BusinessHAB17 Facts about Garlic Cultivation Business
17 Facts about Garlic Cultivation Business: One of the best agricultural business ideas that promise high profits.
So, if you have small piece of land that is fertile enough for the production of garlic, then consider starting a garlic farming business there.
If you are thinking of joining the band wagon and starting your garlic plantation, BusinessHAB.com has listed down Tips for garlic cultivation in Nigeria
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1. Requirements for Garlic Cultivation
Garlic cultivation require fertile soil and a good weather condition.
Garlic can be grown in different types of soil.
However, sandy, silt and clay loam are recommended for commercial production.
The soil should be fertile, rich in organic matter, well-drained, and capable of holding adequate moisture during the growing period.
Garlic grows favorably in areas with Type I climate, which is characterized by a wet season that usually occurs from May to October and a dry season from November to April.
Garlic does not grow well in areas with excessive rainfall.
2. Methods of land Preparation for garlic cultivation
There are two methods of land preparation for garlic production.
These are:
Tilling method:
This method is done with the use of man-power or the machine like tractor.
It could also be used for corn, soybean, and other upland crops.
The field is plowed and harrowed twice or more at seven days interval or less.
A tractor-mounted rotavator can also be used.
b. Non tilling method:
This method of land preparation is usually practiced in the lowland rice fields after the harvest.
Rice straw and weeds are cut closed to the ground.
If the soil is too wet, the field is allowed to dry until the desired moisture level is attained.
Canals are usually constructed around the paddies to ensure no standing water after heavy rain or irrigation.
3. Garlic seeds for cultivation:
Fully-matured and well-developed bulbs of medium to-large cloves should be selected as planting materials.
These should be free from diseases and mechanical damage.
A hectare of land will require about 400-700 kg of seeds depending on the size of the bulbs and the distance of planting.
4. Clove or Seed Preparation
The planting material is prepared first by separating the clove from one another.
The cloves from the outer parts of the bulb are the best planting material.
Large bulbs contain 10-14 cloves.
When there is a shortage of planting materials, the inner cloves can be used also but these should be separated from the outer cloves.
The planting materials are then soaked in an insecticide-fungicide solution for at least two hours to get rid of seed-borne pests and diseases.
The cloves are air-dried before planting.
5. Time of Planting
Planting for garlic varies in different regions.
In rainfed upland areas particularly in Batangas, planting is usually done during the early part of September.
In the southern Region and other lowland areas, planting is from October to November.
December planting tends to produce smaller bulbs especially in the latter parts of the month due to infestation of thrips and mites, and the bulbs are sometimes affected by early rain.
6. Distance of Planting
The distance of planting varies from 15 centimeters (cm) x 15 cm to 20 cm x 10 cm to 25 cm.
Planting is done using dibble or pointed stick to insert two-thirds of the length of the clove vertically into the soil or about 2 cm to 3 cm deep.
7. Mulching
Mulch can be applied before or after planting.
Mulch is evenly laid on the field with a thickness of 3-5 cm.
Rice straw is commonly used as mulching material in the Philippines.
Other mulching materials that can also be used are hulls, saw dust, grasses, and polyethylene or plastic sheet.
Mulch controls soil moisture as well as the growth of weeds.
8. Fertilization
Before planting, the soil should be analyzed to determine the type and amount of fertilizer needed to be applied.
Handy soil-test kits are available in the different local offices of the Department of Agriculture throughout the country.
This simple and easy-to-operate kit measures soil fertility and pH value.
Application of organic fertilizer is found to be more effective in garlic production.
Organic fertilizer does not only provide macro and micro nutrients but also some beneficial microorganisms.
It also improves the physical, chemical, and biological conditions of the soil.
Further, it has no known harmful effect on the ecology as well as on the crops.
9.When to Plant
Garlic is planted in October, the same time you’ll be planting daffodils and tulips. This gives the garlic bulbs roots a chance to get established before winter sets in.
10. Where to Plant
Garlic grows best in full sun. Well drained soils are a must. Since the cloves will be sitting in the soil all winter, poorly drained soils lead to the cloves rotting. Planting in raised beds insures that the soil stays well drained all winter and your garlic viable.
11. How to Plant
Create raised beds 8-inches tall, no more than 3-feet wide, and as long as you like. Amend the bed with compost. Break apart the garlic bulbs that you purchased on-line or at your local garden center, into individual cloves. Select varieties adapted to our climate. Set cloves pointy side up 2 inches deep in the raised bed, spaced 6 inches apart in rows 1 foot apart.
Facts about Garlic Cultivation Business
12. Care and Maintenance
Garlic is a very easy vegetable to grow. Keep the soil moist in fall and protect the bed with a 4- to 6-inch deep layer of hay or straw added in November. Your garlic should be fine until spring. If we have a warm fall, sometimes the garlic cloves sprout green shoots. Don’t worry, they will stop growing once the cold weather and shorter days set in.
In spring, remove the mulch once the garlic starts growing. Usually this is April or early May. Once three garlic leaves have formed, add a small handful of organic fertilizer, such as 5-5-5, per row. Keep the bed well weeded and watered.
If the soil conditions are right, garlic has few problems. Pest and animals don’t really like them. In fact some gardeners swear by planting garlic among other vegetables to ward pests off. Diseases are avoided by rotating crops annually.
13. Harvest
Harvest the scapes of hardneck garlic varieties in early summer once they form their curly cues. They have a mild garlic flavor which is great in cooking. By removing the scapes, the garlic plant will send more energy into producing larger sized bulbs.
Harvest garlic bulbs when the bottom third of the leaves yellow. Pull therm out of the ground, knock off any extra soil on the bulbs and store them in a cool, airy, shady, dry location for about 2 weeks until the tops dry. With a pruner or sharp knife, cut off the tops, 1/2 inch above the bulb, and trim the roots. If you’re growing softneck varieties leave the tops for braiding.
Store bulbs in mesh bags in a dark, 40F to 50F room for winter. Garlic can keep for more than 6 months under the right conditions. I’m often still eating last years garlic when harvesting this years garlic scapes.
15. Additional Information
Some of my favorite hardneck varieties include ‘Russian Red’, ‘Chesnook Red’, and ‘German Xtra Hardy’. Some good softneck varieties to try include ‘Inchelium Red’ and ‘New York White’. Elephant garlic features fewer, but larger cloves and a milder flavor than other garlics.
16. Irrigation
In preparing for planting, if soil moisture is not sufficient, it is necessary to irrigate the field a day or two days earlier.
In case the soil becomes too wet after irrigating.
The field should be allowed to dry until the desired moisture level is attained.
This condition is best exemplified when footprints are deep enough.
Garlic produces an average of 6.5 roots per plant.
In clay loam soil, the roots dig down as deep as 59 cm.
17. Growing Garlic Rounds From Bulbils
The result of this trial tells me that mid October is the preferable date to plant bulbils for producing rounds, resulting in not only a higher rate of germination and a thicker stand, but also a far more favorable ratio of rounds to little bulbs.
Facts about Garlic Cultivation Business
Tips:
- Since rounds and little bulbs are often growing with their roots entwined, we have found it more efficient to harvest the entire planting at one time, even though the little bulbs are not quite ready. We sell the largest of these immediately at the farmers’ market. The larger ones range in size from a quarter to fifty cent piece and comprise about fifteen percent of weight of the total little bulb harvest.
- When harvesting rounds, grabbing the top near the base and wiggling it from side to side often releases the roots of a stubborn round better than a straight tug will.
- In the past we have planted bulbils by making a shallow furrow with a hoe, dribbling the bulbils in, then covering the furrow and mulching. We have discovered that covering with soil isn’t really necessary, so after the bulbils are placed in the furrow, they are simply mulched. This results in their being easier to pull at harvest time.
- For mulch, we use three inches of shredded leaves or five inches of pine needles on the beds, each of which allows the garlic shoots to easily penetrate in spring.
- In the aisles between beds, we use whole leaves to aid in weed suppression. Click Here, Learn More.
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