Abstract:
Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the most important bulb vegetables used as spice and flavoring
agent of food and medicinal plants throughout the globe. It is a cold weather crop with high water and
nutrient requirement. Numerous problems accounted for the low productivity of garlic in Ethiopia,
among which appropriate fertilizer management is the major issue. Therefore, a field experiment was
conducted with the objectives to investigate the effect of nitrogen and phosphorus levels on yield and
yield attributes of two garlic varieties at Beressa watershed, Mesqan woreda, south –central Ethiopia
under supplemental irrigation from November to April 2010/11. The treatments consisted of 2 garlic
varieties Local and improved, 4 levels of N (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N/ha) and 3 levels of P (0, 50 and 100
kg P2O5/ha) triplicated in a factorial randomized block design. Data on yield and yield components were
collected. Varieties differed significantly on bulb diameter, mean clove fresh weight, bulb fresh and dry
weight and bulb yield. Nitrogen application significantly influenced bulb yield and yield component.
Phosphorus had significantly influenced bulb diameter, bulb fresh and dry weight, mean clove fresh
weight and bulb yield and also yield all the yield attributes were significantly affected by the interaction
of N and P. However; the three way interaction effect between N, P and variety were found to be
significant for the bulb dry matter at 120 DAE and total bulb yield. The highest bulb yield of 3.34 t/ha
was achieved at 100 kg N + 100 kg P2O5/ha combination, and was 244 % higher than the control and
statistically similar to the yield of 3.27 t/ha obtained from 100 kg N and 50 kg/ha P2O5 application for
Tsedey92. Hence, based on the economics of fertilizers to the mean bulb yield for the experiment,
application of 100 kg N and 50 kg P2O5 /ha to variety Tsedey92 had tentatively recommended for the
study area.
