Onion Farming in Zambia: 2022 Update 10 (Oct 06): Happy Texas Grano Onion Harvesting Process

The Texas Grano onion crop on Westgate 1 Block A that was featured in our last update is now ready to come out of the ground. The majority of the necks have fallen and are now constricting as the bulbs harden.
We share in this video, a look at the process of harvesting our onion crops, from taking them out of the ground, field curing for a few days, and then bring starting to trim off roots and necks.

[@loummosesamone]

Hello from Uganda I'm just curious about a few things as a prospective onion farmer. 1. Do you have to wait for the leaves of the onions to fall naturally or can you bend them when you desire to harvest 2. How do you handle the issue of onion storage for longer shelf life. I saw in one of your updates you were undertaking the construction of a storage facility and I managed to get the same plans off the internet as well. Maybe you can give some update on how that project is going Thank you for always sharing and inspiring Your videos mean a lot to me

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks. Let me answer your questions in order: 1) it is possible to accelerate the neck fall of the onions and speed up harvest. We tried it last year after watching it on videos by keffarmer. Pls watch his KZbin videos in onion growing. He is a black belt in onion arts. 2) Post harvest handling was a big disaster for us, and we made fundamental errors that led to a financial catastrophe. Our whole season and all that work was a loss. Except for lessons learnt if course. The structure we built is for curing (drying it out after it comes in from the ground). After that, you need to store it. That is best done in a coldroom. We didn't have a cold room, so tried to make a plan with a warehouse in town. It didn't work and most of our onion went rotten while we were waiting for market prices to improve above our payback price. I will summarize how it all ended in a video later as we prepare to get back into onion growing again for next season. Failure is hard, but we remain resilient and determined.

[@loummosesamone]

@@mondofarms4343 Thank you for the insightful information. Wishing you best of luck in the upcoming seasons. God bless you

[@stevenmufichani7894]

Greetings to mondo farms Tremendous works guys. I intend to start lifting my produce in the next week. Part of field could be harvested by early November. The only challenge I have experienced this season is bolting. And I have head from other growers too saying the same this season.I suspect this is caused by natural factors that we have no control about. We just cut off water from one's that will be harvesting in to weeks time.

[@mondofarms4343]

Indeed. All the best!!

[@dilshodmamurov1083]

Good 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@mondofarms4343]

Thanks

[@TimothyTuvi]

Just curious, which of the two blocks did well? i.e. The transplanted onions or the direct planted ones? Asante from Kenya.

[@mondofarms4343]

Great question. They were pretty much the same, and I can't remember any major differences between them. Except that the transplants had to re-establish in their new home after being shifted and were thus ready a few weeks after the ones we had left in place.

[@cozyrosemary]

It's great!! Wonderful onions!!!🌷 It's harvest season of sweet potato in Japan!!😸👍🌷

[@mondofarms4343]

Great.

[@brianmutondo205]

You're truly inspirational sir🙌🏾 I'd be honored to be mentored by you🙏🏾 P.S the Red side of Manchester won our hearts that day😂 - A proud United young man

[@mondofarms4343]

Indeed

[@muhammedjarju439]

What’s the spacing, average weight per bulb and tons per acre.

[@mondofarms4343]

Hi there. Please have a read of previous comments on how we handle issues of publishing such numbers on social media as a business. Take care and thanks for watching.

[@hamwaalamayaba6110]

Beautiful,

[@mondofarms4343]

Many many thanks

[@viktorkiss]

Hello from Hungary! I m a farmer too. Produce onion, tomatoo, pumpkin, greenpeas, etc. I make videos about farming too.

[@mondofarms4343]

Hello there!