Agronomists of the Scientific Research Institute of Agriculture of the Crimea are creating new types of Yalta onions. Scientists continue many years of work on the selection of vegetable crops. Yalta onions are grown in greenhouses of the Research Institute of Agriculture. Here it is crossed with Italian and Stavropol sweet onions and the peninsula near Moscow. Seedlings grow on 500 square meters. They also work here with other agricultural crops: peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. But now agronomists pay special attention to the business card of the Crimean gastronomic map.
“Now fertilizing and regular watering are underway. And at the age of 5-7 months, we plant in the open ground. Before that, we do the hardening of seedlings for a week. Somewhere in the second decade of May, we plant it in the ground.”
There are two versions of the appearance of the Yalta onion on the peninsula. The first one says that brands also added it to food. This is evidenced by the bulbs found on the territory of Chersonesos during excavations. The second version is that the fruit was brought from the island of Madeira to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. Previously, it was considered the food of rich people, was in demand and therefore spread from the resort area of the peninsula. Yalta onion – flat shape. Initially, it had a pink color, which eventually changed to purple. The specifics of growing this crop is that specialists have to do everything manually. At the same time, the Yalta onion is different in each district of the Crimea.
“It will be better in the foothill zones, like ours. And, here, in the steppe zone, for example, in the Dzhankoy zone, it will be sharper. Why? Because the soil temperature is higher there. And it depends on the amount of watering. I did five watering – there will be a sharp onion. Made twelve – sweet.”