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Abstract
Onions (Allium cepa L.) are a very popular, culinary, import commodity in the US Virgin Islands. Local production is minimal. Therefore, a large market exists for onions grown locally. Six short-day onion cultivars, 'Contessa', 'Granex 33*, 'Granex 429', 'Texas Grano 502', 'Texas Grano 1015' and 'Texas Grano 1025' were field evaluated during the 1994 and 1995 growing seasons. Parameters measured were bulb diameter, bulb height and yield. In 1994, Granex cultivars produced bulbs with the largest (Granex 429,77.4 mm) and smallest (Granex 33, 69.6 mm) diameters. Bulb height varied from 60.4 to 76.0 mm with the Texas Grano cultivars producing bulbs that were taller than the other cultivars. Mean yields of onions were significantly higher for Texas Grano 1015 (32.4 t/ha) compared to Texas Grano 502 and Granex 33 with yields of 25.1 and 18.6 t/ha, respectively. Granex 33, the earliest maturing of all the cultivars, produced the lowest yield and the smallest bulbs. In 1995, Texas Grano 1015 produced the largest bulbs (diameter and height) and also the highest yield. Increases in yields were observed for all cultivars in 1995 when compared with 1994. The time taken for cultivars to reach maturity was also longer during the second year.