An improved native garlic variety, the Batanes white, can raise garlic production as it has the highest yield at 4.9 metric tons per hectare (MT/ha), even posting as much as 9.3 MT/ha in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte.
The Department of Agriculture (DA)-Region 1 (Ilocos Region) has crafted a revival program to raise garlic sufficiency as current supply is largely imported — more than 90 percent.
Field tests have shown native garlic varieties can catch up in competitiveness with imported garlic that have a yield of 10 to 15 MT/ha such as that in China.
Remarkably, the improved native garlic has shown competitive yield potential in a "second crop" known to be more ideal to garlic planting.
"Two cropping of garlic per year is an economic and production potential when planted as direct seeded on September 15 for the first crop, and December or early January for the second crop in upland areas of Pasuquin, where there is adequate supply of irrigation water," said a study led by the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
This is in partnership with DA-Region 1 and Experiment Station led by Wilhelmina Castaneda and the Bureau of Agricultural Research (BAR).
Garlic yield increased from 3.402 MT/ha per hectare during the regular season to 9.3 MT/ha.
Among the native varieties that have been improved, Batanes garlic produced the highest average yield in the field tests in the Ilocos towns of Pasuquin, 4.9 MT/ha; Bacarra, 3.139 MT/ha; and Batac City, 3.39 MT/ha.
Gross income from the improved garlic variety reached P602,400 per hectare per cropping. Less all costs, net income reached P327,743.
Given a two-season per year planting, income can reach P650,000 per hectare per year.
The feat of raising Philippines' garlic sufficiency level was made possible through a "package of technology" developed by SEARCA, BAR and DA Region 1.
It mainly involves provides good seeds and fertilization using gibberelic acid and organic fertilizer.