There will be no top yields in the onions, everyone agrees on that. Everyone also knows that the situation differs greatly per region and there are even major differences between parcels in the same region. But, what are the average returns?
Yields will be disappointing in the province of Limburg. "According to the first test harvests, the yields of the seed onions are around 30 to 50 tons per hectare. The emergence is good in many cases. Because it is often even warmer in Limburg than elsewhere in the country, only 10% to 20% of these onions are coarse," says Peter Vroegindeweij of De Groot en Slot.
In Zeeland, yields are even lower on average. Last week's high temperatures brought a complete explosion of thrips, causing the onions to turn gray in no time. "There are plots that do not yet reach 25 tons per hectare," according to Vroegindeweij. "Although there are also plots with 30 tons per hectare. In some cases the plots are not cleared."
Drenthe is an exception
The province of Drenthe is more or less an exception. Between 42 and 86 tons per hectare were harvested there, according to the trial harvest. The percentage of large onions there is generally reasonable. Some better plots can also be found in the Noordoostpolder, although there is little product from 60 millimeters upwards.
In the province of Groningen it is estimated that yields will be between 30 and 40 tons. In the Flevopolders there are plots where 50 to 60 tons are still cleared, but there are also plots where this is much less.
Storage difficult
Several growers will have to sell the onions before Christmas, Vroegindeweij expects. "In various plots it was not possible to spray with maleic hydrazide (MH) because there was already so much thrips infestation or the onions had almost died. The question is whether the onions on which MH was sprayed is, record it too."