MEKEDELA AMBA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCE

DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURE

Review Effect of Mulching and Nitrogen fertilizer on growth and Yield performance of
Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

By:
Habtam alemmu
Adviser: Esseyneshe .A

Senior seminar paper

Submitted to the Department of Horticulture in fulfillment of the requirement for the course of
senior seminar (Hort3151)

Tuluawlia Ethiopia
January, 2016 ec

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Table of Contents

List of table ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 1

LIST OF ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYMS 2

ABSTRACT 3

1. INTRODUCTION 4

1.2 objectives 6

2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND DISCUSSION 6

2.2. Nutrient requirements for garlic production 8

2.3. Nitrogen 8

2.5. Interaction effect of mulching and N fertilizer 10

2.6. Role of mulching on weed growth 11

3. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 14

4. REFERENCES 15

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 List of table

Table 1: Effects of different mulching treatments on the growth and yield of garlic

Table 2: Effect of fertilizer management practices on the growth and yield of garlic

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT

First of all l would like to thank the almighty of God for giving me courage in the overall aspect of

my educational activities. Then after sincerely thank my advisor Mr.Esseyneshe A (Msc) for her

advice, suggestion and help in the entire work of my Seminar paper.

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 LIST OF ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYMS

HA - Hectar

AIDs -Acquired Immuno Defficiency Syndrome

USA - Unaited State of America

FAO -Food and Agericultural Organization

TSP - Total Season Points

MP - Member of Parliament

NH4+ - Ammonium ion

NO3- -Ammona ion

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ABSTRACT

To study the effect of mulching and fertilizer management practices on the growth and yield of
garlic, an experiment was conducted using three kinds of mulches viz., black polyethylene,
straw and water-hyacinth with a control and three types of fertilizer management practices viz.,
cow dung (F1), urea + TSP + MP (F2) and urea + TSP + MP + cow dung (F3) were compared
with no fertilizer/manure. Plants grown under black polyethylene, water hyacinth and straw
mulches were produced the yields of 5.80, 5.70 and 5.48 t ha-1, respectively which were 39,
36.6 and 31.41% higher than the control (4.17 t ha-1). A field experiment was conducted at the
Horticulture Farm of the Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh during the period
from November 2010 to March 2011 to evaluate the effects of NPKS and mulching on growth
and yield of garlic. The experiment consisted of four levels of NPKS viz. N0P0K0S0,
N120P40K130S20, N140P50K150S30 and N160P60K170S40 kg/ha, respectively and two
levels of mulching viz. control and rice straw. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized
Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. Application of NPKS and mulching
had significant effects on growth and yield components of garlic. Application of 140:50:150:30
kg NPKS/ha produced the highest bulb yield (10.73 t/ha) and the lowest bulb yield (8.31 t/ha)
was recorded from control treatment.

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1. INTRODUCTION

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) belongs to the family Alliaceae and is native to the thin, rocky
mountainous soils of an area just north of modern Afghanistan (www. gourmet garlic
gardens.com. 2005). It is an erect biennial herb normally grown as annual crop up to 60 cm in
height. It is primarily grown for its cloves, which are used mostly as food flavoring condiments
due to groups of sulphur containing compounds, allin and allicin (Fritsch and Friesen, 2002).
Garlic has been used both as food and for medicine in many cultures for thousands of years. It
is claimed to prevent heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cancer, common cold,
and plaque. It has been successfully used in AIDs patients to treat cryptosporidium in China
(Sovovo, 2004). It is one of the best-studied medicinal plants whose anti-bacterial and anti-
septic property is well known. Garlic thrives well on fertile, well drained sand or silt loam soils
with good moisture retaining properties (Sovovo, 2004)

Garlic is most widely used crop next to onion and has a wide range of climatic and soil
adaptation (Lemma and Herath, 1994) and is grown mainly in the mid-altitudes and highlands
of the country (Getachew and Asfaw, 2000). Moreover, it has been produced by Horticultural
Development Corporation at Debrezeit, Guder and TsedayState Farms (Getachew and Asfaw,
2000) mainly as a cash crop and the country used to earn foreign currency by exporting it to
Europe, the Middle East and USA.

In Africa, Ethiopia was third in area (10,690 ha) after Egypt and Algeria, second in production
but fourth in productivity with 9.63 t/ha which was far below Egypt (24.36 t/ha), Kenya (23.87
t/ha and Niger (10. 64t/ha) in 2011.A range of factors may contribute to the low productivity of
garlic. In many areas characterized by low and erratic rainfall and crop water stress, lack of

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available nutrients is frequently the limiting factor next to the soil water. Besides, lack of soil
water diminishes nutrient availability by reducing microbial activity, which is responsible for
the liberation of N, P and S from soil organic matter (FAO, 2003).A numbers of studies in
various parts of the world have shown that garlic production can be increased through
appropriate cultural practices (Kusmoand Widjajanto, 1973;aleksiev, 1989).

A better understanding of the moisture and nutrient requirement of garlic is required to develop
management strategies, which optimize moisture and fertilizer use of the crop, thereby
increasing returns to the producers by increasing its yield and quality. Therefore, the objective
of this seminar is to review on the role of mulching and nitrogen fertilizer on garlic growth and
yield performance
Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an aromatic herbaceous plant belonging to the family Alliaceae
and one of the most important spices crop in Bangladesh. The annual production of garlic in
Bangladesh is 39,000 tons from 13,000 hectares of land and its per annum requirement is 85,000
tons (FAO, 1994). The scope of increasing its production by bringing more areas under
cultivation is very limited. Because it is grown only in winter when other major crops occupy
most of the cultivable lands in Bangladesh. Rainfall is scanty during winter season and frequent
irrigation increases the cost for successful production. Under such condition, mulching could be
a good substitute for irrigation. Mulch checks water loss by evaporation and conserves soil
moisture thereby increasing the yield of garlic.

Both manure and fertilizers have a potential role on the growth and development of crops.
Mineral fertilizers of balanced doses increased the leaf area, photosynthetic productivity and
yield of garlic (Borabash and Kochina, 1989). But indiscriminate use of chemical fertilizer
changes the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils, pollutes environment and also
creates health hazards due to its toxic residual effects on crop production especially on
vegetables.
Manures supply all the essential nutrient elements as well as improve physical, chemical and
biological properties of soils and may help in boosting up production of garlic leaving a healthy
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environment at the end. It was observed that different mulching materials highly influenced the
plant height and bulb diameter (Iroc et al., 1991) as well as the yield (Menezes et al., 1974) of
garlic. Moreover, mulching alongwith proper fertilizer management practices may bring some
promising effects on the bulb production of garlic. With these ideas in mind an attempt was
made to study the effect of different mulches and fertilizer management practices on the growth
and yield of garlic

1.2 objectives

To Review Effect of Mulching and Nitrogen fertilizer on growth and Yield performance of
Garlic

2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND DISCUSSION

2.1 Role of mulching on soil moisture of garlic farm

The soil moisture requirement of garlic is influenced by several factors such as crop variety, soil
type and environmental factors. If the moisture content of the soil at the root level is below
50%, it is time to water the garlic (www.gourmet garlic gardens.com.2005). Mulching is one of
the good cultural practices for the favorable manipulation of microclimate by reducing
evaporation loss of rainwater and overhead irrigation water. Therefore, it can be a vital factor in
improving water use efficiency (Erenstein, 2003), moderating soil temperatures and minimizing
excessively fluctuating temperatures in the winter and early spring (Rosen et al., 2006).

Mulching affects the physical, chemical and biological conditions of the soil by increasing soil
organic matter; the overall conditions being good for soil, nutrient and water conservation (Lal,
1980), thereby good for plant growth. Different kinds of mulching materials under different soil
and climatic conditions are shown to increase plant growth and yield and bulb size of onions.
Such effects are attributed to the capacity of the mulch to conserve soil moisture (Abdel, 1990;

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Adetunji, 1994; Vavrina and Roka, 2000). At the same time, it has a distinct advantage of
smothering weeds, which account for about 79-89% bulb yield loss (Ahmed, 1991), due to their
severe competition with crops for water and nutrients.

As regards to the crop yield response to mulching effects, results are variable. Straw mulch has
been reported to increase yields of sorghum (Bhaskar, 1985), decrease castor bean yield and
have no effect on pearl millet (Venkateswarluet al., 1986). Black polyethylene mulch increases
yield of onion (Suh and Kim, 1991), and shallot (Kebede, 2003). Garlic plants grown under
black polyethylene, water hyacinth and straw mulches produced yields of 8.0, 5.70 and 5.48
t/ha, respectively, which were 39.0, 36.6 and 31.4% higher than the control (4.47 t/ha)
(Hossainet al., 2007). The effect of mulch depends on its composition and colour, the amount
applied, the timing (season) of application and the rate at which the mulch decomposes (FAO,
2003).

Polyethylene mulch has been used in vegetable production for enhanced early yield, weed
control, reduced nutrient leaching and favorable soil temperatures and moisture (Bhella, 1988).
Kebede (2003) conducted an experiment on the response of shallots to mulching and N
fertilization and found 75 and 25% yield increase of black plastic over the control during short
and main rainy seasons of 1999, respectively. He also observed an increase of plant height by 21
and 42% over the control in using straw and black plastic mulch, respectively. Hochmuthet al.
(1991) reported that black mulch increased the yield of medium, large, and extra large short-day
onion bulbs compared to bare ground culture. Haqueet al. (2003) conducted an experiment to
study the effects of natural and synthetic mulches on yield of garlic and found significant
variation among the different mulches (black polyethylene, transparent polyethylene, water
hyacinth, sawdust and rice husk) with respect to morphological characters, yield contributing
characters and yield of garlic. Higher number of cloves per bulb (31.83) was produced in black
polyethylene mulch.

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Mulch induced yield increase of garlic was also reported by Batenet al. (1995) and Hossain
(1996). The yield increase with the water hyacinth mulch may be attributed to soil moisture
conservation, recycling of plant nutrients and stimulation of microbial activities (Haqueet al.,
2003).Similarly, Hossainet al. (2007) reported significant variation among the different mulches
(black polyethylene, straw, water hyacinth and no mulch) with respect to plant height, number
of leaves per plant, fresh and dry bulb weight, diameter of the bulb and yield. It was observed
that the different mulching materials highly influenced the plant height and bulb diameter of
garlic (Irocet al., 1991). Karaye and Yakubu (2006) reported significant effect of mulching on
leaf number per plant in garlic which is in conformity with the works of John (2000) and Umar
et al. (2000) in onions but disagreed with that of Ibrahim (1994) who reported insignificant
effect of mulching on leaf number per plant of garlic.

2.2. Nutrient requirements for garlic production

Fertilizer requirements of a crop vary with fertility status of the soil, availability of soil
moisture, variety of the crop, purpose for which the crop is grown, etc. The major factors
determining the level of soil fertility are organic matter content, availability of major and micro
nutrients, soil reaction and physical soil characteristics, such as texture, structure, depth and
nature of the soil profile. The effects of these factors are expressed in terms of nutrient
availability to plants and fertility requirements as well as the level of crop production.

Both manure and chemical fertilizers have a potential role on the growth and development of
crops. Mineral fertilizers of balanced dozes increased the leaf area, photosynthetic productivity
and yield of garlic (Borabash and Kochina, 1989). Manure supplies all the essential nutrients as
well as improves physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil and helps in boosting
up production of garlic.

Nitrogen, P and K are referred to as the primary macronutrients because of the general
probability of plants being deficient in these nutrients and because of the large quantities taken
up from the soil relative to the other essential nutrients (Marschner, 1995). Garlic has a moderate

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to high fertilizer requirement with banding being a preferable application method. Among the
primary macronutrients, N and P are the most commonly reported deficient plant nutrients in
most Ethiopian soils (Bergaet al., 1994; Yohannes, 1994).

2.3. Nitrogen

Nitrogen has been identified as being the most often limiting nutrient in plant growth. It is an
important component of proteins, enzymes and vitamins in plants, and is a central part of the
essential photosynthetic molecule, chlorophyll (Marschner, 1995). Plant demand for N can be
satisfied from a combination of soil and fertilizer N to ensure optimum growth.

Most crop plants take up both NH 4+ and NO3- ions through the root system. Most uptake at
normal soil pH levels for crop production occurs as nitrate due to the rapid conversion of
ammonium to nitrate in the soil following application of any ammonical fertilizers (Archer,
1988). Plants obtain readily available N forms from different sources which include: biological
N-fixation by micro-organisms, mineralization of organic matter, industrial fixation of N gas
and fixations of oxides of N by atmospheric electrical discharge.

The availability of N through biological fixation and mineralization is influenced by soil pH and
its nutrient status, soil temperature, level of soil moisture and oxygen supply (Miller and
Donanue, 1995). The loss of available N through natural processes is believed to suppress the
gain (Miller and Donanue, 1995; Tisdale et al., 1995). This fact has made fertilizer management
an important aspect of crop production practices (Kleinkopfet al., 1987). Consequently, N is
applied relatively in large quantities all over the world (Miller and Donanue, 1995).

Vegetative growth and yield (6.21 t/ha) of garlic were maximum for plants receiving N at the
rate of 100 kg ha-1 (Singh et al., 1994). Kilgoriet al. (2007) reported a significantly increased
cured bulb yield of garlic with increased N from 0 to 60 and 120 kg ha -1. Moreover, they found

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that higher dosage of 180 and 240 kg N ha -1 reduced the bulb yield. On contrast, the review
compared four levels of N (0, 50,100,150 kg N ha-1) and reported no significant effect of
increased N on total yield, marketable yield and mean bulb weight of onion under Melkassa
condition.

Escaff and Aljaro (1982) reported that the application of N up to 150 kg ha -1 increased the yield
and quality of garlic bulbs. Similarly, Ruiz (1985) reported that increasing rates of applied N
from 0 to 150 kg ha-1 increased bulb yield of garlic from 4.6 to 10.6 t/ha. At Samaru (Nigeria),
Babaji (1994) observed that N application increased almost all growth and yield parameters of
garlic significantly with a maximum yield of 15 t/ha at 90 kg N ha -1. In another study, Arboleya
and Garcia (1993) found increased growth and yield parameters of garlic with increasing N rates
up to 150 kg ha-1 though further increase of N to 225 kg ha -1 decreased them. It is best not to
apply N when the bulbs are beginning to enlarge since it will encourage excessive leaf growth
and will reduce bulb size (Bachmann, 2001. http:// attar.ncat.org/).

Korejo (1984) found that application of 60 kg N ha -1 resulted in good yields of garlic. Mahmood
(2000) reported that application of 125-150 kg N ha -1 is an appropriate dose for getting good
yields of garlic applied in two doses for best results. Garlic requires 84 to 168 kg N ha -1, the
exact amount depending up on the past cropping and fertilization, soil type and water
management (Sims et al., 2003).

Arboleya and Garcia (1993) in a trial of garlic with N at 0, 75, 150, and 225 kg ha-1 observed an
increased marketable bulb yield from 4.66 t/ha at 0 kg N ha -1 to 8.04 t/ha at 225 kg N ha -1. On
contrary, Yeshi (2003) reported that increased nitrogen fertilization levels of 0 to 150 kg N ha -1
showed no significant effects in all the plant characteristics except on unmarketable bulb
number and leaf length of shallot crop grown on vertisol of Haramaya University research farm
during the cropping season of 2002/2003.

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2.5. Interaction effect of mulching and N fertilizer

Significant effect of mulching and nitrogen interactions were observed with regard to leaf
number and bulb dry matter contents of shallot crop during the short rainy season of 1999
(Kebede, 2003). Moreover, the author reported a non significant effect of nitrogen and
phosphorous interactions in all of his experiments conducted on shallot production.
Furthermore, he found that nitrogen rates of about 105 kg ha -1 in combination with 25 kg P ha-1
gave optimum yields with irrigated crops.

Hossainet al. (2007), in their study on the effect of mulching and fertilization on growth and
yield of garlic at Dinajpur in Bangladish, found no significant interaction of mulch and fertilizer
in almost all the characters except in plant height, bulb fresh and dry weight and yield. The
highest plant height (60.30 cm), bulb fresh weight (21.90 g) and dry weight (5.75g) and yield
(7.30 t/ha) were recorded in plants grown under black polyethylene plastic supplied with 92 kg
N ha-1 and 43 kg P kg ha-1 in combination. The report also indicated that manurial and fertilizer
treatments under mulched conditions showed better performance with respect to the entire yield
contributing characters than their respective manurial treatments in non-mulched conditions.
Asiegbu (1991) conducted an experiment on response of tomato and egg plants to mulching and
nitrogen fertilization under tropical conditions and found insignificant effect of mulching and
nitrogen interactions on yield of these vegetable fruits.

2.6. Role of mulching on weed growth

Bulb yield losses in garlic due to weeds have been reported to reach 79-89% (Ahmed, 1991).
Mulching using rice straw was observed to suppress weed growth meffectively in garlic and
onion (Ibrahim, 1994; Umar et al., 2000). Black mulch effectively inhibit the weed growth by
intercepting nearly all incoming radiation,whereas clear mulch absorbs only 5%of short wave
length, reflects 11%but transmits 84%of it. Rajablarianiet al. (2012) obtained 84-98% reduction
in weed biomass in tomato with plastic mulches.

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 3.1. Phenology and Growth Parameters

Plant height, days to maturity, Leaf length and leaf number were significantly (P<0.05)
influenced by the effect of different Mulche
.

3.1.1. Days to maturity

Days to maturity was highly significantly (p<0.05) influenced by black polyethylene mulch
Black polyethylene mulch and grasses mulch enhanced maturity by about 114.6 and116.73
days, respectively, while the control treatment showed slightly delayed maturity by 125.36
days. This might be attributed due toincreasing soil organic matter (grass mulch) and water
efficiency by minimizing excess evaporation, regulation
of temperature in causing early bulb maturity while not using mulch allowed plant to have
access for adverse conditions like scarcity on water and temperature. Similarly Haque et al.
(2003), Karaye and Yakubu (2006) and Hossain et al. (2007) also reported significant effect of
mulching on day to maturity.

3.1.2. Plant height (cm)

Plant height was highly significantly (p<0.05) affected by black polyethylene mulch (Table 1).
Various mulches significantly affected the plant height in garlic production. Maximum height
(66.52cm) was recorded in black polyethylene mulch followed by grass mulch (62.37cm) and
without mulch (52.36cm) respectively. With respect to plant height, another researches also
reported that, the highest values of these parameters were recorded in black polyethylene
mulch. Iroc et al. (1991), Haque et al. (2003) and Hossain et al. (2007) reported the effect
black polyethylene mulch on plant height for garlic. Similarly, Kebede (2003) observed also an
increased plant height for shallot. These Might be attributed to the possible competition for soil

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moisture, appropriate temperature and nutrients without competitor through suppressing nature
of mulches.

3.1.3. Leaf number

The result of the field experiment showed that there is significance difference among treatments
with reference to leaf number per plant. Black polyethylene and grass mulch increases leaf
number by 5.466 and 4.166 respectively as compared to the control treatment .The highest leaf
number (15.36) was recorded on black polyethylene mulch treatment, followed by grass mulch
(14.06) which was statistically at par while the lowest leaf number (9.9) was recorded on
treatment with no mulch. This might be due to addition of nutrient
from straw mulch and reduction of competition and water stress by black polyethylene plastic.
Research finding conducted at Agarfa on garlic reported that, the highest number of leaves
plant-1 was obtained with straw mulch which was statistically at same level with black
polyethylene mulch (Wolde, 2014). This result is in line with the results of John (2000) and
Umar et al. (2000) who reported significant effect of mulching on leaf number of onions.
Similarly, result of Haque et al. (2003), Karaye and Yakubu (2006) and Hossain et al. (2007)
showed that, significant effect of mulching on leaf number plant-1 of garlic.

3.1.4. Leaf Length (cm)

Highly significant variation (p<0.01) in the leaf length was observed at the different mulches.
Black polyethylene mulch produced the longest (39.15cm) leaf length 37.96cm by black
polyethylene mulches and the shortest 32.75 was recorded in the absence of mulch.This might
be due to less competition for light with large canopy leaf of weed which suppressed by the
application of mulches. According to Gebrehaweria (2007) reported that, Black polyethylene
mulch significantly increased leaf length. This result is comparable with the findings of
Asiegbu (1991) who found significant increase in leaf sizes of tomato by using mulches.

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 4. yield of garlic parameter

The combined effect of NPKS and mulching on dry weight of leaves per plant significant
differences were observed among the treatments. The highest (3.29 g) and the lowest (1.53 g)
dry weight of leaves were found from the combined treatments of 140:50:150:30 kg NPKS/ha
+ rice straw and 0 kg NPKS/ha + no mulch, respectively.

Dry weight of bulb per plant

Dry weight of bulb was increased with increased dose of NPKS. The highest (4.59 g) amount
of bulb was found at the rate of 140:50:150:30 kg NPKS/ha and then it decreased and the
minimum (3.45 g) was obtained from Control treatment .
A significant variation was observed due to influence of mulching on the dry weight of garlic
bulbs. It was apparent that the higher dry weight of bulb (4.65 g) was produced by the plants
grown over rice straw mulch and the lower (3.65 g) was obtained from the control treatment.
Jamil et al. (2005) stated the same opinion. They stated that straw mulch which is cheaper and
effective in enhancing the greatest bulb weight and yield. Significant variation was observed in
the dry weight of bulb per plant due to the combined effect of NPKS and mulching. The
maximum (5.26 g) and the minimum (3.21 g) bulb dry weights were found at 140:50:150:30 kg
NPKS/ha + rice straw and 0 kg NPKS/ha + no mulch, respectively.

Diameter of bulb per plant

The diameter of bulb was increased up to a certain dose of NPKS (140:50:150:30 kg NPKS/ha)
and then decreased. The maximum diameter (4.41 cm) was found at 140:50:150:30 kg
NPKS/ha and minimum (3.30 g) was obtained from 0 kg NPKS/ha (Table 1).Lazzri et al.
(1978) reported the same opinion. They reported that application of higher nitrogen fertilizer
produced the largest bulb diameter of garlic. Significant variation in respect of diameter of bulb
per plant was observed due to the effect of mulching. The higher diameter of bulb per plant
(4.41cm) was produced from Rice straw mulch (M1) and lower (3.57 cm) with control. Similar
results also reported by different workers (Hassan, 1999; and Abu- Awad, 1999).
Significant variation was found due to the combined effect of NPKS and mulching on diameter
of bulb per plant. The maximum (4.95 cm) and the minimum (3.06 cm) diameter of bulb were
recorded at 140:50:150:30 kg NPKS/ha + rice straw and 0 kg NPKS/ha + no mulch,
respectively.

Number of cloves per bulb

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The maximum number of cloves per bulb (27.49) was produced at 140:50:150: kg NPKS/ha
and then it was decreased and the minimum (22.09) was obtained from 0 kg NPKS/ha. Similar
result was also reported by Ready et al. (2000).
Significant variations were observed in case of number of cloves per bulb. The higher numbers
of cloves per bulb (26.16) was obtained from rice straw mulch (M1) while control treatment
gave lower number of clove per bulb (20.89).
The combined effect of NPKS and mulching on number of cloves per bulb significant
differences were observed among the treatments. The highest (30.14) and the lowest (18.67)
number of cloves per bulb were counted from the treatments of 140:50:150:30 kg NPKS/ha +
rice straw and 0 kg NPKS/ha + no mulch, respectively .

Yield per plant

The maximum yield per plant was observed when applied NPKS at 140:50:150:30 kg/ha and
the minimum yield per plant was found in control plot Significant variations were found
between the mulch and non mulch treatment. Rice straw mulch produced higher yield per plant
(20.02 g) over control plot (19.76 g). The combined
treatments of 140:50:150:30 kg NPKS/ha + rice straw and 0 kg NPKS/ha + No mulch,
respectively was provided the highest (21.08 g) and the lowest (17.89 g) yield per plant,
respectively.

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 3. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Garlic is an erect biennial herb normally grown as annual crops up to 60cm in height. In
Ethiopia, garlic is important bulb crops produced for home consumption and are sources of
income to many peasant farmers in many parts of the country because of its importance in
Ethiopian diet; Mulching is one of the cultural practices for the favorable manipulation of
microclimate by reducing evaporation loss of rainwater and overhead irrigation water. The soil
moisture requirement of garlic is influenced by several factors such as crop variety, soil type
and environmental factors.

An interaction often occurs between soil, water and nutrients, which means that soil water can
influence the availability of nutrients, and the availability of nutrients can influence the uptake
of water and crops resistance to drought. The main constraints to crop yield in the arid and
semi-arid lands are water related climatic factors and soil fertility status. Generally for high
production of garlic, the environmental requirement and cultural practice as well as balanced
nutrient application is important.

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 4. REFERENCES

Asiegbu JE (1991). Response of tomato and eggplant to mulching and nitrogen fertilization
under tropical conditions, Scientia Hortic., 46: 33-41.
Abdel, c.g., 1990. the influence of mulching on irrigated and non irrigated onion
cultivations.mesopotamia journal of agriculture, 22: 25-33.
Adetunji, I.A., 1994. Responses of onion to soil solarization and organic mulching in semi-arid
tropics.ScientiaHorticulturae, 60: 161-166.
Ahmed, H., 1991. Effect of weed on growth of garlic (Allium sativum L.).Weed Sci. Abstract,
39(6): 230.
Aleksieve, N., 1989. Garlic growing in plastic greenhouse.Ovoshtar, Gradinarikonsevy prom, 70:
13, Horticultural Abs., 60: 923, Abs., 8038.Aliudin, B., 1980. The effect of rate and time of
nitrogen fertilizer application on the growth and yield of garlic (Allium sativumL.). Bulleting
penelitinHortikultura, 8:15-21. Horticultural Abs., 53:827-828, Abs. 8461.

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Arboleya, J. and C. Garcia, 1993.Adjustment of fertilization in relation to different planting
densities with or without irrigation. Mendoza Argentina, Horticultural Abs., 65(11): 1235.
Archer, J., 1988. Crop Nutrition and Fertilizer use. Second Edition.Farming Press Ltd.
Asiegbu, J.E., 1991. Response of tomato and egg plant to mulching and nitrogen fertilization under
tropical conditions.ScientiaHortic., 46: 33-41.
B. Mirshekari, H. R. Rajablarijiani, M. Agha Alikhani, F. Farahvash, and V. Rashidi, Evaluation
of biodegradable and polyethylene mulches in sweet corn production, international journal of
agriculture and crop sciences, vol.4, no. 20, pp. 1540-1545, 2012.
Babaji, B.A., 1994. Effect of plant spacing and nitrogen fertilization on growth and yield of
garlic.M.Sc. Thesis submitted to the Post-graduate school. ABU, Zaria. Bachmann, J., 2001.
Organic Garlic Production.http://attra.ncat.org/.
Bachmann,j.,2001,organic garlic production.htt;//attar.ncat.org/.
Baten, M.A., B.S. Nahar, S.C. Sarker and M.A.H. Khan, 1995. Effect of different mulches on
growth and yield of late planted garlic (Allium sativum L.).Pakistan J. Sci. Res., 38: 138-141.
BergaLemaga, Gebremedhin W/Giorgis, TerrisaJallata and Bereke-TsehaiTuku, and
YaynuHisKias, 1994b.Potato Improvement Research. In: Edward Herath and Lemma
Dessalegn (eds.). Proceedings of the Second National Horticultural Workshop of Ethiopia.
Addis Ababa, 1-3 December 1992. Institute of Agricultural Research and food and Agriculture
Organization. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Bhaskar, K.S., 1985. Effect of straw mulch and antitranspirant on growth and yield of sorghum
(SPV-233): a note. Ann. Arid Zone, 24: 171-174.
Bhella, H.S., 1988. Tomato response to trickle irrigation and black polyethylene
mulch.J.Amer.Soc.Hort. Sci., 113(4): 543-546.
Borabash, O. Yu. and T.N.K. Kochina, 1989. The effect of mineral fertilizers on garlic
productivity.ReferantinvyiZhurnal, 2: 12- 16.

Erenstein, O., 2003. Small holders conservation farming in the tropics and sub tropics: a guide
to the development and dissemination of mulching with crop residues and cover crops.
Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment, 100 (1): 17-37.

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