Growth and yield of garlic (Allium sativum L) as influenced by clove weight and plant growth regulators

The present investigations were carried out on Agrifound Parvati cultivar of garlic at Pandah experimental farm of Seed Technology and Production Centre, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, HP during Rabi 2009–10. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (factorial) with three replications of each treatment combination (clove weight x growth regulator). The observations were recorded on plant height, number of leaves per plant, bolters, biomass yield per plot and bulb yield per plot. Analysis of variance showed significant differences among all the treatment combinations for all the characters under study. Highest bulb yield per plot (3.79 kg) was obtained with the treatment combination W₅ x G₂ (clove weight 3.1–3.5 g x Cycocel 1000 ppm). Moreover clove weight W₅ (3.1–3.5 g) and growth regulator G₂ (Cycocel 1000 ppm) independently as well as in their combination also gave the best results for most of the growth and yield characters. Therefore clove weight W₅ (3.1–3.5 g) in combination with growth regulator G₂ (Cycocel 1000 ppm) can be recommended for commercial cultivation/application after multilocation testing for getting the higher yields in garlic.