Onion Seeds Wholesale Suppliers — FOB Jebel Ali 2026

By the Kehkashan International trade desk — Meydan Free Zone, UAE — Licence #2534446.01, TRN 105112073900003. This is a procurement reference for distributors, commercial-farm buyers and seed-house importers placing real orders of 100 kg to 10 metric tonnes of onion seed under one PO. It is not gardening content. It assumes you already know what an LC at sight is, what ISTA orange means, and why a 70 percent germination lot will get marked down by your largest commercial-farm customer. Read this end-to-end before you sign your next Bombay Red contract.

Why this encyclopedia exists

The English-language web indexes thousands of pages on onion seed. Roughly 99 percent of them are written for backyard gardeners ordering a 5-gram sachet from Amazon, Botanical Interests or a local seed library. Almost none of them are written for the people actually moving onion seed in container loads — the Ethiopian agricultural-input distributor placing a USD 180,000 PO for Meher season, the Kenyan agri-input chain stocking 12 tonnes of Red Pinoy F1 for the Naivasha and Kirinyaga belts, the Nigerian seed importer trying to land Indian Nasik N-53 ahead of Sokoto planting, or the Saudi MEWA-licensed seed company buying Dutch Bejo F1 for the Tabuk winter window.

This encyclopedia closes that gap. It covers the twelve commercial onion varieties that move in international trade, the five origin clusters that actually produce them, the ISTA specifications a buyer must enforce on every lot, the realistic 2026 FOB and CIF price bands, and the phytosanitary requirements of the eight highest-import-volume destinations. We added a 12-question buyer FAQ at the end. There is a separate full FAQ pillar at Onion Seed FAQ for Importers 2026 with 25 deeper questions for procurement teams running supplier qualification.

The global onion-seed market sits at roughly USD 2.6 billion in 2025, projected at USD 4.3 billion by 2035 at a compound 5.4 percent CAGR. Asia-Pacific accounts for 48.3 percent of that volume per the Market.us global onion-seed market report. India and China together produce roughly half of all onion bulbs grown worldwide per global FAO production statistics covered in worldpopulationreview. The seed-side of that bulb production runs through a tight cluster of breeders — Bejo Zaden, Enza Zaden, Rijk Zwaan, Bayer-Nunhems, Sakata, Syngenta, BASF and a long tail of Indian and Pakistani regional houses (Mahyco, Nuziveedu, Shine Brand, Durga Seed Farm, FB Seeds). Major multinational seed companies including Monsanto (now Bayer), Syngenta and Bayer Crop Science collectively account for an estimated 30 to 40 percent of the global onion-seed market; specialist breeders like Bejo, Enza Zaden and Rijk Zwaan contribute another 30 to 40 percent per the Market.us global onion-seed structural analysis.

The twelve commercial onion varieties importers actually buy

The table below is the working variety map for any international onion-seed importer in 2026. We have intentionally limited it to twelve cultivars — the ones that move in serious commercial volumes across African, Middle Eastern, South Asian and ASEAN buyer markets. There are dozens more in regional catalogues; very few of them clear the volume threshold to matter.

Days-to-maturity figures are measured from transplanting (farmer-practice baseline, not from seeding). Yield potential figures are documented field-trial maximums under proper agronomy; real on-farm yields run 40 to 70 percent of these numbers depending on irrigation, nitrogen rate and disease pressure. Retail seed price ranges are 2026 distributor-channel observations for tier-1 commercial-grade lots.

Variety	F1 / OP	Bulb colour	Days to maturity	Yield potential (t/ha)	Storability	Best agro-ecology	Top origin	Retail USD/kg
Bombay Red	OP	Deep red, globular	105–121 (some lines 120–150)	25–42	Good (3–4 months)	Short-day tropical / sub-tropical	India / Pakistan	28–45
Adama Red	OP	Red, flat-globe	120–146	30–45	Excellent (5–6 months)	Highland tropical (Ethiopia, East Africa)	Ethiopia / India	30–48
Red Creole	OP	Dark red, deep red rings	110–160	20–28	Excellent (3–6 months)	Hot short-day (West Africa, Sahel, South Asia)	USA / India / Sakata SA	32–50
Texas Early Grano	OP	Yellow-straw	90–110	25–35	Poor (1–2 months)	Hot short-day (USA Texas, Egypt Delta)	USA	30–45
Texas Grano 1015Y (SuperSweet)	OP	Yellow, large globe	175 (from seed) / 60–75 (transplant)	35–45	2–4 months	Texas/Sahel short-day, sweet markets	USA	35–55
Yellow Granex (Vidalia type)	OP	Yellow, flat-globe	100–120	30–40	Poor–medium	Hot short-day (Georgia USA, Egypt)	USA / Egypt	30–48
Nasik Red N-53	OP	Medium red, flat-oval	110–130	25–35	Good (3–5 months)	Indian Deccan plateau, hot dry	India (Maharashtra)	26–40
Pusa Red / Agrifound Dark Red	OP	Red, dark red	110–130	25–35	Good (3–4 months)	Indian Indo-Gangetic plain	India (IARI)	26–42
Punjab Selection / Naroya	OP	Red	120–140	25–32	Good	Punjab Pakistan/India winter onion	Pakistan / India	22–36
Jambar F1 / Russet F1 / Red Coach F1	F1 hybrid	Red, uniform globe	90–115	35–50+	Medium–good	Sub-tropical commercial farms	Netherlands (Bejo) / USA	55–95
Mercedes F1 / Sirius F1 (Bejo)	F1 hybrid	Brown, yellow	95–110	35–50+	Excellent (6+ months)	Long-day Europe, highland tropics	Netherlands (Bejo)	60–110
Hojem / Hojema / Pink Pearl F1	F1 hybrid	Pink / pale red	95–115	35–48	Good	Short-day Africa (Kenya, Tanzania), Asia	Netherlands / Israel	55–95

Bombay Red is the highest-volume cultivar in international trade. Deep red, medium-sized bulbs, globular in shape, early maturing at 120 to 150 days from transplanting, average yield 16 to 17 tonnes per acre (about 40 t/ha at trial-plot level), individual bulb weight 100 to 180 grams per the Agroduka commercial variety datasheet for East African markets. Bombay Red sits at the foundation of every East African and Middle Eastern distributor's stock list.

Red Creole is the long-storage workhorse. A medium-maturing open-pollinated short-day red onion with maturity 120 to 160 days, medium bulbs weighing about 100 grams, yield potential 18 to 25 t/ha, dark red outer scales, tight red rings to the centre of the bulb, 3 to 4 month keeping quality, resistance to downy mildew, purple blotch and pink rot per the Sakata Southern Africa Red Creole datasheet. Suitable for warm and hot climates.

Texas Grano 1015Y (Texas SuperSweet) is the dominant short-day yellow sweet onion in international trade. Open-pollinated, large sweet yellow-skinned bulbs averaging 1 pound and 4 to 5 inches in diameter, yellow-skinned with white flesh, pink-root tolerant, very productive, 2 to 4 month shelf life per the HOSS commercial datasheet. Named for the October 15 ideal planting date in Texas.

F1 hybrid lines — Jambar F1, Russet F1, Red Pinoy F1, Neptune F1, Malbec F1 — define the high yield tier across African and Middle Eastern commercial farms. Jambar F1 specifically is known for uniformity, high yield and disease resistance and can yield up to 30 tonnes per acre under intensive management per the Kenya commercial onion-variety review on Crazy Kanairo Farming. Red Pinoy F1 is the forgiving beginner-friendly red F1, mature in 100 to 120 days per the same Kenya variety guide.

The five origin clusters

The international onion-seed import market is supplied by five origin clusters. Each has a defensible pricing position and a known weakness.

India — Nasik (Maharashtra), Gujarat, Karnataka

India is the price-and-volume leader. Nasik N-53, Pusa Red, Agrifound Dark Red, Punjab Selection and Bombay Red lines move out of Maharashtra and Gujarat in 20-foot container loads at FOB Mundra of USD 25 to 38 per kilogram for tier-1 commercial-grade lots. Indian seed houses (Mahyco, Nuziveedu, Shine Brand, Durga Seed Farm, FB Seeds, JK Agri Genetics, Pahuja Seeds) supply commercial-grade germination of 70 to 80 percent on OP lines; premium tier-1 lots clear 85 percent. The advantage is volume, price, breadth of variety and short ocean transit to Africa, Middle East and South Asia. The weakness is variable lot-to-lot germination and historical Botrytis and Sclerotium loading on poorly-cured lots. Documentation discipline is the gating issue when buying Indian.

Netherlands — Bejo Zaden, Enza Zaden, Rijk Zwaan, Bayer-Nunhems

The premium F1 hybrid leader. Bejo's Mercedes, Sirius, Romeo, Red Carpet, Red Coach and Hojem lines and Enza Zaden's Rebecca, Samurai, Lambrusco, Nogal lines define the high end of the African and Middle Eastern onion-seed market. Enza Zaden specifically has invested in pink root tolerance, with varieties like Rebecca and Samurai featuring advanced levels of pink root tolerance per the Enza Zaden global onion catalogue. Rijk Zwaan focuses on uniform sizing for processor markets. BASF unveiled climate-smart onion hybrids in early 2026 targeting variable-rainfall agronomy per the Market.us global onion-seed market report. FOB Rotterdam runs USD 55 to 90 per kilogram for F1 hybrid lines, occasionally USD 110 for proprietary cultivars. The Dutch advantage is uniformity, breeding depth, F1 hybrid vigour and 90 percent-plus germination. The weakness is price (Dutch F1 hybrids cost 2 to 3x Indian OP equivalents) and small-batch MOQ (25 kg ladders) that complicate smallholder reach.

USA — Texas A&M lineage, Dixondale, Seminis, Crookham

Premium-niche supplier of Texas Early Grano, Texas Grano 1015Y, Yellow Granex (Vidalia type), and short-day yellow lines that target hot-climate commercial onion markets. Texas A&M Research at Weslaco developed the Grano lineage that now anchors global short-day yellow onion production per the Dixondale Farms onion variety comparison. USA-origin lots at FOB Houston or Galveston run USD 30 to 55 per kilogram for tier-1 commercial-grade lots; Crookham and Seminis F1 lines (Saturn, Sapphire) approach Dutch pricing at USD 60 to 95 per kilogram. The advantage is breeding pedigree and uniformity. The weakness is long ocean transit to African and Middle Eastern buyers and the USDA APHIS phytosanitary lead time on lots above 1 metric tonne.

Pakistan — Punjab and Sindh

A growing tier-2 supplier and Kehkashan's own production geography. Pakistani Punjab Selection, Naroya and Phulkara lines compete with Indian N-53 on price (FOB Karachi USD 22 to 36 per kilogram) and carry a structural Halal-letter advantage for Muslim-procurement channels in West Africa, GCC and Indonesia. Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department (FSC&RD) certification on genetic purity is the documentation strength. The weakness is total annual export volume — Pakistan ships a fraction of what India produces.

Israel and Egypt — Hazera, Origene, Egyptian Giza-belt

Premium-niche supplier of short-day hybrid lines bred for the hot Middle Eastern and North African agro-ecology. Israeli Hazera lines and Egyptian Giza-6, Giza Red, Giza White and yellow Granex equivalents move out of Damietta, Alexandria and Ashdod. Egypt's Giza belt is OP-dominated; Israel runs F1 hybrid breeding programs that compete with the Dutch on hot-climate cultivars. Egyptian-origin pricing runs USD 30 to 45 per kilogram FOB; Israeli premium F1 hybrid runs USD 50 to 85 per kilogram FOB. The advantage is proximity to East African and Gulf buyers; the weakness is geopolitical sensitivity for some buyer channels.

For a typical international distributor with a USD 200,000 to 1,000,000 annual seed-purchase budget, the practical answer is multi-origin sourcing under a consolidated PO — Indian Nasik for the smallholder-cooperative channel, Pakistani Punjab for the Halal-procurement and price-sensitive channel, Dutch and US F1 hybrids for the commercial-farm channel. That is the consolidation Kehkashan runs out of the UAE Free Zone.

Spec language: what the bag label says vs what to verify

The label on a 25-kg outer carton of commercial onion seed is a marketing artifact. The COA, the ISTA orange certificate and the third-party germination retest are the documents that matter. Every onion-seed PO destined for a serious import market should specify the following on the supply contract.

1. Germination minimum 85 percent. ISTA-protocol germination test, third-party laboratory, dated within 90 days of shipment dispatch. Anything below 85 percent will be marked down by commercial-farm customers and risks rejection at destination phytosanitary inspection. ISTA does not itself set minimum germination floors — those are set by buyer-side contracts and destination-country regulations. ISTA provides the protocol and the certificate framework per the ISTA Customer Guide from Oregon State University Seed Lab.
2. Varietal purity minimum 99 percent for F1 hybrids, 98 percent for OP lines. Genetic-purity testing on a representative sample of the lot. Critical for distributors selling against named-variety claims to commercial farms.
3. Physical purity minimum 99 percent. Inert matter and other-crop seed at or below 1 percent. The ISTA "Other Seeds by Number" count should be reported and Cuscuta spp. (dodder) must read zero — dodder-contaminated lots are routinely rejected at every serious destination phytosanitary post.
4. Moisture maximum 8 percent. Tested at point of packaging. Lots above 8 percent moisture lose germination rapidly during transit and storage, particularly air-freighted lots that experience temperature swings.
5. Treatment disclosure. Thiram, Captan, Carbendazim or biofungicide treatments must be declared on the COA and on the pouch label. Several destination channels (organic-certified commercial farms, EU-export horticulture) require untreated seed; the rest expect a standard fungicide treatment.
6. Packaging integrity. Aluminium-foil pouches with nitrogen flush for premium F1 hybrids; vacuum-sealed plastic pouches in 25-kilogram outer cartons for OP volume lots. Pouch labels in English with variety name, lot number, germination percentage, purity percentage, packing date, expiry date and country of origin.

What the ISTA orange certificate is and is not

The ISTA Orange International Seed Lot Certificate is a test report that represents the entire seed lot and is recognised under WTO and IPP frameworks for international seed-for-sowing movements per the ISTA chapter on certificates published by Oregon State University Seed Lab. A separate ISTA Blue International Seed Sample Certificate covers individual samples sent for analysis per the same ISTA chapter reference. ISTA testing covers germination, purity, viability, moisture content, vigour, seed weight and other seed determinations. The minimum sample size for ISTA purity testing is 2,500 seeds; for germination it is 400 seeds per ISTA Rules 2025 referenced by Oregon State University Seed Lab FAQ.

What ISTA does not provide: a quality floor. ISTA Rules 2025 set the testing protocol; the minimum germination and purity numbers are set by the buyer's contract and the destination country's seed regulations per the ISTA Customer Guide reference.

FOB and CIF pricing benchmarks 2026

The bands below reflect Kehkashan trade-desk observations for tier-1 commercial-grade lots in Q1 2026. Spot pricing can sit 10 to 15 percent below or above these bands depending on origin harvest cycle, FX swings, and freight conditions.

Variety / origin	FOB origin port USD/kg	CIF East Africa USD/kg (sea)	CIF West Africa USD/kg	CIF Middle East USD/kg	Typical MOQ
Nasik Red N-53 (India, Mundra)	26–38	32–44	34–46	30–42	250 kg
Pusa Red / Agrifound Dark Red (India)	28–42	34–48	36–50	32–46	250 kg
Bombay Red commercial (India / Pakistan)	25–35	30–40	32–42	28–38	500 kg
Punjab Selection (Pakistan, Karachi)	22–32	28–38	30–40	26–36	250 kg
Red Creole (USA / India / SA)	32–50	40–58	38–55	38–52	100 kg
Texas Grano 1015Y / Yellow Granex (USA)	30–55	40–68	38–62	38–60	100 kg
Bejo Mercedes / Sirius F1 (Netherlands)	60–95	72–110	70–105	68–105	25 kg
Bejo / Enza Zaden Jambar / Hojem F1	55–90	65–105	65–100	65–100	25 kg
Hazera / Seminis F1 (Israel / USA)	60–95	72–112	70–108	68–105	25 kg

Container vs air freight decision matrix

A 20-foot ocean container (FCL) carries approximately 18,000 to 20,000 kg of pouched onion seed in 25-kg outer cartons. Ocean freight 2026 indicative rates:

• Karachi → Mombasa: USD 1,400 to 2,200 per 20'FCL, transit 8 to 12 days.
• Karachi → Djibouti → Modjo (Ethiopia): USD 1,800 to 2,800 per 20'FCL + USD 800 to 1,200 inland, transit 10 to 14 days.
• Mundra → Lagos: USD 2,200 to 3,200 per 20'FCL, transit 18 to 25 days.
• Mundra → Jeddah: USD 1,200 to 1,800 per 20'FCL, transit 7 to 10 days.
• Rotterdam → Jeddah: USD 1,800 to 2,500 per 20'FCL, transit 14 to 18 days.

Air freight USD 4.50 to 7.00 per kilogram chargeable weight Dubai or Mumbai to destination, transit 2 to 5 days. Air-freight cost-per-kg is 4 to 6x container cost-per-kg. Air is economic only when (a) the lot is high-value F1 hybrid above USD 55 per kilogram value, or (b) the planting window is under 30 days and ocean transit would miss it.

The decision rule: container for any volume above 250 kg with planting window 60+ days out; air for premium F1 hybrid lots under 100 kg or for top-up orders where planting is under 30 days away.

Phyto-sanitary checklist by destination

The eight highest-import-volume onion-seed destinations have their own phytosanitary inspection regimes. The table below summarises the mandatory documentation. Country-specific deep-dives sit in the per-country pillars at Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

Destination	Regulator	Import permit lead time	Mandatory docs at port
Ethiopia	Ethiopian Agricultural Authority (EAA)	14–30 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, GMO declaration, Halal letter
Kenya	KEPHIS + KEBS	7–14 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, PVoC certificate, KEBS conformity
Nigeria	NASC + NAQS (if seen as seed); NAFDAC (if seen as food)	30–120 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, NASC import permit, SONCAP
Egypt	Central Administration of Plant Quarantine (CAPQ)	14–30 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, Egyptian Customs declaration
Saudi Arabia	MEWA + SFDA	10–20 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, MEWA import permit, SABER PCoC + SCoC
Pakistan (domestic)	DPP under FSC&RD	10–20 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, FSC&RD variety registration
UAE (re-export)	MOCCAE	7–14 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, MOCCAE import permit
Philippines	Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI)	30–60 working days	Phyto, ISTA orange, COA, BPI import clearance, SPSIC

Saudi Arabia operates the SALEEM SABER programme as the mandatory online certification and conformity assessment system for all imported goods, requiring both a Product Certificate of Conformity (PCoC) and a Shipment Certificate of Conformity (SCoC) issued through the SABER platform per the Intertek government conformity reference for Saudi Arabia. MEWA specifically requires a commercial registration with seed activity, an agricultural engineer on staff, and electronic application through the Hassad system before any shipment dispatch per the MEWA Implementing Regulations of the Agriculture Law.

Storage and shelf life

Onion seed loses viability faster than most vegetable seeds. Vacuum-sealed in aluminium-foil pouches at controlled temperature (under 10°C) and relative humidity (under 50 percent), commercial-grade F1 hybrid onion seed retains 90 percent of its labelled germination for 12 to 18 months. Plastic-pouched OP lots in the same conditions hold 8 to 12 months. Lots stored above 20°C and 60 percent RH lose 5 to 10 percentage points of germination per six months.

For distributors carrying inventory across a planting season, the storage discipline matters more than the import date. Rotate stock against the ISTA orange test date, not the bill-of-lading date. A lot that arrives in March with a January ISTA orange test date has 9 months of commercial shelf life under good storage; the same lot moved to a warehouse without climate control may have 6 months.

The most cost-effective long-storage protocol for distributors and seed houses is cold-room storage at 5°C and 30 to 40 percent RH. Under this regime, hybrid onion seed retains commercial-grade germination for 24 to 36 months. Walk-in cold rooms with 5-tonne capacity cost USD 12,000 to 25,000 installed in most African and Middle Eastern markets — a single rejected lot pays for the cold room.

Qualifying a supplier — a 5-step checklist

Onion-seed buying is a high-trust activity. Before committing FCL-scale capital to a new supplier, run the following five-step qualification.

Step 1 — Documentation pre-check. Request the supplier's last three lot-level ISTA orange certificates, the COA from their preferred third-party lab (SGS, Eurofins, NSA or an accredited national lab), the phytosanitary certificate template from origin NPPO, and a sample lot label image. Verify the lab accreditation number on the COA against the ISTA Accredited Laboratory list.

Step 2 — Reference call. Ask for two named distributor or commercial-farm references in markets adjacent to yours. Call them — not email. The questions: lot-to-lot germination consistency, dispute handling on out-of-spec lots, on-time dispatch performance.

Step 3 — 1 to 2 kg sample. Order a paid sample by international courier (DHL, Aramex, FedEx). Run an in-house nursery germination test under your own agronomic conditions. Verify the sample matches the lot you intend to buy (lot number traceability).

Step 4 — Small FCL or LCL trial. Place a USD 30,000 to 75,000 trial order with full ISTA orange + third-party COA documentation. Run the lot through your normal distribution channel. Track returns, complaints and germination feedback.

Step 5 — Scale. If steps 1 to 4 clear, scale to your planned annual volume under a 12-month frame contract with quarterly call-offs.

Common scams and how to avoid them

International onion-seed buying attracts a tail of opportunistic actors. The patterns to recognise:

The forged germination certificate. A supplier sends a COA claiming 92 percent germination on a lot that tests at 67 percent at destination. The COA is on the lab letterhead but the lot number, batch number or test date is altered. Defence: cross-check the COA against the lab directly. Reputable third-party labs maintain online verification portals.

The variety substitution. A supplier promises Bombay Red and ships an unbranded red OP that performs at half the Bombay Red yield potential. Defence: insist on the FSC&RD or equivalent national-authority variety registration document, and demand a small sample for nursery verification before FCL dispatch.

The dodder-contaminated lot. A supplier ships a lot with Cuscuta spp. contamination at 1 to 3 percent. The lot clears origin phyto (because dodder is not screened with the same strictness in every NPPO) but is rejected at destination. Defence: contract specifies dodder-free with a numeric zero, ISTA "Other Seeds by Number" test attached.

The "F1 hybrid" that is open-pollinated. A supplier sells an unverified OP line as an F1 hybrid at F1 hybrid pricing. Defence: F1 hybrid lines from Bejo Zaden, Enza Zaden, Rijk Zwaan, Bayer-Nunhems, Sakata, Syngenta, Hazera, Seminis, Crookham and Sakata SA come with the originator's seal on the pouch and a documented chain of custody back to the breeder. Anything else, treat as OP.

The bank-wire-only first-time supplier. A new supplier insists on 100 percent advance T/T to a bank account that doesn't match the supplier's letterhead. Defence: use documentary LC at sight against full document set on first deals; never advance bank-wire to an unverified counterparty.

12-question buyer FAQ

1. What is the minimum order quantity for hybrid onion seed? For Indian and Pakistani OP volume lines, typically 250 to 1,000 kg under a single PO. Dutch and Israeli F1 hybrids can be sourced from 25-kg ladders. Kehkashan consolidates multi-origin POs at Jebel Ali so a single buyer can take 25 kg of Dutch Mercedes F1 alongside 500 kg of Indian Nasik N-53 on one B/L.

2. What's the difference between F1 hybrid and OP onion seed? F1 hybrid seed is the first generation of a controlled cross between two inbred parent lines. It produces highly uniform bulbs with hybrid-vigour yield potential 30 to 50 percent above OP equivalents, but the seed cannot be saved — F2 generation segregates. OP (open-pollinated) seed reproduces the parent variety reliably and can be saved farmer-to-farmer, but is less uniform and lower-yielding. F1 hybrids cost 2 to 3x OP equivalents and target intensive commercial farms; OP serves smallholders and storage-onion buyers.

3. Bombay Red vs Adama Red — which should I import? Bombay Red for higher volume and faster turnover in smallholder and small-commercial-farm channels (105 to 121 day maturity, 25 to 30 t/ha typical yield, 3 to 4 month storage). Adama Red for longer-storage commercial markets that value 5 to 6 month storability and don't mind the 120 to 146 day maturity. Distributors with a mixed buyer base carry both.

4. How do I verify germination percent before signing an LC? Three layers. (a) Demand an ISTA orange certificate from the supplier dated within 90 days of dispatch. (b) Run an independent third-party retest via SGS, Eurofins or a recognised national lab on the supplier's pre-shipment sample. (c) On first-time relationships, order a 1 to 2 kg pre-shipment sample and run an in-house nursery germination test under your agronomic conditions before LC is opened.

5. Container or air freight — when does each make sense? Container for any volume above 250 kg with planting window 60+ days out. Cost-per-kg USD 0.10 to 0.20 on a full FCL. Air for premium F1 hybrid lots under 100 kg or for planting-window top-up orders where the harvest window is at risk. Air cost-per-kg USD 4.50 to 7.00 — 4 to 6x container cost. Only F1 hybrid value density absorbs air freight without margin damage.

6. What ISTA certificate should I demand from my supplier? The ISTA Orange International Seed Lot Certificate. It represents the entire seed lot and is recognised under WTO/IPP frameworks. The ISTA Blue International Seed Sample Certificate covers individual samples sent for analysis; it does not substitute for the orange certificate on a commercial lot purchase per the ISTA Customer Guide.

7. How long does onion seed stay viable in storage? Vacuum-sealed in aluminium foil at controlled temperature (under 10°C) and humidity (under 50 percent RH), F1 hybrid onion seed retains commercial-grade germination for 12 to 18 months. Plastic-pouched OP lots retain commercial germination for 8 to 12 months. Cold-room storage at 5°C and 30 to 40 percent RH extends viability to 24 to 36 months.

8. What's the difference between treated and untreated onion seed? Treated onion seed carries a fungicide (Thiram, Captan, Carbendazim or biofungicide) and sometimes an insecticide coating to protect seedlings from soil-borne pathogens during germination. Untreated seed lacks the coating. Treated seed is the default for commercial-farm channels; untreated seed is required by organic-certified channels and some EU-export horticulture buyers. Treatment must be declared on the COA and the pouch label.

9. What's the realistic CIF Mombasa price for Bombay Red in Q1 2026? USD 30 to 42 per kilogram for tier-1 commercial-grade lots, delivered to Mombasa Port with full ISTA orange + KEPHIS phytosanitary documentation. Pricing scales down 8 to 12 percent on FCL volumes above 5 tonnes under a single PO.

10. What is FSC&RD certification and why does it matter for Pakistani-origin lots? The Federal Seed Certification & Registration Department under the Pakistani Ministry of National Food Security and Research operates variety registration and seed-lot certification for Pakistani-origin seed. The FSC&RD certificate on a Pakistani Punjab Selection or Naroya lot confirms genetic purity and varietal identity — the equivalent of the OECD seed-scheme tag in European trade.

11. How do I avoid Botrytis allii and Sclerotium cepivorum contamination on imported lots? Specify the COA must include a Botrytis allii and Sclerotium cepivorum freedom declaration. Confirm the origin NPPO performs seed-health screening for these pathogens. Insist on aluminium-foil pouches with nitrogen flush (not plastic only) for lots transiting humid ocean conditions. Reject lots with visible mould, off-colour or compromised packaging.

12. Does Kehkashan ship multi-origin onion seed under one PO? Yes. Pakistani Punjab Selection, Indian Nasik N-53, Dutch Bejo F1 hybrid and USA Texas Grano 1015Y lots consolidate at Jebel Ali Free Zone under a single Kehkashan re-export B/L. The destination importer sees one shipment, one payment instrument, one set of customs documents at the destination port.

How Kehkashan structures multi-origin onion-seed supply

We operate as a Pakistani-Pakistan-origin trade desk licensed in the UAE Free Zone (Meydan, Dubai). The structural advantages for international onion-seed buyers:

UAE Free Zone trust signal. Kehkashan operates from a UAE Free Zone licence (Meydan Free Zone, Licence #2534446.01, TRN 105112073900003) which gives international buyers a neutral counterparty for LC settlement, dispute resolution and document handling.

Multi-origin under a single PO. Pakistani Punjab Selection, Indian Nasik N-53, Dutch Bejo F1 hybrid and USA Texas Grano 1015Y can consolidate at Jebel Ali under one Kehkashan B/L into the destination port. Customs clearance runs as one consignment, not four.

LC at sight, USD or EUR. Standard payment instrument. Kehkashan operates bank facilities recognised in East African, West African, GCC and South Asian commercial-bank LC corridors.

One-working-day RFQ reply. Send commodity, variety, volume and destination by 5pm Gulf Standard Time — receive FOB origin, CIF destination port pricing and ISTA documentation pack the next working day.

Sample-first policy. First-time buyers can request 1 to 2 kg samples for nursery germination testing before committing to FCL volumes. Sample dispatch via DHL or Aramex in 3 to 5 days.

We mention this because the rest of this encyclopedia is built to be useful whether you buy from us or not. The variety map, the spec list and the phyto-sanitary table hold for any importer.

Closing note for the trade desk

Onion seed is one of the most under-documented categories in global agri-input trade. The buyer-side discipline that separates a clean year from a problem year is documentation — ISTA orange, third-party COA, dodder-free declaration, FSC&RD or equivalent variety registration, phytosanitary certificate from origin NPPO. Get those right and the lot clears the destination port. Get them wrong and the lot sits.

For procurement teams qualifying suppliers or distributors ready to receive a quote, send the RFQ — variety, volume, destination port, planting season — to [email protected] or via the RFQ form. The trade desk replies in one working day with FOB origin, CIF destination pricing across the variety matrix, the ISTA documentation pack, and the lead-time calendar against your planting window.

For the deeper country-specific guides, see the Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia pillars. For the full 25-question buyer FAQ that drives the FAQPage AEO schema, see Onion Seed FAQ for Importers 2026.