onion-garlic- Package of Practices

Soil: It can be cultivated in a wide range of soils from sandy loam to clay loam with good drainage facilities. The optimum pH would be 6.5-7.5.

Climate: It is adapted to temperature range of 13-24° C for vegetative stage and 16-21° C for bulbing stage, 30 -35° C at maturity and harvest. The best performance can be obtained in a mild weather without the extremes of cold, heat and excess rainfall.

Season :           Kharif Season              May –   September           (Onion Only)                         Late Kharif Season      August - February             (Onion only)                         Rabi Season               October  - April                (Onion and Garlic)

Seed Rate:       Onion      -        7-8 kg/ha.                                  Garlic      -       400-500 kg/ha  cloves

Nursery raising for Onion :  Seeds are sown on raised beds of 1.2 m width and 3-4 m length. The seedlings will be ready for transplanting in 45-50 days after sowing.

Preparation of main field : Plough the land to get fine tilth and  incorporate  FYM 20 t/ha or 10 tons FYM and 5 tons poultry manure or vermi compost at  the time of last ploughing. Form flat bed or broad based furrow (BBF) for planting.

Spacing: 15X10 cm   for both

Fertilizers:                For kharif season Onion                     100:50:50:50 kg NPKS/ha                             Late kharif  Onion                             150:50:50:50 kg NPKS/ha                             Rabi season Onion                             150:50:80:50 kg NPKS/ha                             Garlic                                             100:50:50:50 NPKS/ha Apply 50% N and 100% P, K & S as basal dose  and remaining 50% of N to be applied in two splits at 30 & 45 days after transplanting. Top dressing  must be completed before bulb development.

Irrigation:  Irrigation is necessary at the time of transplanting/dibbling of cloves and light irrigation should be done on third day after planting and subsequent irrigation will be done at   7-10 days interval depending upon the soil condition and season.

Microirrigation & Fertigation : By using drip and sprinklers, irrigation should be done  once in three days. The operating pressure for drip system is 1.5kg/cm2 and for rotary micro sprinkler is 2.5kg/cm2. Through drip, fertigation should be done  by using nitrogen fertilizers (Urea). Apply 50% N as basal dose and remaining 50% of N to be applied in seven splits (10 days interval up to 70 days after transplanting) through drip .

Weed management: Crop should be kept weed free for good bulb yield. For transplanted onion, pre emergence application of Oxyflurofen (Goal) @ 0.15-0.25 kg ai/ha or Fluchloralin (Basalin) @1.0kg/ha or Pendimethalin (Stomp) 3.5 l/ha combined with one hand weeding was found effective in both kharif and rabi seasons. For onion nursery and direct seeded crop, application of Pendimethalin @3ml/litre just after sowing is found best in controlling weeds without affecting the germination, seedling growth and final stand.

Cropping sequence: Soybean in kharif season followed by onion in rabi season is the best crop rotation which improves soil fertility as well as monetary returns.

Harvesting: Onions and Garlic  should be harvested at 50% neck fall stage.

Yield:      Onion (Kharif)           15-20t/ha               Onion (Late kharif)    30-35t/ha               Onion (Rabi)             25-30t/ha               Garlic                      08-10 t/ha