Preventing onions from standing still in growth

"Onions sometimes have a hard time getting started on heavier soil. A remedy like Serenade, which stimulates rooting, can be a very nice boost.'' That says Jilles Boer from Bant (Flevoland). Since 2023, he has been applying a soil treatment with Serenade to his onions.

Although he finds it difficult to indicate the concrete effect of the agent, he sees a positive influence on growth after two seasons. "Ultimately, I just want to harvest as many tons as possible and for that, the crop must not stand still. Every aid that keeps the onions growing is worth using as far as I'm concerned."

It is early November and the seed potato delivery season is already in full swing at Jilles Boer. Together with his partner Wikje de Jong, he is turning a batch of Orchestras, an early table potato variety intended for the Dutch market. Further in the barn, another ten or so different varieties are ready in crates, all for trading house Meijer Potato.

Farmer's passion clearly lies with seed potatoes, as becomes apparent during a conversation in the company canteen. "Almost everything on this company is focused on growing high-quality seed potatoes. After all, that's how we have to earn our keep." To underline this last point, he says that land in the area was recently sold for more than €200.000 per hectare. "Although in my opinion you can't make a conclusive balance calculation with that, it does indicate that in the Noordoostpolder you are more or less forced to go for high-yielding crops. Growing grain to improve and relieve your soil is therefore increasingly being suppressed. Younger farmers in particular can hardly afford that anymore," he expresses his concerns.

He himself is considering growing more wheat (or flax) and putting an end to renting land for lilies. "That way I will be more my own boss over my land, fewer diseases and weeds will be dragged around and I hope to increase the potato yield by about 5."

Robust onion cultivation
In addition to seed potato cultivation, Boer is also trying to further optimise onion cultivation. He cultivates around 8 hectares of seed onions annually in a rotation of 1-to-6. He would like to have a wider rotation, but given the land he manages himself (60 hectares), that is not really an option. Boer is trying to make cultivation more robust. To this end, he joined the study club 'Search for a robust cultivation of carrots and onions', in which twelve onion growers from the Noordoostpolder participate. When Agrifirm approached him early last year to participate in a trial involving the use of the biological agent Serenade, according to Boer, this fitted in nicely with his own search and that of the study club.

Better rooting
To compare the results with Serenade In order to obtain the best possible picture, half of the area (2023 hectares) was treated with the product in the first season (4). Rudis carried out (against Fusarium). On half of that (2 hectares) 5 l/ha Serenade was also added. This approach was repeated last season. Although Boer finds it difficult to indicate the concrete effect of the agent ('the annual influences have simply been too great for that'), he saw slightly better rooting on the plots where Serenade was applied in both cultivation years. "Ultimately, those plots grew just a little better. Especially on the somewhat heavier soil, where the onions sometimes have a hard time getting going, the agent can still give them a little push and prevent the onions from standing still for a while. That is sufficient reason for me to apply Serenade to all onion plots next season", Boer explains his vision.

Also in seed potatoes
In addition to onions, Boer also wants to use Serenade in his seed potatoes next season. "I see that it works in onions, but I also hear positive things about the product from colleagues in the seed potato sector. Many users have noted a slightly higher number over the years and also a slightly better skin quality. These are effects that we as seed potato growers can benefit from - and perhaps should in the future", he concludes.

Farm vlog
Besides being an arable farmer, Jilles Boer is also a well-known vlogger. For five years now, he has been making a weekly vlog about the current activities on his arable farm. In the meantime, more than 250 episodes have been released and Boer has around 22.000 subscribers on YouTube and scores more than 200.000 views per month. Curious about his videos? Search for: Farmvlog.

This business case is powered by: