in skin colour.

Testing in 1 995 The 1995 trial series has now been

established with eight plantings at similar timings to those undertaken in 1994. Keen interest in this work has been reflected by an increased number of entries in the 1995 trial series (147) compared to 1994(121).

ONIONS AUSTRALIA. VOL 12, NOVEMBER. 1995

Are Lockyer Onions Genuinely Mild?

John Sowei is a Research Masters Student at the University of Queensland, (iatton College. Ken Jackson is Research Agronomist with the Queensland department of Primary Industries. Alan Wearing is a Lecturer at the University of Queensland (Gatton College). Alan Duff is in Experimentalist at Gatton Research Station

Local uarietiei production in Queen an early planting, j

in the Lockyer Valley where onion

land is concentrated, were selected for

While most of these onions may not be good keepersj they are milder than the late-seasoji onions from Southern Australia.

Many Australia onions in salads Australian market a| for mild onions. changing, mainly ffl influences on Avsstra is a niche market KH is likely to grow. I j | educate growers 1 attributes of mild are properly re Australians.

' • ' V

There is also'; export markets, onions. Japanese^ buyers have shoy low pungent onioti they may want; pungency Deforest mild onions. If mty exported from Qu^ onions, then thest genuinely mild.

In 1994 a studjl Station was estabii the effect of planting quality. One of th§ was pungency. the measurement when an onion tiss non-protein sulfur enzimatically. Pyrini products of thlsj substance can the pyruvic acid to de^ pungency in onion.

Twelve built randomly selected'!

ts do not use id few in the ireciate a place

[owever, this is to the ethnic

in cuisine. There uld onions and it be necessary to

:onsumers of the |ons before they

ised by most

tential to exploit |h sweet salad

other overseas iterest in sweet, It is likely that >ecific level of lg classified as mions are to be

Insland as mild mions must be

| Gatton Research 3d to determine ne on onion bulb actors measured principle behind pungency is that

is ruptured the lino acids react : is one of the by-

leaction. The je measured as line the level of

ie Effects

| samples were each of three

Growers show keen interest in onion variety testing at Gatton Research Station.

Early Lockyer White (ELW) strains and 5 ". 1 • 2 C 5 E ;"f ~; 'Z l.S one Early Lockyer Brown (ELB) strain p , ,, „ ^ r y ^ . . , at maturity. They were all analysed for ' ~" - " ' pyruvic acid concentration. The planting dates were February 22 and March 28. Two of the ELW strains were supplied by local seed producers, Des Reisenleiter and Tom Else, while the other ELW strain and the ELB strain were developed by Queensland Department of Primary Industries at

Pyruvic acid concentration was determined on an additional four onion strains in the February 22 planting at maturity and again on these strains as well as the four strains from this planting described above, four weeks after the initial test. The additional entries included two ELW strains. They

7, ' -

1 Gatton Research Station, Early Lockyer White 2 Else, Early Lockyer White 3 Gatton Research Station, Early Lockyer Brown 4 Reisenleiter, Early Lockyer White

Gatton Research Station. The levels of pyruvic acid for the two planting times are presented in Figure 1. Concentrations were lower in the second planting compared to the first and were lowest in the ELB strain.

were supplied by local seed growers, Edgar Schulz and Reg Neuendorf an ELW strain and a Golden Brown (GB) strain supplied by South Pacific Seeds. Again twelve bulbs were selected at random for each of the pyruvic acid

}f pyruvic acid 'les/gm of onion

are considered mild while concentrations of 8-10 umoles are intermediate and strong or hot onions contain 15-20 umoles/gm of onion.

Pungency measurements at harvest indicate that Early Lockyer Valley onions are genuinely mild (as

pyruvic acid concentrations were below the 4 umoles level for all strains tested).

It is known that warmer growing conditions do increase pungency and this is the likely reason for the higher levels in the February planting compared to the March planting. This was substantiated when similar tests were done on April plantings of Early Lockyer strains as these were also lower than the February planting. While pungency is likely to increase with storage due to loss of moisture content, levels are not likely to increase beyond the mild onion classification.

Therefore, early season onions from the Lockyer Valley are genuinely mild. Further investigations are being conducted in 1995 to determine the effect of harvest time of early-, mid- and late-season onion varieties on pungency levels.

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