LA LIMA, Honduras — In Guinope, a municipality in the department of El Paraíso, 300 small farmers were using traditional production practices to produce onions on 80-100 hectares. Average yields were only 40,000 pounds per hectare, and weather, pests, and diseases often resulted in lower yields or entire crop failures. Growers using modern production systems in other regions of Honduras are achieving average yields nearly three times greater.

Previous extension efforts for Guinope's onion growers were limited and provided by chemical suppliers. Direct technical assistance covering the entire production system is being provided to 29 growers by EDA agronomists who have already facilitated major changes and improvements. When EDA Field Agronomist Mario Cho first visited the zone he immediately earned growers' trust by providing recommendations that saved their plantlets from downy mildew and Alternaria attacks. As a result of that success, farmers were ready to adopt other EDA-recommended production practices, including:

• Improved soil preparation techniques (raised and contoured beds)
• Improved plantlet production practices for better quality (including plantlet size grading for transplant)
• Higher density plantings (400,000 plants per hectare versus 150,000 plants per hectare with traditional systems)
• First time use of starter solution and biological controls during transplant
• Installation of new irrigation systems and improvements to existing systems (drip systems and overhead irrigation systems with sprinklers in series)
• Increased irrigation frequency from weekly to daily (with reduced water consumption)
• Introduction of other improved soil and water conservation practices resulting in reduced run off, soil erosion and compaction
• Reduction in total fertilizer application (frequency increased from 3 to 13 applications, but smaller volumes required with each application)
• Improved fertilizer efficacy by moving from dry application by hand to solutions applied by drenching or fertigation

The changes have been radical for the farmers in Guinope and will result in significantly higher yields, lower unit costs and increased incomes in just one crop cycle. The first harvests are expected in February. Other technologies that are new to these growers will be introduced during the current and next onion production cycle to reduce risks, ensure quality and dramatically increase productivity.

"The changes we have made over a short period of time have been major and other growers in the zone have also seen the advantages of the new systems. There soon won't be enough time in the day for the EDA agronomist," said Jorge Anibal Flores, an onion grower in Guinope.