Oakes Irrigation Research Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Phone: (701) 742-2744, FAX: (701) 742-2700, E-mail:												Blaine.Schatz@ndsu.edu
												Leonard.Besemann@ndsu.edu
Onion Hybrid Performance Trial
L. Besemann and H. Eslinger
Onions have done well under irrigation in North Dakota.  Yellow sweet Spanish is the predominate type grown.  This study tested 13 sweet Spanish hybrids.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Soil:	Hecla sandy loam and Maddock sandy loam; soil N 24 lbs/acre.
Previous crops:	2012 – soybean.
Seedbed preparation:	Spring conventional tillage.
Planting:	Direct seeded onions (285,000 seeds/acre) May 8 with a Monosem precision planter.  Onions were planted 2 lines per row with 2.5 inches between lines and rows on 16‑inch centers.
Plots:	Plots were 3 ft (two rows) wide by 17 ft long.  The study had four replications.
Fertilizer:	Broadcast 34 lbs N/acre, 81 lbs P2O5/acre, 103 lbs K2O/acre and 19 lbs S/acre as 8‑20-26-5 May 2. Stream bar 30 lbs N/acre June 11, June 27, July 10 and July 24 as 28‑0‑0.
Irrigation:	Overhead sprinkler irrigation as needed.
Pest control:	Trust (1 pt/acre) May 8, Moxy 2E (2 oz/acre) June 5 and June 13, Moxy (1 pt/acre) + Goal 2XL (0.6 pt/acre) June 26, Section (8 oz/acre) + COC (1.00% v/v) July 5 and hand weeding for weed control.
Harvest:	Pulled all onions October 1 before any hybrids reached half down.  Onions were topped and bagged and put in a dryer to cure.  Onions were graded October 14, October 15 and October 16.
RESULTS
Yields were considerably lower for the 2013 season for all varieties.  Planting was 2-3 weeks later than normal and initial stands were lower than usual.  When the onions were at about the one to one and half leaf stage they received approximately 5.5 inches of rainfall with some hail, within three hours.  This appeared to have set the onions back so that even with favorable weather and irrigation the onions did not recover.  The onions were pulled October 1, even though none had reached half down.  Most varieties had a high number of culls (bottle necked, soft and growing).
Table 1.  Onion hybrid performance trial at the Oakes Irrigation Research Site in 2013.
	Seed1	Maturity2					Single	Marketable				Total	Total
Hybrid	Source	Days	>4"	3 to 4"	2¼ to 3	1 to 2¼	Center	Yield	Bulbs	Doubles	Culls	Culls	Yield	Bulbs
			----------------cwt---------------				%	cwt	/ac	-----------------cwt-----------------				/ac
Cruiser	HZ	113	0	66	86	67	40	220	91531	6	34	41	261	113152
Ventura	HZ	113	34	210	152	61	85	458	119639	14	33	47	506	136936
Maverick	HZ	120	39	172	54	13	70	278	53093	34	91	125	403	95615
Frontino	HZ	125	31	124	23	2	75	181	28348	34	115	148	329	79519
Patterson	BE	105	2	55	76	54	50	187	76636	14	30	44	231	92492
Hamilton	BE	118	33	155	86	27	55	302	73994	40	59	99	401	108588
Sedona	BE	118	8	133	62	28	75	231	58618	11	60	72	302	84324
Crockett	BE	118	0	87	57	19	45	163	43483	38	98	136	299	84804
Calibra	BE	115	5	18	5	3	35	32	8409	54	25	79	111	25225
Delgado	BE	115	35	157	52	33	50	277	70390	57	37	94	371	98018
Gunnison	BE	110	5	74	35	37	35	150	60780	17	32	49	199	80480
Safrane	BE	106	5	96	52	35	40	188	66066	31	36	67	254	89609
Madras	BE		0	26	35	43	70	104	53333	8	35	43	147	73993
Mean			15	106	60	32	56	213	61871	28	53	80	293	89443
C.V. (%)			108	39	35	35	41	28	24	66	39	31	22	21
LSD (P = 0.05)			23	58	30	16	33	85	21639	26	30	35	93	26346
Planted May 8; pulled/harvested October 1.
1HZ = Hazera Seeds Inc; BE = Bejo Seeds Inc.
2Maturity given by seed supplier; this season none of the hybrids reached half down at the time of harvest.
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