How To Start An Onion Farming Business (Step-by-Step)

Ever since you started purchasing onions, has it ever occurred to you that you can start an onion farming business? If No, then what have you been waiting for? You have nothing to lose by starting a business in onion farming. And even if you don’t wish to commercialize the business, you can save the excess for your household usage. In this guide, you will get to learn all you need to know about starting an onion-farming business

To begin with, I want you to think about the kind of income that onion marketers make off of selling their stocks to you. Now, imagine yourself becoming a creator of wealth by simply cultivating onions. Please note that onion cultivation is not left for the northerners, neither is it a menial job.

If you are in doubt about this, go online and research the lives of those northerners whom we presuppose as mere onion farmers.

You would find out that the farm headers are living chiefly lives all because of this spice. To follow in the path of the onion-made wealthier people, here are a few things you might want to know first before starting a business in onion farming.

What You Need To Know Before You Start An Onion Farming Business

1. Selecting the right type of Onions

Onions may look alike being those leafy bulbous vegetables with a red-like scaly cover all of the time but under these layers lie a variety of differences. Basically, there are two types of onions to be considered and these are the short day and the long day growing onions.

One of their many differences, among others, is the difference in their periods of growth. When looking to go into the business, look for those onions that are bulb-like and are perennial too. These ones grow faster and give a greater yield than any other.

2. Onion Cultivation

If you want to get the best yield, grow your onions through their suckers first in a nursery then transplant them to the field later. There is no harm in growing them straight on the field, but then, you might have many more problems with spacing than you would have had if you had gone for the nursery option.

The best spacing for planting onions is usually half an inch apart and three-eight inches deep while the rows stay apart with a length of 15 inches.

3. Maintenance and storage of the onions

At the early stage of their lives, onion shoots would require a lot of water for survival therefore you should be on the ground with artificial irrigation if the rainfall is not forthcoming. Water the plant frequently to ensure good retention but not too much to prevent leaching and other drainage problems.

Regular weeding is important to reduce the spread of diseases and help maximize the nutrients that would be available to your plant. Natural roots builders and fertilizers should also be added to the onion plants regularly for better formation

4. Onion Harvesting

Onions are exceptionally fast-growing plants, especially those that we have suggested for you above. Bulb onions would usually be ready for harvest after the first three months of planting and would begin to turn yellow around this time.

If you would like to make the ripening faster, you can induce it by breaking off the top of the onion. Don’t wait for your onions to start flowering before you decide that it is time to harvest.

Read Also: How To Start Cucumber Farming Business – For Beginners

FAQs on Starting Onion Farming Business

If you are want to start an onion farming business but are not dedicated and hardworking, onion farming is not for you but if you are willing to go the whole nine yards, you’ll be smiling to the bank in no time.