Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** short-day, sweet onions are grown…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** 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.