The majority of German onions come from Lower Saxony, where the harvest is starting these days. "Overall, the rain is good for the plants," says Landvolk President Dr Holger Hennies, who is currently harvesting the slightly smaller shallots as well as the yellow household onions on his farm in Schwüblingsen in the Hanover region. Only the disease pressure caused by the damp weather is causing problems for the leaves, which are often affected by downy mildew and therefore ripen and fall off earlier than would normally be the case during the course of the year. "The quality of the onions is still good, but they may be slightly smaller than usual," is Hennies' assessment. Consumers can therefore look forward to the new harvest, despite the adverse weather conditions.
"If too much rain falls on the onions during the harvest, we can see it later in the water stains. However, this is only a visual defect and not a quality defect," Volker Peters (right) confirms. He is Managing Director of GROKA in Dollbergen, which dries, stores and packs the onions for sale in the food retail trade after harvesting. Because onions have to dry out in the field after harvesting, a dry late summer favours the harvesting process. "The hotter the September, the whiter the onions," says Peters. The new harvest now connects seamlessly to last year's stored onions. Imports were not necessary.
Acreage expansion for onions in Lower Saxony
According to the Lower Saxony State Statistical Office, onion cultivation has increased. Compared to the previous year, 7.5 per cent more land was planted with onions in Lower Saxony in 2023. At 4,333 hectares, they are now the second-largest outdoor vegetable after asparagus, with the largest harvest volume by far at 215,932 tonnes (+15.1 per cent). Last year, the area under cultivation throughout Germany totalled 15,084 hectares.
For more information:
Volker Peters
GROKA Dollbergen GmbH & Co. KG
Tel. +49 5177 / 8650
Fax. +49 5177 / 8619
Email: [email protected]
www.groka-dollbergen.de