POSTHARVEST TECHNOLOGY: METHODS OF HARVESTING, DRYING AND STORACE OF ONIONS IN JAMAICA

Inadequate water supply caused by drought, poor quality seeds, wrong variety, the high cost of planting materials, fertilizer, chemicals and labour are some of the problems which the farmers have to face in their effort to produce onion. Owing to the high incidence of praedial larceny, as well as the attractive prices when onion is in short supply, many farmers are reluctant to leave their onion in the field until the bulbs have matured. Consequently, immature green onions are often harvested some two to three weeks prematurely, which results in a poor quality produce and shortened shelf-life. Little consideration has been given by farmers to proper harvesting, field drying, curing and storage of onions, Many farmers have not had the need to field dry, cure or store for long periods, hence they have never developed any techniques or structures. Efforts were made by the Ministry oi Agriculture to reduce the postharvest losses and to improve the quality of onion by introducing simple techniques and low input storage and drying structures. The paper deals with postharvest techniques and basic information to farmers on preharvesting and field conditioning, maturity, harvesting, curing and storage of onion. It also describes the simple low cost drying and storage structures developed by the Ministry of Agriculture