Evaluation of selected garlic genotypes for salinity tolerance under different mulching practices in coastal saline soil

Abstract

An experiment was carried out at the farmer’s field of Tildanga, Dacope, Khulna from November 2020 to April 2021, to identify high-yielding genotypes of garlic under different mulching practices in saline-prone areas of Bangladesh.  In the present study, six selected genotypes, namely KSA-009, DRA-012, SAM-016, KJH-001, SGA-021, and GNA-032, were evaluated under four mulching treatments viz., Control (no mulch) (M₀), rice straw mulch (M₁), black polythene mulch (M₂), and transparent polythene mulch (M₃). The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (factorial) with three replications.  Results revealed that mulching significantly influenced growth and yield traits, including plant height, leaf number plant^-1, fresh and dry weights of leaves and bulb, clove length and breadth, number of cloves bulb^-1, bulb length and breadth and bulb yield. Under mulching practices, genotype KSA-009 combined with rice straw mulch produced the highest bulb yield (8.21 t ha⁻¹), which was statistically similar to the yields of genotypes DRA-012 and SAM-016 under the same mulching treatment. While under non-mulched conditions genotypes KSA-009, DRA-012, and SAM-016 performed better in respect to growth, yield attributes, and bulb yield, indicating that these three garlic genotypes were relatively tolerant to salinity. The lowest bulb yield (4.56 t ha⁻¹) was recorded in GNA-032 under non-mulch condition. Results indicated that genotype KSA-009 is suitable for coastal saline soil when grown with straw mulch.

Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 50(4): 391-406, December 2025