Farmers in the Surkhandarya region of Uzbekistan, the country's southernmost region, began harvesting early winter onions a few days ago. The first small batches of several tonnes are already being shipped to the region's markets and nearby, EastFruit reports.
Urmonali Usmanov, head of the VESAGRO consulting company, said that large batches of new crop onions could be formed in up to ten days under favorable weather conditions. However, the ripeness of the onions of the new crop has yet to allow for their transporting over long distances. Therefore, the expert believes that onions of the appropriate quality and volumes available for export will appear on the domestic market by mid-April this year.
'Farmers of three districts of the Surkhandarya region (Jarkurgan, Kumkurgan, and Sherabad) have already begun harvesting early winter onions. However, wholesale lots have yet to be available, and small volumes are shipped to local and regional markets. As far as I know, the wholesale markets of the country's capital have yet to receive onions from the new harvest', he said.
'However, the degree of ripeness of the onions of the new crop has yet to allow for shipping them over long distances. In other words, the foliage of the onions of the new crop has yet to be ready, and it will take more time to reach the desired degree of ripeness. Therefore, according to my estimates, chain-quality products and volumes of new crop onions available for export will appear on the domestic market of Uzbekistan around April 15-20,' Urmonali Usmanov noted.
Reportedly, January frosts destroyed the "August" winter onion shoots, which formed from August-September 2022 to January 2023. Therefore, additional time was required for the formation of new shoots and their development, leading to an increase in the onion ripening time by about 10-15 days. Accordingly, the start of harvesting early winter onions in the spring of this year has shifted by the same time.
Uzbekistan is Central Asia's largest exporter of onions, with an annual export volume of more than 200,000 tons. In mid-March 2023, Uzbekistan lifted temporary restrictions on onion exports introduced in January of the same year.
Comments (0)