EVALUATION OF THE EFFICIENCY OF ONION (Allium cepa L.) SETS TREATED WITH ASCORBIC ACID AND SALICYLIC ACID IN STIMULATING GROWTH AND SEED PRODUCTION

Abstract

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the economical cultivated crops and is consumed heavily worldwide. The demand fOnion (Allium cepa L.) is one of the economical cultivated crops and is consumed heavily worldwide. The demand for onion seeds is high as it loses viability within a year. In Iraq, onion production has been limited due to the lack of good quality of seeds. Therefore, this study was aimed to improve seed quality and productivity of onion local white cultivar by using optimum onion sets size and priming with phytohormones. A field experiment was carried out in the Grrdarash field belonging to the Salahaddin University, Erbil. A split-plot in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was applied with three replicates. Onion sets >6.0 cm, large diameter and 4-6 cm, medium diameter, was selected. The bases of the sets were soaked in ascorbic acid (AsA) (1 and 2 mM), salicylic acid (SA) (0.5 and 1 mM) and control (water only) for 24 hours at 4°C. The results show that the emergence rate of flower stalk per day, the rate of umbel opening per plant, the number of flower stalks per plant, the number of flowers per umbel and seed yield (t.h-1) were increased statistically and significantly by using the large onion sets. AsA and SA treatments show their significant effect on flowering and seed quantity. A positive relationship was found between the aforementioned treatments and onion seed yield. Therefore, further studies are required to evaluate the effectiveness of a natural product that has the same properties as AsA and SA on the growth and quality of vegetable crops.