Why some onion growers see 25% yield increases — and others don’t

Insight

Same input. Different results

In onion production, it is common to see variation in yield response between growers using the same products.

In some cases, the difference is significant.

The gap can be substantial

Trial data shows that yield response varies depending on how treatments are applied.

Conventional spray applications delivered an average increase of 8.7%.
Precision spraying delivered 7.05%.
Tape irrigation achieved increases of up to 25.2%.

These results show that application approach influences the level of response achieved in the crop.

Why results vary between growers

These differences are linked to how effectively products are delivered within the crop system.

Growers applying the same product within similar programmes can still achieve different outcomes. The way the product is introduced and distributed within the crop influences how it performs.

Where performance is gained

Stronger responses are associated with application approaches that support:

consistent distribution across the field
effective placement within the crop environment
reliable delivery through the system

These factors influence how evenly the crop responds.

Closing the gap

Improving performance often comes from refining how inputs are used within the crop system.

In Maxstim programmes, this includes using inputs such as Agriculture+ and Cynosa™ within application strategies designed to support consistent crop response.

For more detail on how application methods influence delivery within the crop, see Why crop application methods matter.

Why this matters

Yield potential is influenced by how effectively inputs are delivered across the crop.
Consistent delivery supports more even crop response and more reliable outcomes at harvest.