August 27 2007, 09:56

Onion consumption grew 50% during 20 years in the USA

US trade sources inform, onion consumption continues growing in this country. Around one half of the consumed onion is yellow onion variety, which is the most popular also in Ukraine and Russia. Onion consumption has increased 50% during 20 years in the US; now it is the third important veggy crop according to evaluations of the sales volumes of fresh produce.

At the present moment onion consumption reaches 9.7-10 kg per capita per year in the USA. Onion rings are very popular in the US; you can order them in almost all restaurants and fast-foods. To compare: Ukraine annually produces 550-850 thousands of tons of onion. Onion production per capita has amounted to 13.4 kg per year in average for the recent 8 years. However, too much onion is lost in Ukraine during its storage, so that the consumption per capita is almost on the same level in our country as in the USA.

According to the data of ""Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits" weekly", China is the largest onion grower in the world; more than 30% of the total onion production allocates to this country. If the production volumes of bulb onion are considered, India occupies the second place performing 10% of the total production. USA follows the list growing 6% of the global onion production.