Heatwaves cause a significant impact on onion farming, which in turn affects many people all over the world, from farmers to consumers. These impacts range from the damage to the onions themselves, soil health and water requirements, pest proliferation, and of course, economic consequences for farmers and consumers.
High temperatures can interfere with the photosynthetic process, reducing the growth rate of onion plants. Onions are particularly sensitive to heat during the bulb stage. Prolonged heat can lead to smaller bulbs and lower overall yields.
Heatwaves also affect soil moisture retention, and many pests thrive in warm conditions. These can cause significant damage to onion crops.
When it comes to the economic impacts, heatwaves can cause additional costs for farmers, as they might need to invest in more irrigation, pest control, and soil amendments. They can also lead to significant fluctuations in the number of onions that can be harvested, causing price increases for consumers.
Thankfully, onions are quite a resilient vegetable. Even with some of the obstacles crops sometimes have to face, be it low or high temperatures, too little or too much rain, and just overall weather conditions, onions can (for the most part) survive these conditions.
They are an extremely popular vegetable no matter where you are in the world, and they are a non-negotiable ingredient in most kitchens.
M&P Engineering has been manufacturing food production, preparation and filling equipment for many years and offers a range of equipment including its onion peeling machines.
M&P Engineering’s Large Onion Peeling machine uses a dry peeling process, resulting in no waste slurry. It can peel, top and tail onions with diameters between 45mm and 115mm using its self-adjusting floating knife assemblies. The peeler uses compressed air to remove the skin, resulting in optimum end-product appearance.
The large onion peeler has a raw material input rate of 750kg per hour when working at optimum speed but can be adjusted to suit the needs of the processor.
M&P Engineering also have available a range of freshcut machinery, including our Carousel Grid Cutting machine and our Radish Top & Tailer.
If you would like to find out more information about our products, speak to a member of the team on +44 (0)161 872 8378 or contact us here.