Irrigation Management in Garlic Cultivars for Improved Yield and Water Efficiency under Zero Tillage Condition

The significant increase in the scarcity of water for farming and price rise of energy required to make water available for irrigation have made it essential to improve water efficiency of crops. Therefore, an experiment was conducted at the farmer’s field of Haybatpur and Chalan Beel (Gurudaspur) of Natore for two consecutive years to develop appropriate irrigation management practice for higher yield of garlic. The experiment consisted of four treatments: farmer’s irrigation practice (T1); Four irrigation frequency (1st: Irrigation @ 20-25 days after sowing (DAS) + 2nd to 4th Irrigation @23-26 days interval) (T2); Three irrigation frequency (1st: at 20-25 DAS + 2nd: at 45-46 DAS + 3rd: at 60 DAS) plus organic matter at basal dose @ 2kg decimal-1 (T3); Three irrigation frequency (1st: at 20-25 DAS + 2nd: at 45-46 DAS + 3rd: at 60 DAS) (T4). The cultivars used were Binarosun-1 (V1) and Italy hybrid (V2). The highest yield (12.1 t ha-1 and 12.5 t ha-1 at 2021 and 2022 respectively) as well as BCR was obtained in treatment T3. Treatments were set to increase the efficiency of water use by 25-40% than conventional practices. Based on the results, three times irrigation and organic matter addition as basal dose with zero tillage practice is suggested for sustained garlic production in Natore area.