Germany: Crop area with onions reduced significantly
(AMI) - After the strong expansion of planting in the previous year, the cultivation of spring sown onions in Germany has decreased in 2022. The survey by the Fachverband Deutsche Speisezwiebel e.V. in cooperation with AMI shows that about 8% less spring onion seed was sold in Germany for sowing in 2022 than in the previous season. This means that the crop area with spring sown onions is also likely to fall by the same order of magnitude. Winter sown onions and set onions are not included in this survey.
Last year about 13,780 ha or 95 % of the crop area for onions was used for spring sown onions. For the 2022 harvest, an area of around 12,678 ha of spring sown onions can be expected after a reduction in cultivation of 8 %.
Increased area for red and organic onionsHowever, there are different developments with regard to colour and cultivation method. Sales volumes of red onions and organic onions actually increased. In contrast, the cultivation of yellow varieties for conventional cultivation was reduced by 12%. The cultivation of red conventional onions increased by 5 %. Thus, the share of red onions in the crop area for summer sown onions grew to 11 %. Organic seed sales in Germany have now increased for the fourth year in a row. In 2022, this segment now accounts for a good 9.5 % of total summer onion seed sales.
For the total onion production, however, the change in yield is more important than the change in crop area, as the past years have impressively shown. Ultimately, however, the weather development of the next three months will decide on the available supply. (Fachverband Deutsche Speisezwiebel e.V./AMI)(June 01, 2022)