Contrary to all expectations, the Dutch acreage for seed onions will not fall in 2019, but will rise. This is apparent from an acreage forecast by DCA and a telephone poll by Boerenbusiness at seed suppliers; especially in Zeeland, the acreage is falling less quickly than expected.
For a long time, the sector assumed that the sowing onion area in the Netherlands would shrink for this year's harvest, with particular attention being paid to the south-west of the Netherlands. After the cultivation problems in 2018, due to the extreme drought, it was widely assumed that many arable farmers were done with onions and would (partly) remove them from their crop plans. However, it is now clear that there are few alternatives.
Ordered extra in Zeeland
"We have noticed that a lot of seed has been ordered recently, also from the southwest of the country. That is why we expect that the acreage will not decrease, but rather increase slightly. In the province of Zeeland, the acreage is decreasing slightly, but the "plus people in Drenthe, Groningen and East Brabant will most likely make up for this," says Jaap Jonker, sales manager at de Groot en Slot. The sowing onion area in 2018 was 25.376 hectares.
However, the fact that demand in Zeeland only emerged late also means that few early onions were sown there. Jonker does expect a slightly smaller area of onion sets. "This is because there is less planting material available. Moreover, there will probably be more early and more late varieties. With early varieties (such as Hybing or Hybound), growers are still trying to benefit from the current market, while the later varieties (such as Hyfive) increase in area. grow. This is because of the better root system."
Larger area of red onions
"We also expect a larger area for red onions. Red onions have been producing a positive balance for years. This is why a variety such as Red Tide is growing, which also has to do with the good storability of that variety," says Jonker.
Andre Boot, the onion specialist at Hazera, also expects that the onion area will not change much. "We hear here and there that growers say that they did not intend to do it, but still sowed a block of onions."
DCA makes a prediction
DCA has also presented its forecast for the onion area in 2019. The market experts announced on Friday, March 22, that they expect a slightly increasing onion area. According to them, the following factors play a role:
DCA therefore expects the onion area in the Netherlands to grow by approximately 2019% to 2% in 4, compared to 2018. This brings the total area for seed onions to approximately 26.000 hectares.
Early onions look good
The crop is currently in good shape in most places. Boot indicates that the spring onion sets are doing better than expected. The first seed onions are also already emerging, as the seed suppliers notice. There are problems due to the rainfall in recent weeks, but it is not yet clear what consequences this will have. "If there had been a lot of wind and the sun had been bright immediately after the rain, it could have caused significant problems (crust formation). That now seems not to be too bad," says Jonker.