Bejo and De Groot en Slot (BGS) have been developing joint research in onions for 50 years. A competitive advantage that allows them to have an exhaustive knowledge of the category and means they can face up to the challenges that arise in a faster and more effective way. “It takes 25 years to develop a variety when starting from scratch. When you have suitable parent lines, this time is reduced,” Pedro María Jurado, an Onion Technician at Bejo, explains.
In BGS’ portfolio, they have leaders in different segments, such as the storage onions Citation and Legend, and the early Japanese types, Makalu and Música.
Bejo was one of the main sponsors at the International Onion Meeting. At this event for meeting and having direct contact with the sector, they displayed the main varieties of seed-cultivated onions and shallots that they are marketing. They could also exchange opinions regarding how to face up to the existing challenges. “Five years ago, it cost 8,000/ha to grow onions. Now it is around 10,000”. The sector has experienced a drop in surface area and production due to bad marketing 4 or 5 years ago. “There was not enough demand and the prices did not compensate the ever-rising costs. The socio-labour problems got worse. A large amount of surface area was destroyed. There are fewer and fewer plant protection products available. Specialised people are needed and there is no generation changeover. In order to plant, specialised people from other areas must be brought in.”
Crops from the Mediterranean arc are facing difficulties due to water and heat stress, root problems (pink root, fusarium), and leaf diseases such as onion downy mildew (Peronospora destructor), on all of which Bejo is working. “We have commercial varieties with resistance to onion downy mildew in other European countries and in the United States, and we are working on varieties for Spain and for other regions with long, hot, dry summers.”
Over the past 5 years, there has been a new challenge in their sights: fixing the internal damage of onions. Bejo has been studying the origin of this disease in America for years and “we believe it is closely related to heat stress. The heat waves in 2022 and 2023 have seriously affected onion development.”
Extensive portfolio
Bejo’s range offers a wide variety of typologies. Such as Red Clay, a medium red onion, with a very robust crop. It has a very strong root system, resistant to high temperatures and to soil diseases. Highly productive and easy to grow, Red Clay behaves in the same way as the company’s famous Citation, but as a red onion. “It is a red Citation,” Pedro María Jurado summarises.
From amongst its other varieties, the behaviour of Pantano stands out. “This year, its cultivation, along with its harvesting phase and post-harvest have all been excellent.”
Bejo continues to increase its portfolio and it has new varieties with a single core in development, for the dehydrating industry, with resistance to downy mildew…
In this campaign they are introducing the single centre onion Colt, very similar to Yakama, but with an added extra in quality for long-term storage. “People are interested; they are liking it. We have carried out trials with producers with very good assessments.” Its capacity and percentage of single core stand out most, along with its greater quality of skin, colour and dry matter for storage. “Colt is more versatile, it is suitable for fresh markets, not just for processing, unlike Yakama, which is for industry alone.”
