Direct harvesting, with mechanical removal of the foliage (topping), of onion crops followed by post‐harvest drying at ambient temperatures (c. 18°C) resulted in an increase in the incidence of onion neck rot (Botrytis allii).
The disease was substantially reduced if topped onions were dried at 30°C with an airflow of 425 m3 air/h/tonne. The treatment was most effective if the crop was removed from the field for drying within 48 h of topping thus avoiding severe infection of the damaged green tissues of the necks of onions.
Increasing vegetable production costs have lately created a greater awareness of post-harvest losses and quality problems. Mechanical damage, which may be accentuated by machine harvesting, is compounded in storage by increased water loss and a higher incidence of disease. Temperature control is probably more critical for vegetables than it is for most crops, in retarding physiological processes of decay or regrowth, and in reducing development of storage pathogens.
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