Source: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to
ENSURING FUTURE ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF US SHORT-DAY ONION PRODUCTION THROUGH MECHANICAL HARVESTING
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1031514
Grant No.
2023-51181-41172
Cumulative Award Amt.
$5,219,756.00
Proposal No.
2023-05678
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 1, 2023
Project End Date
Aug 31, 2027
Grant Year
2023
Program Code
[SCRI]- Specialty Crop Research Initiative
Project Director
Malla, S.
Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Short-day, sweet onions are grown in southern US states. Currently, most onion production in these states use manual harvesting due to the fragile nature of the short-day varieties. Limited availability and increasing cost of labor has resulted in decreased US short-day onion production and a lack of competitiveness with foreign sources. The South Texas Onion Committee has stated that the development of a viable mechanized harvest system is a high priority.Onion harvesters developed for long-day onions in northern states have been tested with short-day onions, but growers did not judge those results to be satisfactory. Too many bulbs were damaged to be acceptable for the fresh market. However, past attempts were limited to substituting the mechanical harvester for manual labor and did not take a whole system approach. This proposed work will address the multiple aspects needed to achieve a successful harvest system; identification of suitable cultivars, ability to evaluate cultivar suitability for mechanical harvest, the cultural practices needed to properly prepare the bulbs, and the design of the mechanical elements to minimize damage during harvest, grading, and packing. Probability of adoption of these advances will be maximized by partnering with equipment manufacturers, seed companies, and technology providers. Active participation by the stakeholder advisory panel and scientific advisors is integrated into the proposed research and outreach activities. This project includes short-day onion areas of Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, and California, representing the full range of growing conditions for short-day onions.Outcomes (cultivar damage thresholds, a harvest suitability instrument, improved cultivars, economic analyses) directly address four of the five focus areas of the SCRI, with greatest impact on plant breeding/genetics and improved production efficiency.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
30%
Applied
50%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2021451108145%
2121451116010%
4027299202045%
Knowledge Area
212 - Pathogens and Nematodes Affecting Plants; 202 - Plant Genetic Resources; 402 - Engineering Systems and Equipment;

Subject Of Investigation
1451 - Onion, garlic, leek, shallot; 7299 - Research equipment and methods, general/other;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1160 - Pathology; 1081 - Breeding;
Goals / Objectives
The goal of this proposal is to improve profitability and ultimately market share for short-day onion by mechanizing short-day onion harvesting through development and selection of cultivars, optimization of production practices, improved harvest systems, and communication of the associated socio-economic benefits to growers and packers. The specific objectives areObjective 1 - Identify machines and practices that result in an economically viable mechanical harvesting system for short-day onions.Objective 2 - Evaluate germplasm and standard management practices for mechanical harvesting.Objective 3 - Engage and involve stakeholders in project planning and outcomes.Objective 4 - Conduct an economic analysis of harvesting management practices and analysis of adoption barriers.
Project Methods
Objective 1Characterization of damage susceptibilityFive cultivars will be planted in TX and GA.Standard agronomic practices in the region will be followed. Bulbs will be undercut and hand harvested at 80% tops down and one week past 80% tops down. Sets of bulbs for testing will be collected one and seven days following undercutting.Bulb impacts will be assessed using three drop heights and four distinct surfaces: flat steel plate, round steel bar, angle iron corner, and ½" thick closed cell foam. At least 20 bulb impacts will occur at each combination of height and surface.Before impact, each bulb will be measured for mass and both polar and equator diameters.Bulbs instrumented with the IRD sensors will be dropped at the same heights.Data collected from the cut bulbs will include the total number of layers, the number of dry outer layers, <1 mm thick moist outer layers, ≥ 1 mm moist layers, number of bruised moist layers, and depth (mm) of bruising.Data will be collected on bulb penetration force (using a Texture Analyzer), total soluble solids, moisture content (%), pyruvic acid (µmoles mL-1), and sugar content (sucrose, glucose, and fructose; mg g-1 FW) will be measured for each variety. An intended outcome is the determination of the relationship(s) between bulb properties and bruising susceptibility.Measurement of impacts occurring within the harvest and packing systemTrials to assess bulb damage will focus on combinations of onion condition and machine (Top Air, Univerco Inc., and Nicholson Equipment Ltd.) operating parameters.Onion condition factors will include the stage of maturity at lifting and field curing time.The harvester parameters will include forward speed and conveyor speed (all harvesters), and topping table settings (Univerco and Nicholson).The tests will be incomplete block factorial designs with four replications.Samples will be taken from the beds following lifting, field curing, and from conveyors during harvest to allow the determination of the damage levels at each stage in the system.At least twenty passes of the instrumented bulbs will be made as a part of each test combination.The impact data are recorded as a time series of events.Collected samples will be manually inspected to determine the number and mass of damaged and undamaged bulbs.A sample subset for each variety will also be analyzed for firmness and chemical parameters as described above.Instrumented bulbs will also be used to characterize the handling that occurs in the packing shed following transport from the field.The instrumented bulbs will be passed through the entire system from dumping onto the line through just prior to bagging.The recorded impact data will allow the determination of points on the packing line that generate higher impact levels.Development of the harvest system simulatorThe impact datasets will form the basis for the design of a laboratory scale simulator that can generate impacts of similar magnitude and frequency.The simulator will consist of a chamber with various surfaces, a lifting mechanism, and a controller for the drop height. The IRD sensors enclosed in bulbs will be used again to document the impacts occurring in the simulator.Comparison of the impacts recorded within the simulator and the target impact dataset will be made using non-parametric statistics such as the K-sample Anderson-Darling test.The null hypothesis for this test will be that the distribution of recorded impacts in the simulator is not significantly different from the impact spectra recorded on the field machines.Objective 2Germplasm evaluationAbout 25 cultivars and TAM/NMSU breeding lines (entries) will be evaluated in a randomized complete block design with four replications.Entries should consist of at least 5 common cultivars as checks at both locations. Once 80% of the bulbs in a plot have lodged, all the bulbs in the plot will be harvested.Harvested bulbs will be graded and weighed from each plot.At least ten bulbs will be evaluated for firmness and chemical parameters as described above.A mixed model analysis will be conducted with entries as a fixed effect and replications being a random effect.The highest performing seven breeding lines in terms of bulb firmness, penetration force, and low pyruvic acid (<5 µmoles mL-1) will be selected.From these selected breeding lines, the best performing 15% of bulbs from each plot will be selected and seed will be produced from these selected bulbs for each selected breeding line.The next generation of these breeding lines will be evaluated in years 3 and 4.Cultural practicesA. Bulb maturityTreatments are time of harvesting relative to bulb development and dormancy (80% tops down and 1 week after 80% tops down) in year 2-4.The study will be arranged as a split plot design as cultivars being the whole plot and harvest time treatment being the subplot with three replications. Bulbs will be harvested by hand but evaluated with the harvest simulator in TX and NM.The sample size will be 50 bulbs.Plot size, harvesting method, data collection after the harvest and data analysis will be the same as described above.B. Curing timeThe trial will be laid out in a split plot design with four replications.Cultivar treatments will be the whole plots, whereas three curing time treatments (0-day field curing, 4-day field curing, and 7-day field curing) will be sub plots. Plot size, harvesting method, data collection after the harvest and data analysis will be the same as described above.C. Fertility practicesThe trial will test the null hypothesis that higher rate of nitrogen will not delay maturity affecting bulb firmness.The trial will be laid out in a split plot design with four replications.Cultivars will be selected as described on the bulb maturity trial.Three fertilizer treatments (standard N application rate, 50% less, and 50% more) will be sub plots. Nitrogen will be applied in five split applications (seeding/transplanting, vegetative, bulb initiation, bulb swelling, and bulb pre-maturation stages).Plot size, harvesting method, data collection after the harvest and data analysis will be the same as described above.Objective 3A cross-section of the onion industry has agreed to serve on the Stakeholder Advisory Panel (SAP) as well as a researcher and an Extension specialist with vast experience on onion as Scientific Advisors.The project team will meet with that panel twice per year to report progress, gather feedback, and gain insights on the activities planned for the subsequent growing years.The members of the SAP are opinion leaders in their respective industry segments, and they will be encouraged to describe the project activities and results within other groups.Traditional outreach and education practices (demonstrations, field days, Extension bulletins, etc.) will be a part of this project, as well as sharing on websites.The well-established alliumnet.com website will be used to share project outcomes with the scientific community, in addition to publishing in scientific journals.Across all sites, a short questionnaire will be shared with growers to gain insights into their views on mechanical harvesting to obtain data necessary for the enterprise budgets and economic feasibility of mechanized harvest of onions.The economic risk analysis (Richardson 2008, Ribera et al. 2004) of each production system will be done using a stochastic model to forecast the profitability distribution of each system and determine the variables that will have major impact.The economic analysis will also consider and analyze the adoption barriers for this new harvesting technology that farmers will face.To investigate the motivations and barriers for adoption of this new harvesting technologies, farmers will be surveyed to evaluate the potential effects of economic and non-economic barriers during year 1 and year 4 after they received the productive and economic results.

Progress 09/01/23 to 08/31/24

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience for this research is stakeholders involved in short-day onion industry. These include producers, packers, shippers, personnel associated with private equipment manufacturing companies, agricultural engineers, agronomists, crop consultants, farm managers, vegetable breeders (private), researchers, extension specialists, high school students, undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctorates. Public, state policy makers, and national policy makers are also the target audience for this research. Target audience reached out The project team reached out to onion producers, packers, shippers, researchers, extension professionals, and industry personnel across the nation.Four master's studentsand one postdoctorates have worked on various research activities of the project. They are conducting their research in Texas and New Mexico. In the project, stakeholder advisory panel members are from onion farm, regional onion associations, private seed company (breeder),national onion association, and the scientific community.Private seed companies (BASF, Seminis, Limagrain (Vilmorin), Limagrain (Hazera), Emerald, and Crookham) provided their advanced breeding lines for evaluation forthe project. Experiments were conducted in the growers' fields using their harvester, demonstrating the active involvement of stakeholders in this project. We reached out to our target audience through conferences, field days, crop tours, and workshops. We also reached out to growers to participate in the economic survey for the project. During the reporting period more than 400 growers, researchers, extension personnel, industry professionals, and students were reached. Changes/Problems:Changes for Objective 1 Evaluation of varieties will be modified to only drop bulbs on the padded and flat steel surfaces. The information gained from the round bar and edge surface included in year 1 was not sufficient to justify the additional workload. In Year 1, neither Univerco nor Nicholson companies provided the promised harvesting machines to Uvalde and Las Cruses, respectively, as a result, impact data was obtained on only one harvesting system. Both companies have again agreed to make machines available for Year 2. The improved catch frame that was to have been fabricated and mounted on an existing trailer in year 1 for use in Uvalde was not finished. Both Univerco and Nicholson representatives have stated that a facility to trim the tops and roots of bulbs is needed as part of the packing line operations. As potential cooperators in both Uvalde and Las Cruses regions currently rely on manual trimming in the field, a trimming machine is needed for the growers to allow harvesters to operate in their fields. Discussions are underway with both Univerco and Nicholson about obtaining a trimming machine and mounting it onto the existing trailer for use in both regions. Since this is more important than the improved catch frame, project funds for fabrication will be used to mount the trimming machine on the trailer along with associated mechanism for emptying bins onto the trimming machine and catching the trimmed bulbs back into bins. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project provided opportunities for undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctorateto conduct research in various activities.The project also provided trainings to team members. OneMasters and one undergraduate students inNM were trained on trait measurement, instrument use, statistical analysis, and data collection Two Masters students in TX joined the project. One postdoctorate research associate and one Masters student conductedresearch in the machine vision system and mechanicalharvest One Masters student in GA is conductedresearch in economics. One undergraduate student in TX was trained on onion production, trait measurement,instrument use, and data collectionf One undergraduate student in TX was trained on the machine vision system and instrument use Research associate in TX was trained on the machine vision system, onion bulb and seed production, trait measurement, instrument use, QR code generator, data collection, and database Farm Aide in TX was trained on trait measurement, instrument use, and data collection Three PIs in GA were trained on drop testing using pendulum system and impact recording usingImpact Record Device One PI in TX was trained on the machine vision system and instrument use How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Team members are reaching out to stakeholders through sharing results and lessons learned from the project. Producers and industry stakeholders are actively participating in the project by allowingonions planted in their farms, providing mechanical harvesters to harvest onions, and sharing onion germplasm seeds to evaluate their performances. Outreach was done through informal visits during crop production and harvesting atproducers' farm, producer meetings, field days, and farm tours. Dissemination of preliminary results to producers, industry stakeholders, researchers, and extension specialists, students, and publicwas done through conference, workshop, field days, field tours, and meetings. Outreach to producers and industry stakeholders throughoutthe project's Stakeholder Advisory Panel (SAP). Our SAPmembers are: Mike Bowman, Principal Breeder, Nunhems BASF, CA; Steve Cargil, Owner/GM, Cargil Farms Produce, TX; Dante Galeazzi, South Texas Onion Committee, TX; Cliff Riner, Chairman, Vidalia Onion Committee, GA; and Greg Yielding, ExecutiveVice President, National Onion Association, CO. Our SAP members are active in sharing information through their regional, national, and international network and providing feedbacks and information into the project from their groups. Team members actively participates in project's quarterly videoconferences.Some of them are extension personnel and educators who pass on information to their regions. Postdoctorate and students also actively participate in the meeting by providing inputs and research results. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Objective 1 TX Procedures as originally described for Objective 1 will be followed in Year 2, with some modifications (describedon "Changes/Problems" section) GA The project team aims to conduct a comprehensive experiment to minimize variability issues and achieve consistency and stability in IRD tests. One proposed change is to pass only one experimental onion bulb with IRD at a time. In Year 1, the team passed three IRDs simultaneously, which made recording start and end times challenging. Despite passing all three IRDs together, occasionally, one IRD reached the collection trailer earlier than the other two. Therefore, transitioning to passing one experimental onion bulb at a time would be beneficial. The team will conduct research to assess the damage that occurred in the collection bin by analyzing a large number of samples. Additionally, the team will work on calculating the marketable and unmarketable yield per acre, along with onion bulb biometry, to characterize the size of onions that were being harvested. Objective 2 Additional onion cultivars will be evaluated for the same traits mentioned previously. Additional traits, plant stand, bolting percentage, pink root and Fusarium basal rot incidence (NM) will be measured to determine adaptability of onion cultivars evaluated. A second study will be initiated to determine the effects of harvest timing on the same traits measured previously using two onion cultivars. Objective 3 Team members will organize workshops, field days, field tours, and trainings. Members will also attend conferences and discuss lesson learned. Objective 4 Collect and analyze economic survey data

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1 Texas Machine vision system was developed to automate the measurementof bulb traits. The system reduced the time to characterize a set of bulbs (measurement of mass and dimensions) by ~50%. The r-squarevalues of the system to measure equator and polar were 0.99 and 0.94, respectively. In Weslaco and Uvalde, five onion varieties (Hornet (yellow), Tusker (yellow), Veronica (yellow), Monja Blanca (white), and Sofire (red)) were evaluated for bruise damage by drop testing on four different surfaces (flat steel, round steel, edge steel, and padded) with the pendulum system. Results showed that maturity, drying period, and kinetic energy had a statistically significant impact on bruising. Veronica showed the lowest bruising overall. Ratio of equator to polar diameters resulted in statistically different bruising only for the Sofire variety. Impact Recording Device (IRD) recorded impact on Top Air harvester on two dates and on packing line each in Weslaco and Uvalde on one date. Georgia The trial was carried out to record impact using IRDs at fourdifferent sections in the Top Air harvester during the mechanical harvesting operation. Four sections were - 1)the collecting belt, 2) an elevator, 3) a horizontal belt or sorting bed, and 4) the collecting bin. Results indicated that the impact force was the highest and the lowest in the sections four and three, respectively. A variability analysis (Statistical Control of Processes) of impact forces across four sections showed that section four exhibited the widest confidence interval (the highest variability) due to the varying drop positions (top, middle, or bottom of the bin). Bulbs evaluated for the bruise damage in the collection bin after the mechanical harvestshowed that bulbs at the bottom were significantly higher damaged than the middle and top. The pendulum drop test trial showed that there was no significant difference on maturities(80% tops down and one week after 80% tops down). However, the trial showed that the 14 days curing resulted in an increased in bruised depth and bruised layers. Objective 2 Seed of 28 short-day onion cultivars and breedinglines were sown in NM and TX.At harvest time, entries were evaluated for their maturity time. Bulbs (10 bulbs in NM and 20 bulbs in TX) were collected from each plot for evaluation. Bulbs were evaluated for bulb size (height, weight, diameter), number of dry (only in NM)and fleshy scale layers, bulb firmness (subjective rating anddurometer measurements in NM and Texture Analyzer in TX), number of internal growing points, fleshy scale thickness, and percentage of soluble solids in the fleshy scale tissue. Entries differed for their maturity time, bulb size, bulb firmness, number of dry and fleshy scale layers, fleshy scale thickness, and percentage of soluble solids. Some entries may be well suited for mechanical harvesting based upon their bulb firmness. Smaller bulb sizes tended to exhibit a greater bulb firmness than larger bulbs. The three measures of bulb size were positively correlated with each other. The two measures of bulb firmness were positively correlated. The percentage of soluble solids in the fleshy scale was positively correlated with bulb firmness. In CA, 11 varieties were evaluated for firmness and bulb characteristics. Five varieties (Cipollini Red, Red Granex, Yellow Granex, Madalyn, and White Grano) had higher firmness rating. In GA, varieties Sapelo, Vidora, and Red Maiden had higher total soluble solids and sweeter than Sweet Magnolia and Monja Blanca. Objective 3 In Year 1, outreach activities were conducted to inform projectgoals, objectives, activities, and results. Producers were actively involved in the project by letting to conducttrials in their farms and utilizingtheir harvesters. Private seed companies provided seeds to evaluate germplasm for mechanical harvest. About 500 direct contacts were made during following outreach activities Field tours and field daysin four states. Workshop and growers' meetingin NM Regional growers' associations meeting Conferences and USDA Multistate annual meeting Objective 4 A survey was designed to gauge producer's willingness to adopt the new mechanical harvesting /machine harvester. A survey was sent out to stakeholders in four states.

Publications