Influence of methods of harvesting and time of curing on yield and storage life of Rabi onion Cv. Agrifound light red

Abstract

Onion is popular bulbous crop which is consumed round the year. Being perishable in nature, a considerable loss occurs during storage. As a matter of fact pre harvest and post-harvest crop operations influence the shelf life of horticultural produce. The present investigation is an attempt to examine the effect of last irrigation and curing on yield and post-harvest losses of rabi onion. Irrigation before harvesting affect the shelf life of all the crops especially for the underground crops. Moreover, in case of onion curing is much an important operation that may decide the storage capacity. One of the practical significance for onion growers to fetch the better price it needs a long storage. The results of present study revealed that yield per hectare (363.61 q) and marketable yield per hectare (339.95 q) were recorded with treatment of irrigate the crop before two days of harvesting (m1). Maximum yield per hectare (368.88 q) and marketable yield per hectare (341.10 q) were recorded with c5 (No curing), while the minimum unmarketable yield per hectare (10.38 q), maximum recovery of fresh onion after three month of storage life (14.856 kg), minimum weight of dry scales (0.014kg), weight of rotted and sprouted onion (1.081 kg) were recorded with c2 (Four days curing in field condition).