Evaluating the Impact of Fertigation Levels and Mulching on Growth and Yield of Garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Polyethylene mulch can be utilized for several purposes: altering soil temperature to promote faster early-season growth and earlier harvesting, reducing weed proliferation, preventing nutrient losses due to leaching and minimizing soil water loss by decreasing evaporation from the soil surface. The objective of this research is to assess the impact of different fertigation levels and mulch or the various growth parameters of garlic. An experiment was conducted to assess the impact of different fertigation levels and mulch or the various growth parameters of garlic at the Experimental farm of the Department of Soil Science and Water Management, Dr. Y.S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan (HP) during the year 2018-2019. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with eight treatments and three replications. The treatments consisted of 3 fertigation levels 60, 80 and 100 per cent recommended dose of fertilizer through water soluble fertilizer and surface irrigation with 100 per cent with recommended dose of fertilizer. There were 2 mulching levels of black and silver plastic mulch of 30-micron thickness and no mulch. The findings demonstrated compelling outcomes, illustrating that the diverse fertigation levels and mulch practices had pronounced effects on the growth characteristics of the garlic. Of all the treatments, the combination of fertigation at 100 per cent RDF with mulch yielded the most favorable results followed by 80 per cent RDF with mulch. The increase in yield attributes might have been due to the optimal availability and uptake of nutrients, which enhanced photosynthesis, promoted leaf expansion, and resulted in a higher accumulation of reserved food.