Onions (allium cepa) locally known as “obutungulu” in luganda are cool season biennial crops. This vegetable is typically grown as an annual. The dry bulb onions are harvested after the leaves have dried back and the bulbs fully matured.
The common Onion varieties grown in Uganda include; Jambar F1, Red passionF1, and Bombay red and Red pinoy- these have a lower yield but are in high demand at the market and they fetch a high price than the Jambar F1.
Soil requirements; bulb onions do best in well drained, sandy loam soils with a pH range between 6.5 to 7.0 .
How to Propagate Onions in Africa
You can plant onions from seeds, sets or transplants. For commercial farming I would recommend that you use either transplants or sets to plant onions.
An onion set is a small dormant bulb that will produce a larger bulb once it’s planted.
Onion transplants are however started from seeds in a bed before planting them in to the main garden.
