Impact of planting methods and clove size on growth, yield and economics of garlic (Allium sativum L.) during kharif season

Abstract

The field experiment was conducted at Saidapur Farm, Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, on different planting methods and clove size on growth and yield of garlic during rabi (2016-17) season. The treatment consists of four different planting methods viz., flat bed, broad base furrow, ridges and furrow and dome shape method with three different clove sizes i.e., small (1g). Significant differences were observed among planting methods and the size of planting materials. Among the planting methods, dome shape method (P4) was consistently superior for growth parameters with highest plant height (57.22 cm), number of leaves (6.97), leaf area (33.93 dm2) during harvesting and was on par with BBF method. Whereas, broad base furrow (BBF) method recorded highest fresh weight (22.11 g), dry weight (11.54 g), dry matter accumulation (53.57 g), bulb weight (17.89 g), bulb diameter (38.05 mm), number of cloves (26.51), hundred clove weight (98.22 g), clove size (1.57 cm2) and total bulb yield (9.88 t/ha) compared to other methods. Further, planting large clove was noticed to be superior for the plant height (56.80 cm), number of leaves (6.88), leaf area (28.61 dm2), fresh weight (20.71 g), dry weight (10.22 g), dry matter accumulation (50.57 g), bulb weight (17.56 g), bulb diameter (36.51 mm), number of cloves (24.83), hundred clove weight (97.96 g), clove size (1.67 cm2) and total bulb yield (9.72 t). The interaction effects were found significant for number of leaves, leaf area, fresh weight, dry weight, dry matter accumulation, number of cloves, hundred clove weight, clove size and bulb yield. However interaction effects were non significant for plant height. BBF method of planting with large clove (>1 g) was found to be superior over all the treatments as it resulted in better growth and higher yield with highest B:C ratio.