After decades of decline, Hungarian onion production has virtually ceased this year. According to János Fekete, president of the National Onion Product Council, twenty years ago onion cultivation in the Makó region was practiced on 1,500 to 2,000 hectares. This year, that number had dropped to just 20 -30 ha planted with onions.
The main problem is that Makó’s onion production is less and less able to compete with Italian, Spanish and German onions, which are much more efficiently produced. While onions sown from seed under domestic conditions can produce 250-300 m³ per hectare, Italian onions grown under irrigated conditions can reach yields of up to 700-800 m³.
Also, without the necessary conditions for proper water management, there is no real future for Hungarian onions.
Source: dailynewshungary.com