• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.7
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• pp.915-922
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• 2017

This study aimed in onion production by evaluating cost and labor efficiencies of onion storage methods using either a ton-bag or a wire-steel pallet. New methods using ton-bag and wire-steel pallets were developed and applied to postharvest tasks, such as harvest packaging, transportation, and storage. The storage parameters evaluated for their effect on the logistics of onion production were: working duration, working hours, and cost expenditure. The longitudinal tensile strength of the ton-bag developed in this study was 16% higher than that of the conventional ton-bag. The wire-steel pallet developed in this study had 10% more storage capacity in a low-temperature storage room, and its truck loading capacity was more than doubled compared to that of the conventional steel pallet. There was no difference in the wasting rate during bulk storage between the newly developed wire-steel pallet and the conventional steel pallet, for 500 kg of onions. However, the bulk storage of 1,000 kg of onions using the wire-steel pallet was not found to be suitable, because the wasting rate of onions stored using the wire-pallet was 3.7% higher than that of onions stored using a conventional steel pallet. The time and the total investing costs for the bulk method decreased by 50.1% and 46.1%, respectively, compared to those for conventional harvest. In the bulk storage using the wire-steel pallet, the total storage cost decreased by 28.8%. Thus, it is estimated that we could have saved 18.3 billion won if the wire-steel pallet method about 30% of the total onion production (1,298,749 M/T) in 2016.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
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• v.67 no.4
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• pp.199-210
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• 2022

This study aimed to develop a cropping system to use limited crop-land with optimum efficiency, while considering management from farmers. To establish the cropping system involving a two-year rotation of three crops, three types of cropping system were evaluated in Suwon (Seogcheon series) and Anseong (Geumcheon series) in the middle plain area using six crops from 2018 to 2019: maize-perilla-onion, potato-sesame-garlic, and maize-sesame-onion. The crop productivity and income of the cropping systems involving food-, oilseed-, and horticultural crops were analyzed, and the optimal cropping system was reviewed. The total yield of each crop was as follows: maize 1,281 kg, potato 4,837 kg, perilla 125 kg, sesame 120 kg, onion 6,503 kg, and garlic 1,027 kg per 10a. However, in terms of gross profit, the potato was more than 3.8 times more profitable than corn, sesame was 1.8 times more profitable than perilla, and garlic was more than 2.8 times more profitable than onions. As a result, in terms of net income, the potato-sesame-garlic cropping system produced the highest income per unit area. Sesame seedlings were planted after the potato harvest, thereby solving the problem of competition between the first and last crops. Overall, this study confirmed that the potato-sesame-garlic cropping system, a two-year rotation of three crops, contributed to the improvement of upland crop productivity and farmers' income and was an overall effective cropping system.