Growth and Yield Performance of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Varieties to Application of Vermicompost at Koga Irrigation Site, Northwestern Ethiopia

Bewuket Gashaw

doi:10.7176/jbah/10-23-01

Abstract

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an important cash and spice crop produced for home consumption and as a source of income to many smallholder farmers in many parts of the Ethiopia. Field experiment was conducted at Adet Agricultural Research Center, Koga irrigation trial site in 2015/2016 cropping season. Three garlic varieties (Bishoftu Nech, Tsedey and a local cultivar) and three levels of vermicompost fertilizer (0, 2500, 5000 kg ha -1 ) were tested in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Bishoftu Nech variety gave significantly the highest total and marketable bulb yield 8.50 and 8.10 ton ha -1 , respectively, that exhibited 24 and 57% advantages over Tseday and the local cultivar, respectively. The highest values of mean bulb weight (37.85 g), mean clove number (9.92), mean clove weight (5.65 g), total fresh biomass yield (47.82 g/plant) and bulb dry matter (19.62%) was recorded from Bishoftu Nech variety with application of 5000 kg ha -1 vermicompost. Therefore, based on the current study, it can be concluded that producers in the study area could use Bishoftu Nech variety using 5000 kg ha -1 vermicompost for optimum garlic production. Keywords: Variety, vermicompost, yield, optimum garlic production, maximum economic benefit DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/10-23-01 Publication date: December 31 st 2020

Highlights

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the main Allium vegetable crops known worldwide with respect to its production and economic value
Increasing application of vermicompost decreased number of days required to emerge garlic sprouts above the soil by 5-9 days. This result is in agreement with finding of Alemu (2016) who reported that with the increase in the rate of vermicompost application, the number of days required by the garlic sprouts to emerge above the soil www.iiste.org surface was decreased
Results of the experiment showed the longest days to bulb maturity 146.67 and the shortest days to maturity 128 were recorded in Tsedey variety that received 2500 kg ha-1 vermicompost and control treatment, respectively

Summary

Introduction

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the main Allium vegetable crops known worldwide with respect to its production and economic value. It is native to southern Europe and western Asia (Etoh and Simon, 2002). It is used for seasoning in many foods worldwide; without garlic many of our popular dishes would lack the flavor and character that make them favourites. In Ethiopia, the total area under garlic productionin 2013/2014 reached 16,412 ha and the production is about 15,909 ton of bulbs respectively (CSA, 2014). Crop yield cannot be maintained through the use of inorganic fertilizers alone under continuous cultivation. Integration of organic and inorganic fertilizers is being advocated as one of the strategic solutions to maintain soil fertility (Ahmad et al, 1996; Khaliq et al, 2004)

Methods

Results

Conclusion