An onion cold storage is an artificial environment created with the help of technology to store easily spoilt goods. Onion cold storages provide specific temperatures the lemons are kept fresh until they are sold. Farmers harvesting high volumes of onions usually use Onion cold storage.
Onions are harvested twice a year. Once in Kharif season and once in Rabi season. The crop usually becomes ready after three months from transplanting.
There are different indications on when to harvest the onions depending upon the crop season in which they are grown. Harvesting of onions in Kharif season is done immediately after the leaf’s color turns into light yellow and red pigmentation is observed on the bulbs. harvesting of onions in Rabi season instant one week after the leaves of the tops fall. Onions can be stored for up to 10 months.
What happens if lemons are not stored properly?
A fresh onion’s white section is firm and bright without any moisture. The top parts should be sturdy. You can tell if an onion has gone stale based on three factors.
Three factors are smell, feel and color. It is observed that the development of dark spots is formed on spoiled onions. These dark spots eventually develop into molds. If there are any soft or smushy parts on the onions it means that they have gone stale.
Finding if the onions have been spoiled with the help of smell is there any difficult one. As many people feel that onions naturally smell bad. But when onions smell like anything else other than onion it means that they have gone bad.
To avoid the above circumstances onion cold storage is very essential.
Onion cold storages maintain a particular temperature and pressure at which the onions remain fresh for long durations. Farmers who want to obtain profits most generally use Onion cold storage.
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How should the lemons be before they are stored?
- The onion must be given the right variety of storage. As methods of storage differ based upon the types of onions.
- The onions are to be grown using honest agricultural practices which do not cause any unnecessary chemical reactions leading to unwanted products in the onions.
- Nitrogen fertilization must be avoided at all costs. At least during the last six weeks, it should be avoided.
- The skin of the Onion must be really firm.
- Required levels of lime are needed to be applied to the onions
- The right time for harvesting onions is when the onions are completely physically ripe.
- Low water content must be present inside the bulb for proper storage of onions.
- The bulb must be firm and sturdy. The bulb must be intact and compact.
Why should Onion cold storage be used?
If the onions are not provided with optimum temperature after they are pulled from the earth they become degraded. When the onions are kept out in open conditions they get stale and the onions which are in contact also become stale.
The presence of numerous disease-causing germs is there which may lead to the destruction of the fresh onions. If the onions are not proper then the farmer might not be able to sell all the onions and end up having losses.
If the farmer fails to identify the spoilt onions and sell them to customers then this will lead to customer dissatisfaction. This will eventually lead to huge losses in business for the farmer.
What are the benefits of using onion cold storage?
Onion cold storage is an environment with controlled settings where parameters such as temperatures and pressure are maintained at certain levels which will help keep the onions ripe and store them for long-term efficiency.
It is easy to install an onion cold storage. The construction of an onion cold storage can be easily done near your house or the place of harvest.
The temperature in an onion cold storage can be controlled by you. As you know that the optimum temperature at which the onions remain fresh changes depending upon the temperature in the atmosphere outside so the temperature inside the onion cold storage needs to be changed frequently with the change in the atmosphere.
There is different onion cold storage is available for different prices. You can choose an onion cold storage according to your budget and the volume. There are different onion cold storages available in different sizes and you could choose the size which is more suitable for the volume of onions you have produced.
There is a huge variety of Onion cold storage. You can select a storage unit that will help in the destruction of all kinds of germs and diseases. There are also some additional features that you can select in an onion cold storage for the effective storage of the lemons you have produced.
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Factors affecting the storage of onions:
The major factor that determines whether the given Onion is ready to be stored or if it is going to be spoilt is its dryness. Dryness is an important factor that helps us in the storage of onions.
This is because onions lose weight during respiration. Therefore, onions are dried before storing them. The main aim of the drying process is to remove all the surface water and moisture from the onion. The Onion must be sealed by drying at least three to four layers of onion skin. As the stem is cut and it is left open it must be kept as dry as possible.
Conditions at which Onions must be stored:
First, the onions must be dried at a temperature between 25 degrees Celsius and 30 degrees celsius. Now from this level, the temperature of the Onion cold storage must be gradually decreased by 0.5 degrees Celsius per day to get to the ideal storage temperature.
The temperature is reduced until it reaches the range of zero degree Celsius to 2 degree Celsius. This gradual decrease in temperature is done for two main reasons. The first one is to make sure that the temperature of the outer layers and the bulb remains the same. The second reason is for the prevention of cells in the bulb to get destroyed.
