Review on the Agronomic Management Practices of Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Abstract

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) belongs to the family of Alliaceae. Other crops in this family are Onion (A.cepa L.), Leek (A. ameloprisum), Shallot (A. asacloncum L) and Chile (A. schoenoprasum L). Garlic is the second most widely used of cultivated bulb crops after Onion. It is an erect annual herb that can reach a height of 75cm- 90cm and grows during dry and middle winter season (Brewster, 1994).

Garlic is believed to have originated in central Asia (India, Afghanistan, West China, Russia, etc) and spread to other part of the world through trades and colonization (Purse glove, 1972 and Tindall, 1986). According to FAO (2001), production of garlic stood at about 10 million tones per annual which is only about 10% that of bulb onion. China is the largest producer followed by South Korea. The world average yield of garlic is about 10 per hector, but it can go up to 19 per hector.

World garlic cultivation was increased from 771,000 ha of 1989/90 to 1,204, 711 ha of land in 2007 with total production from 6.5 million tones and productivity from 8.43tone per hector to 13.02 tones per hector respectively. While, in Ethiopia the total area under cultivation or production of garlic in 2006/07 reached 7,266 ha and the production is estimated to be over 683,000 quintals (MOARD, 2007).

It is rich in sugar, protein, fat, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, sulfur, iodine, fiber, and silicon, in addition it contains vitamins. It is pungent flavor makes it is used mainly as spices, seasoning and flavoring for food. Its medicinal value is also well recognized in the control and treatment of hypertension, worms, germs, bacteria and fungal disease, diabetes, cancer, ulcer, rheumatism etc.dehydrated garlic and extracts are fast replacing fresh bulbs for industrial and home usage in the production 0f drug, insecticide and explosives (Purse glove, 1972). According to Shanmugarelv et al (20010), this bulbs crop is another foreign exchange earner for India. Compound bulbs contain the edible products of these crops. A group of small segments or cloves is surrounded by a thin, white or pinkish sheath. The flavor of the cloves is stronger and pungent than other crops of bulbs. Garlic is different from onion in that in stead of producing one large bulb, it produces a group of small bulb called cloves. But seeds stalk is similar to that of onion and bears both seeds and bullets in the same head. The foliage of garlic is flattened rather than hallow like that onion. It is also grouped in the family alliaceous, a genus allium, because of its superior ovary. It was along time included in the family of liliaceous but was later shifted by some botanists to the family amaryllidaceous, as flowers are born on branched umbel on top of scalp. To prevent confusion the onion is placed now in the family alliaceae.