Growth and production of garlic (Allium sativum L.) in the lowland on various types of mulch
Rafiuddin1, Ifayanti Ridwan1, and Amir Syam2

1Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University. Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan KM 10 Makassar 90245 Indonesia.
2Agrotechnology Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture Hasanuddin University. Jl. Perintis Kemerdekaan KM 10 Makassar 90245 Indonesia.

Corresponding author^s e-mail: ifayanti[at]unhas.ac.id

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effect of mulch treatment on the growth and production of garlic (Allium sativum L.) in the lowlands. The research was conducted in Lempong Village, Bola District, Wajo Regency located 78 m above sea level (asl) with an average temperature of 24 - 33 derajat C. This research was set using a Split Plot Design (SPD) with garlic varieties set as the main plots consisting of highland and lowland varieties while mulch types were set as subplots consisting of control (no mulch), black silver plastic mulch, rice straw mulch, gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) leaf mulch, and banana stem + leaf mulch. Each treatment combination was repeated 3 times. The results show that the white lumbu variety had better growth and production than the green lumbu on the parameters: plant height (28.86 cm), number of leaves (4.63), harvesting age (90.60 days), number cloves per tuber (2.60 cloves). Straw mulch showed the best effect in suppressing soil temperature (28.5 derajat C). Banana leaf and stem mulch was the best type of mulch compared to control and other mulches on parameters: plant height (31.92 cm), number of leaves (4.71 leaves), and number of cloves per tuber (2.33 cloves). The interaction between the lumbu putih variety and banana leaf and stem mulch produced the highest yields of wet tuber production per plot (202.33 g), dry tuber production per plot (197.00 g) and tuber production per hectare (1.6 ton ha-1).

Keywords: Garlic, Mulch, lowland, microclimate.

Topic: Crop production system