Cultural management practices among onion farmers in Nueva Ecija [Philippines]
2019
De Luna, J.E. | Patricio, M.G. | Diaz, M.S. | Pagaduan, R.V. | Espino, A.N., Jr | Mandac, J.N.R. | Garcia, C.J.E. | Villamayor, A. | Aquino, J.D.C.
Onion is popular vegetable grown for its pungent bulb and flavorful leaves. Central Luzon accounts for the highest volume and hectarage of onion production. Current cultural management practices of onion farmers in Nueva Ecija were studied, based on interview with 180 farmers from the nine municipalities. Farmers responded to a combination of semi-structured questionnaires and focused group discussions. Socio-demographc characteristics of onion growers, cropping pattern, irrigations, fertilizer, pest, and other cultural management practices and related activities were documented. All data were analyzed using central tendency theory. Most farmer-respondents were male (91%), married (95%), and had secondary education (53%). On average, 104 ha were devoted to onion production and most farmers planted in November-March (68%). Most farmers used Red Pinoy variety (73%), sowed in seeds in November (74%), and applied synthetic fertilizers (66%). All farmers used synthetic pesticides and majority practiced crop rotation (94%). Some (34%) practiced good sanitation and 1% applied botanical plant extracts to control pests. Nobody planted trap and repellant crops. Most (63%) irrigated sanitation onions more than 10x per cropping season with an interval of 3-7 days (69%). Majority (67%) harvested onion 81-90 days after transplanting and replied primarily on synthetic pesticides to control pests. Some practices were not being used maybe because of lack of information and/or poor adoption of technologies. Some of these cultural management practices were used as basis in evaluating and enhancing effectiveness of measures in controlling onion armyworms, Spodoptera exigua (Hubner).
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