Click here to donate to the chair (Select "Find a Giving Area/Fund," search for "Onion" and choose the professorship). To name the professorship, call Terra V. Winter at (575) 646-5787.

NMSU began growing and experimenting with onions as early as 1891. The current Onion Breeding Program was established by Dr. Joe N. Corgan in 1978, and it celebrated 30 years of developing cultivars for New Mexico in 2008. The New Mexico Dry Onion Commission has been an outstanding supporter of the program and its members have reaped many benefits. Since the start of the program, onion acreage has increased by 166% and the farm-gate value of the crop has increased by 135%. It is estimated that more than 50% of the onions grown in New Mexico in 2008 were NMSU cultivars or NMSU-derived cultivars. For the autumn-sown crop, which tends to have higher value, it is estimated that approximately 75% of the acreage is planted with NuMex onion cultivars.