Garlic

October–November for the main rabi crop across most of the plains. Planting on time matters because garlic needs the cool early-season spell to bulb properly — planted too late, the bulbing stage runs into warm weather and the bulbs stay small no matter how well the crop is otherwise managed.

Roughly 200–240 kg of cloves per acre (500–600 kg/ha) — the highest planting-material weight of any crop here, because each plant is grown from a whole clove rather than a light seed. Use healthy, medium-to-bold cloves from disease-free bulbs.

Garlic rarely sets viable true seed under Indian conditions, so it is propagated vegetatively — each clove separated from the bulb grows into a new plant. This is why clove size and health matter so much: they carry directly into the size and health of the bulb you harvest.

Yes, strongly. Bigger cloves have more stored energy and produce bigger bulbs, so grading out the small inner cloves and planting the medium-to-bold ones genuinely raises yield. Separate cloves from the bulb only just before planting, since cloves broken too early dry out and sprout unevenly.

Stopping irrigation 2–3 weeks before harvest lets the bulbs fill, firm up and begin curing in the ground. Bulbs lifted from wet soil stay soft, cure poorly and rot fast in storage — so this single step, often skipped, decides much of how well the crop keeps. It is the signature practice of a good garlic grower.

Light, regular irrigation every 8–12 days through vegetative growth and bulb development, then a complete stop 2–3 weeks before harvest. Garlic needs steady moisture through bulb swelling but resents waterlogging at any stage, which feeds the soil-borne rots it is prone to.

A common recommendation is 100:50:50 kg/ha of N:P:K, with about a third of the nitrogen at planting and the rest split across two top dressings, plus 20–25 kg/ha of sulphur on deficient soils. The last nitrogen dose is given before bulb initiation — nitrogen applied later delays maturity, keeps the neck thick, and shortens storage life.

Garlic, like onion, is unusually sulphur-responsive. Sulphur improves both bulb size and pungency — it drives the allicin content that gives garlic its flavour, aroma and market value — so 20–25 kg/ha of sulphur on a deficient soil pays off in both yield and quality.

No — garlic has no Minimum Support Price; it is a spice, not a mandated crop. Its price is among the most volatile of any farm produce, swinging hard between glut and shortage year to year, and shifting with carryover stock, storage decisions and export demand. The live mandi price on this page is the most useful real-time signal for deciding when to sell from storage.

Twisted, curled and streaked leaves often point to the eriophyid (bloat) mite, a microscopic pest carried in the cloves that also causes a dry, spongy rot in stored bulbs. Because it travels in planting material, the main defence is planting only clean, mite-free cloves and discarding visibly infested bulbs rather than saving them for seed — field sprays reach the sheltered mites poorly.

Most likely purple blotch, the most common foliar disease of garlic and onion in India, favoured by warm, humid weather and heavy dew. Spray mancozeb or a suitable combination fungicide at first appearance and keep foliage dry by avoiding overhead irrigation — see the Diseases section for the full programme.

80–120 quintals per hectare of cured bulbs under normal irrigated management. A bold-cloved variety such as Yamuna Safed-3 (G-282), planted on time with good thrips control, reaches the upper end of that range and beyond.

Cure lifted bulbs in the field or under shade for 2–3 weeks until the neck, skin and roots are fully dry, then store in a well-ventilated structure — not a sealed room or plastic sacks, which trap moisture. Cured properly and stored with airflow, garlic keeps for five to seven months, noticeably longer than onion.

Both are Alliums grown much the same way — rabi, cured and stored, sulphur-responsive, thrips-prone — but garlic is planted directly from cloves rather than raised as a nursery and transplanted, it takes longer (150–180 days), and it stores longer when cured well. Garlic also carries its own signature pest, the clove-borne bloat mite.

When the lower leaves have yellowed and dried and the tops begin to bend over, usually 150–180 days after planting. Don't wait for the whole plant to dry down — that risks the bulbs splitting and the outer skin cracking in the field, which hurts both appearance and storage.

Garlic is covered under PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana) where it is in your state's notified crop list, and as a commercial/horticultural crop the farmer's premium is capped at 5% of the sum insured. PM-KISAN is not crop-specific — any eligible landholding farmer family qualifies. Check your state's seasonal notification and cut-off dates.

For the main rabi crop on the plains, Yamuna Safed (G-1) and Agrifound White (G-41) are dependable, good-keeping whites; for a bold-cloved export or premium market, Yamuna Safed-3 (G-282) sizes up largest. Bhima Omkar and Bhima Purple suit earlier planting and a shorter season. Match the variety to your region and market, and hedge any single choice against local advice.