Cultivation of Garlic ( Allium sativum L)

August 1, 2020 Agrovista

Cultivation of Garlic ( Allium sativum L)

Table of Contents

Garlic ( Allium sativum L) is one of the important bulb crops widely grown in the Kharif and Rabi seasons. It is used as a spice or condiment throughout India. Garlic is one of the 20 most important vegetable crops of the world. One of the main causes for concern is India’s low garlic productivity. Numerous factors contribute to low yield, such as India’s short day length, subpar cultivation standards, climatic variations, a lack of high-quality, virus-free planting material, and regional low-yielding cultivars.

The compound bulb of garlic consists of several small bulblets or cloves. Garlic is generally cultivated in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra. Garlic is grown in 0.015 Mha with the production of 0.65 MT and productivity of 4.32 t/ha in India.

Uses of Garlic ;

Garlic is a popular ingredient in cooking and has a very delicious taste
Garlic contains many useful compounds with a lot of medicinal properties
Garlic acts as a blood purifier
Garlic provides relief from Cold and Flu
It lowers the cholesterol level
It is immensely beneficial in regulating blood pressure, and Blood sugar levels
Act as an anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic
It strengthens the body to fight against several diseases.
Garlic is useful in curing the fungal diseases of the skin

Nutritional Value of Garlic:

Nutritional value of 100 g of garlic is as follows

Serving Size 100 g		%DV
Callories	149 kcal
Total Carbohydrate	33 g	11%
Dietary Fiber	2.1 g	8.00%
Sugar	1 g
Protein	6.4 g	13%
Choclestrol	.014 g	0%
Saturated fat	.0.5 g	1%
Sodium	46 mg	3%
Potassium	401 mg	9%
Iron	1.77 mg	22%
Calcium	181 mg	18%
Magnacium	1.6 mg	84%
Vitamin C	31.2 mg	52%
Vitamin B6	1.2 mg	62%
Vitamin D		0%
Cobalamin		0%
*Per cent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Climate Requirement for Garlic Cultivation ;

Garlic is a cool-season crop and it succeeds best in a mild season without extremes of heat and cold. Short days are very favorable for bulb formation.

Soil Requirement for Garlic Cultivation ;

Sandy loam and silty loam soils are best suited for garlic. The land is prepared by giving 5-6 ploughings.

Varieties of Garlic ;

There is no distinct variety of garlic. However, the varieties may be broadly classified as follows:

(i) Desi or local variety. Big sized bulbs or cloves, for example, Kanwri. Fawri and Rajalla Gaddi in South India, which possess small to medium-sized bulbs with a small/large number of cloves.
(ii) Acclimatise variety. Early white or Medican varieties Creole and Tatule and Italian
Some varieties developed through clonal selection are as follows —

Varieties	Characteristics
Agrifound White	1) Compact bulbs 2) silvery-white with creamy flesh. 3)Bigger, elongated cloves with 20-25 in numbers. 4) Diameter 3.5 to 4.5 cm size index 12-15 cm2. 5) susceptible to purple blotch and stemphylium blight, which are common in the northern parts. 6)TSS 41% dry matter 42.78% and good storer. 7) The yield is 130 q/ha. 8) It is recommended for cultivation in the areas where there is not much a problem of purple blotch or stemphylium blight in Rabi season
YAMUNA SAFED (G-1)	1)The bulbs are compact, silvery-white skin with creamy flesh. 2) Diameter 4.0 cm to 4.5 cm. 3) Sickle-shaped cloves, 25-30 in number, 4) size index of bulb 12-15 cm2, diameter of cloves 0.8 to 1.00 cm. 6)The variety is tolerant to insect pests and diseases like a purple blotch, stemphylium blight and onion thrips. 7)TSS 38%, dry matter 39.5% and good storer. 8) Yield 150- 175 q/ha. 9) It is recommended for cultivation all over the country.
YAMUNA SAFED-2 (G-50)	1)The bulbs are compact, attractive white creamy flesh, 2) Bulb diameter 3.5-4.0 cm, 3) Size index 11-12 cm2, 4) Number of cloves 35-40, 5) Diameter 0.75 – 14 cm. 6)Clove size index 1.75-2.5 cm2,, 7)10 bulb weight 160- 240 g, 8) TSS 38-40%, dry matter 40-41%. 9) Average yield 150-200 q/ha. 10)recommended for Northern India.
YAMUNA SAFED-3 (G-282)	1)The variety is suitable for export 2)Bulbs are creamy-white and bigger sized (5- 6cm dia). 3)Size index 27-29cm2, diameter of cloves 1.2-1.5 cm. 4)15-16 number of cloves per bulb 5)TSS 38.42%, dry matter 39-43%, medium storer. 6)Average yield 175-200 q/ha.
AGRIFOUND PARVATI	1)The variety is long day type and as such is suitable for cultivation in mid and high hill of Northern states. 2)Bulbs are of bigger size (5-6.5 cm), 3 )creamy white colour with pinkish tinge. 4)Size index 16-72 cm2, 5) diameter of cloves 1.5 to 1.8 cm, 6)10-16 cloves in number 7)Tolerant to common disease. 8)Average yield 175-225 q/ha, 9) Medium storer. Suitable for export.
YAMUNA SAFED-4 (G-323)	1)Leaf wide, Bulb- compact, 2) Creamy white colour, creamy flesh, 3)bulb diameter 4-5 cm, 4)size index 14-16 cm2, 5) no. of cloves 18-23 per bulb, 6)diameter of cloves 0.75-1.0 cm, 7)cloves size index 1.8-2.0 cm2, 8)Matures in 165-175 days. 9)Yield 200-250 q/ha. 10)Storage quality is better than Yamuna Safed-3. 11)Suitable for exports.

Seed Sowing of Garlic ;

(a) Time of sowing. Garlic is planted in September, October in the Plains of North India, August-November in South India, and March-April in the hills.

b) Seed rate. About 55 to 95 kg cloves are needed for one acre.

(c) Method of sowing. Garlic is propagated from the small cloves or bulblets. Healthy cloves or bulblets free from disease and injuries should be used. They are generally planted by dibbling method at 5 to 7.5 cm deep, keeping their growing ends upwards. Cloves are placed 7.5 cm apart in rows 15 cm apart and covered with loose soil.

Manuring Requirement for Garlic Cultivation ;

The recommended fertilizer dose is 40 kg Nitrogen, 20 kg Phosphorus & 20 kg Potassium per acre.

Intercultural Operations in Garlic Cultivation;

First and second weeding is with a hand hoe or khurpi one and two months after sowing of this crop. Hoe the crop just before the formation of bulbs (two and a half months from sowing) loosens the soil and helps in setting the bigger and well-filled bulbs. The crop should not be weeded out or hoed at the latter stage, because this may damage the stem and impair the keeping quality of the sprouting and the cloves already formed. Oxyfluorfen 0.150 kg/ha + Quizalofop ethyl 0.050 kg/ha most effectively controlled the weeds in garlic.

Irrigation;

The first irrigation is given after sowing, afterwards the field is irrigated every 10 to 15 days, as the season warms up. At this stage, more frequent irrigation is required. There should be no scarcity of moisture in the growing season, otherwise, the development of the bulbs will be checked. When the bulbs are mature, irrigation should be done sparingly. The last irrigation should be given two to three days before harvesting to make it easy without damaging the bulb.

Disease and Pest Management in Garlic ;

Pest Management ;

Pest	Characteristics	Control
Thrips	Small sucking Insects that feed on leaves and lacerate the tissue.	Apply Dimethoate 30 EC or Metasystox 25EC @1 ml per liter of water
Onion Maggot	This pest damages the crop by eating into the bulb and the subsequent decay of the affected portions frequently destroying them.	Application consists of placing sand soaked with a cupful of kerosene in a bucket of dry sand at the base of the plants along the row is very effective for deterring the parent files from depositing their eggs. This will also kill young maggots that might attempt to work through the sand
Black onion fly	It feeds on onion, garlic and chews both in the field and in stores.	i) For its control crop rotation is very important. ii)Apply 50 g/l Lambda–cyhalothrin 2 times in 10 days or Imidacloprid 200 g/l
Garlic mite	suck the sap from the plant and causes serious damage to this crop.	i)Use only clean seed cloves when planting garlic. ii) Avoid planting successive onion or garlic crops and rotate with crops that are less susceptible to bulb mite damage. iii)Avoid planting onion or garlic immediately after Brassica species, corn, grain, sudangrass, or grass cover crops. (iv) Spraying the crop with kelthane @ 5 ml per litre of water can control this pest

Disease Management ;

Disease	Symptoms	Control
White rot of Garlic	It is a common disease of garlic in storage. Dirty white spots appear on the fleshy cloves and this is an increase in size with the time of storage.	(i) The infected bulb should be sorted out and destroyed. (ii) The stored bulb should be turned frequently to check the spread. this disease.
Blast of Garlic	Dark brown spots with ash-coloured centres appear on the leaves.	Removal of the affected plants as soon as diseased plants are noticed ar spraying the crop with Mancozeb (Dithane M-45) @ 2.5 gm per litre of water is the common remedial measure.
Damping off or root rot	Seed rotting, pre-emergence and post emergence damping off, occur young seedlings.	i)Healthy seeds should be selected or sowing. ii.)The continuous raising of nursery in the same plot should be avoided. iii)Application of safer fungicides in soil at the time of nursery raising can substantially reduce the crop damage. iv)Soil solarization by spreading 250 gauge polythene sheet over the bed for 30 days before sowing and application of bio-control agent. v) The seed should be treated with Thiram or captan at 2 g/kg of seed before sowing. vi) The top soil of nursery should be treated with Thiram or captan at 5 g/m2 area of the soil and nursery should be drenched with the same chemical at 2 g/litre of water at fortnight interval. vii) Trichoderma viride in soil at 4 to 5 kg/ha is also found effective to control damping-off to a considerable extent
Purple Blotch	Appears on leaves as small whitish sunken lesions with purple centres that rapidly enlarge. The leaves fall over gradually.	Spraying of Mancozeb @ 2.5 g/litre of water at 15 days intervals gives good control.

Harvesting of Garlic;

Garlic is a crop of four and a half to five months. When the leaves start turning yellowish or brownish and show signs of drying up (usually about a month or so for the emergence of seed stock), the crop is ready for harvest. The plants are pulled or uprooted with a spade or Khurpi. The harvested plants are tied into small bundles and kept under shade for 2 to 3 days for curing.

Yield of Garlic;

The yield of garlic varies from 1600 to 4000 kg per acre, depending on the variety and cultural method undertaken.

Storage;

The bulb may be stored by hanging them on bamboo sticks or by keeping them on dry sand on the floor in a well-ventilated room and well-cured garlic bulb can be kept for one to one and half months in an ordinary well-ventilated room if dust smoke can be given to the bulb they can be stored for eight to ten months. Garlic can also be stored at 0°C (32°F) with 60 percent relative humidity.

Explore Further ;

Cultivation of Onion

Cultivation of Ginger