At Hazera, the new year starts with some state of the art technology for efficiently and accurately sorting onions for breeding purposes. In Hazera's new onion breeding station in Rilland, together with Ellips a new-generation sorting machine is tested. On Wednesday, January 28, Hazera and Ellips gave a detailed explanation about the software and the machine during a live demonstration, with a large part of the onion processing industry and trade being present.
Hazera and its predecessor Nickerson-Zwaan have been working for several decades on improving onion varieties for the onion chain, from grower to industrial processor (packing, peeling, cutting) and fresh market. The range spans all varieties, from Extra Long Day onions for Northern Europe to tropical Short Day onions. In the (Extra) Long Day, for which breeding takes place in the new station in Rilland, Hazera's hybrid varieties mainly distinguish themselves by combining a high yield with excellent storage qualities.
An important part of the breeding process is an accurate and strict selection of onion varieties. Onions from field tests are evaluated in detail for a long list of features, so that only the best material will remain. Hazera is looking for ways to further optimize this selection, through even more precise evaluation of features such as internal quality, weight, size, shape, colour and other external qualities. Out of this, a partnership was born with Ellips, developer of software for fruit and vegetable sorting machines.
Machines with this software enable a much more efficient, accurate and more consistent evaluation of the onions. This better evaluation is to provide an even stronger foundation for our onion breeding, enabling us to respond to the fast developments in the market, and guarantee the advantage the Hazera varieties have in the future as well. Mechanical sorting is also beneficial to the working conditions.
For more information:
Lando van Doorn
Hazera
Tel: +31 162 690951
Email: lando.van.doorn@hazera.com
www.hazera.com