Research Article
Performance Evaluation of Some Garlic Genotypes in Bangladesh
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M.A. Islam
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S. Akter Tania
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S.R. Saha
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M.S. Alam
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M.K. Hasan
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Among the spices grown in Bangladesh, garlic (Allium sativum L.) is undoubtedly one of the important crop cultivated during cool season. Inspire of using as condiment for food and a popular remedy for various ailments and physiological disorders, garlic can also be used for preparing pickles[1,2]. It is also reported that powder, oil and a kind of salt are being prepared from garlic and utilized in the pharmaceutical industries[3]. It occupies an area of 1,2597 ha with a total production of 37965 tones, the average yield being only 3.01 t ha-1 [4] which is very low compared to some other developing counties like India. Lack of even one recommended or released variety in the country, topped the list of the factors encountered for the lower yield of this crop. With a view to develop high yielding garlic variety, the ''Spices Research project, Bogra'' of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur, collected a good number of genotypes from within the country and from abroad. The present investigation was therefore, undertaken to evaluate the performance of the 22 garlic germplasms in respect of yield and other desirable traits.
The investigation was carried out at the Spice Research Centre, Bogra, of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Joydebpur, Gazipur during the period from November, 27, 2000 to March 31, 2001. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Twenty-two garlic genotypes were collected from home and abroad, (Table 1) comprised 22 different treatments of the study. Unit plot size was 2.00x0.60 m. Cloves of uniform size were selected in case of each of the germplasm for planting. Planting was done on 27 the November, 2000 following 20x10 cm spacing; thus accommodation 60 plants per unit plot in three rows, each accommodating 20 plants.
The crop was fertilized with cowdung, Urea, TSP and MP @ 5000, 260, 130 and 160 kg ha-1, respectively. The entire quantity of cowdung and TSP were applied at the time of final land preparation. Urea and MP were applied in two equal splits, 20 and 50 days after planting. Irrigation along with other intercultural operations were done as and when required. The crop was free from the attack of any major insect pests and diseases during the growing period.
Table 1: | Place of Collection of local and exotic garlic genotypes |
Twenty plants were selected at random from each unit plot for collection of data on different morpho-agronomic and yield attributes. The organoleptic quality of the genotypes pertaining to pungency was estimated by a panel of judges comprised 12 persons of different age group. The recorded data were analyzed statistically and the treatment means were separated by DMRT for interpretation of results.
The result of the study indicated that the leaf color of the genotypes were light green, medium green and green. Only one germplasm GC002 showed the green colored leaves. Five lines out of 22, produced leaves of erect in nature while others were medium erect. Variability was observed among the genotypes in respect of bulb as well as clove skin color as indicated in Table 2. Three different core colors were observed among the entries. Clove flesh color varied from white, snow white and light cream. Fruits of 8 genotypes were very pungent while others were medium pungent to pungent in nature, These variations among the characters mentioned above could be utilized by the plant breeder for the improvement of desired traits. The investigation also revealed that all the parameters except the number of leaves/plant were significantly influenced among the different germplasms.
The plant height of the lines varied from 42.50-67.33 cm. Plants of GC007 were the tallest (67.33 cm) and it was shortest in case of GC003 (42.50 cm). In a study conducted by Ahmed and Hoque[5] the plant height of the lines ranged from 46.70 to 58.30 cm.
The number of leaves per plant did not vary significantly. However, it differed from 8.33 to 9.59, being lowest in GC003 and highest in GC007. Variation was found as to the length of leaves among the entries that differed from 30.06 (GC015) to 35.13 (GC007). The germplasms GC007 and GC010 were statistically at par in respect of leaf length but different from that of GC015.
Significant differences were noticed among the lines pertaining to the length and width of individual bulb (Table 3) which varied from 2.40-3.20 and 2.10-2.71 cm, respectively. In both the cases the genotype GC007 performed better as compared to the other lines. The bulb length was lowest in case of GC018 and width in case of GC003. Ahmed and Hoque[5] also reported variation in bulb size in their study.
The entries of garlic under investigation produced bulbs in which the number of cloves per bulb and 100 clove weight were observed to vary from 10.06-16.60 and 52.84-71.66 g, respectively (Table 3).
Table 2: | Morpho-agronomic characteristics of 22 garlic genotypes |
Table 3: | Yield and its contributing characters of 22 garlic genotypes |
In a column means followed by common letters are not significantly different from each other at 1% level of probability |
These differences indicated that the yield potentialities of the accessions might vary from each other which was supported by Hari om and Srivastava[6]. Korla and Rastogi[7], Moenir[8] and Andrade et al.[9] while comparing some selected varieties.
Bulb weight of different lines differed from as high as 16.33 in GC007 to as low as 9.33 g in GC003. It was observed that increased bulb weight was associated with the increased plant height, higher number of leaves per plant, greater bulb size, higher number of leaves per plant, greater bulb size, higher number of cloves per bulb and 100 clove weight. This is in consonance with the finding of Ahmed and Hoque[5]. It is worth while to mention the reports of Mann and Minges[10] and Thompson and Kelly[11] in this connection. They reported that higher yield in garlic is correlated with higher number of leaves produced by the plants before bulbing. Similar trend was also found in the present study.
The yields (t ha-1) of the genotypes ranged from as low as 2.18 in GC003 to as high as 6.29 in GC007. The yield potentiality of the other genotypes was not significantly varied but they differed in respect of pungency. Since pungency is one of the important traits, considered on the basis of consumers likeliness, need to be taken into consideration for variety development. Considering yield potentiality, pungency and other desirable attributes, the genotypes GC002, GC006, GC007, GC010, GC011, GC016, GC017 and GC021 are considered promising and can be selected preliminarily for further trial with a view to develop variety(ies).