Onion Seed Treatments Available for 2015 Season
Onion season is in full swing, and Germains Gilroy facility is busy processing thousands of pounds of onion seeds with a variety of conventional and organic seed treatments before they are distributed and planted throughout the United States. According to the National Onion Association (NOA), there are approximately 1,000 growers in the United States who are producing either conventional or organic onions crops. The NOA also reports that 125,000 acres or onions are planted producing approximately 6.2 billion pounds of fresh onions per year.
Information Provided by the National Onion Association | U.S. Onion Production Data
What does all this mean for the seed industry? Approximately 15 billion units (1000/unit) of onion seeds are produced and processed each year in the United States to supply the $5 to $7 billion dollars retail onion market. Germains Seed Technology Gilroy facility plays a critical role in providing conventional and organic seed technology solutions that support U.S. onion growers. Germains Seed Technology offers onion seed priming, pelleting, filmcoating, and health options that help growers maximize their crops potential starting with the seed.
Conventional Onion Seed Treatments
In addition to seed priming that helps improve the speed of germination and uniformity, onion growers opt to pellet their seed for precision planting and perhaps apply an insecticide/fungicide filmcoat for added protection. For conventional growers looking for added protection, Germains offers a variety of options for onion crop protection including Syngenta’s FarMore® FI500. FarMore FI500 is a fungicide/insecticide seed treatment technology that offers onion growers’ protection by three seed-delivered fungicides and two seed delivered insecticides providing increased protection against seedcorn maggots, onion maggots and onion thrips. As an alternative to the Syngenta’s line of product, Germains also offers the onion seed fungicide Coronet® from BASF that may be combined with Dow Agro Sciences Entrust® insecticide.
Improve yield with goseed® | Maximize your onion crop production with seed health technologies
If you are interested in improving uniformity and yield, Germains’ goseed® health technology for onions is worth considering. Goseed enhances root development that allows for more nutrient absorption that improves uniformity and yield. Germains offers a wide array of onion seed technology specifically formulated to help onion growers maximize their potential.
Organic Onion Seed Treatments
In addition to organic onion seed pellets and encrustment, Germains also offers crop protection such as Syngenta’s FarMore OI 100 which is an effective seed treatment for control of onion maggot and seedcorn maggot. Biological filmcoating such as T-22 by Bioworks, Actinovate® by Natural Industries Inc and Mycostop® manufactured by Verdera OY are three other organic biological seed treatments Germains offers for onion growers in the U.S. and Mexico.
Whether you want to speed up emergence with seed priming or improve your yields with seed health technologies, Germains’ knowledgeable staff is available to answer your questions. Please contact our Sales Account Managers Bobby Garcia or Charlie Cain for more information.