Agents are also encouraged to join. Many of us are familiar with the history of the Vidalia onion industry and how it developed in southeast Georgia. The onion varieties themselves also have an interesting history of origin. Onions are thought to have originated in northern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighboring areas. They do not exist as a wild species.
Onions are widely grown throughout the world and the diversity of onion germplasm is quite large.
This is due to the fact that the onion has to adapt both its bulbing and flowering to the region where it is grown. Because of this, onions are classified into short, intermediate and long day varieties to reflect this range of adaptability. The Yellow Granex onion that is the standard for the Vidalia onion industry had its origin in this country from two populations of introduced onions. One population came from Bermuda as White Bermuda onions, introduced in 1883. These onions actually had their origin in Italy.