An onion with a very dark bronze color, high yield, uniformity in ripening, shape and size. These are some of the results achieved in the last two years with the Darkstone F1 onion, developed by the Italian Maraldi Sementi. Their aim was to develop an onion of the highest quality that is suitable for the entire supply chain.
"Our new selection includes hybrids that cover a wide season, with bulbs of exceptional quality, uniformity and shelf life. Darkstone F1, for example, is a hybrid that has shown the best response to Italian weather conditions in its two years of commercial launch," said Andrea Maraldi.
This onion is distinguished by its very dark bronzed color, high number of tunics, high dry matter content and hardness of the bulb, which allows long-term storage and has excellent resistance to damage caused by harvesting or processing. "All these characteristics are combined with a uniformity of ripeness and size making Darkstone F1 a valid choice in the late segment," added Simone Belletti.
The variety has confirmed its excellent performance not only in Italy, but also in the Balkan countries, Central and Southern Europe, Ukraine and Southern Russia and adapts well to these growing regions. "We have personally verified the results obtained abroad. Russian and Ukrainian operators, for example, appreciated the consistent quality during the months of storage. Years ago, in these countries, they were mostly looking at the yield in terms of quantity, while today they are also paying attention to quality after storage, yield and uniformity of sizes".
Darkstone F1 has been appreciated both in Italy and abroad over the past two years, also for its durability, resistance to post-harvest processing and uniformity in ripening. "The fact that Darkstone F1 is an Italian product and the result of years of testing in our experimental fields fills us with pride and encourages us to invest even more in innovation," said Maraldi.
Maraldi Sementi continues its investment to anticipate market demands. In this regard, the onion assortment has been renewed also with Msx101034 F1, an early ripening hybrid to be harvested in the second week of July, with a spherical bulb and 4 months storage.
The Msx18117 F1, a dual-purpose hybrid with an average growing cycle, which combines a large size with a good bulb consistency. It is suitable for both the industry, thanks to its production capacity, as well as for the retail and commerce because of its very dark color.
