ORGANIC MULCH ON EARLY GARLIC CULTIVARS GROWN UNDER SEMIARID CONDITIONS

ABSTRACT Soil cover with plant residues is a traditional cultural practice in garlic crops, mainly among small producers. Virus-free garlic seeds is a recent technology used in several garlic producing regions of Brazil; it enables the maximum exploration of the productive potential of cultivars. A field experiment was developed from May to September 2018 with the objective of evaluating the use of mulching in early garlic cultivars in semiarid conditions. A randomized block experimental design was used, with a split-plot arrangement and four replications; the plots consisted of treatments with and without mulch in the plots, and the subplots consisted virus-free garlic cultivars (Araguari, Cateto Roxo, Canela de Ema, Centralina, and Gravatá) and an infected cultivar (Branco Mossoró). The soil mulch did not affect the plant height and number of leaves, but promoted increases in total and commercial yields of the cultivars, especially the Gravatá, indicating that the use of this practice is important to obtain bulbs with higher commercial value; the cultivars Branco Mossoró, Canela de Ema, and Centralina had higher number of cloves per bulb and, thus, are more indicated for the climatic conditions of the region.