Agronomic Evaluation of Bunching Onion in the Colombian Cundiboyacense High Plateau

Abstract

Bunching onion (Allium fistulosumL.) is a strategic crop for Colombia due to its economic relevance within fresh and processed food markets, and therefore, there is a demand for high yielding genotypes adapted to specific regions. For this reason, after carrying out a clonal selection process including 62 genotypes, ten of these, including a regional control, were evaluated for six different traits in Boyacá (Colombia) during 2012 and 2013. These traits were grouped into agronomic, yield, and processing categories. In general, these showed significant differences (p≤0.01) for genotypes, location, and genotypes × location interaction. Compared with the regional control and based on the multienvironmental analysis the genotypes Clone 30 and Clone 38 were the most promising new cultivars identified in this study. These two clones showed comparative advantages on earliness and yield, and they moreover showed some level of resistance to downy mildew and root rot, the most limiting diseases for Boyacá’s bunch onion farmers. Therefore, Clone 30 and Clone 38 were registered as new bunching onion cultivars for the Cundiboyacense High Plateau region under the names Corpoica Aquitania-1 and Corpoica Tota-1, respectively. Finally, further approaches and initiatives on bunching onion breeding are discussed.