Agrifound White (G-41)
From NHRDF — planted as cloves, not true seed, and the most widely grown white garlic in the country.
Quick facts
- Crop
- Garlic
- Type
- Planting material
- Season
- Rabi
- Maturity period
- 150–160 days
- Seed rate
- 400–500 kg of cloves per hectare, using cloves above 1.5 g and rejecting small, damaged or diseased ones
- Expected yield
- 120–150 q/ha
- Suitable soil
- Loam
- pH
- 6.0–8.0
- Disease resistance
- Moderate purple blotch tolerance
- Release
- Reported notified in 1989 (No. 28(E), 13 April 1989) · Government of India, via NHRDF · mass selection from a Biharsharif (Bihar) collection. The notification text itself could not be found
Actual yield depends on sowing time, soil, irrigation, weather, seed quality and crop management.
About this variety
Agrifound White (G-41) is a National Horticultural Research and Development Foundation (NHRDF) release, developed by mass selection from a local garlic collection at Biharsharif, Bihar. It is reported to have been notified by the Government of India in 1989 (notification 28(E), 13 April 1989) for cultivation in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. That is a narrower official footprint than its current reach, since it has since become the most widely grown white garlic variety in the country. Bulbs are compact and silvery-white with creamy flesh, 3.5–4.5 cm across, holding 20–25 large, elongated cloves; the crop matures in 150–160 days for an average yield around 130 q/ha, with high total soluble solids (around 41°Brix) and dry matter (around 43%) that support good storage life.
Should you pick this variety?
Pick Agrifound White (G-41) if you want the white garlic the market and your dealer both know best — it is the most widely grown white garlic in the country, so seed is easy to find and no buyer has to be talked into the type. Its high solids are what give it good keeping quality. One caution before you count on it: the original notification named only Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, so the wider list reflects adoption, not an official recommendation for your state. Choose Yamuna Safed if the crop must store even longer, or Yamuna Safed-3 for bolder export-grade cloves.
Sowing & cultivation
- Sowing timeSeptember to November in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, October–November in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Harvest falls in March or early April (ICAR-DOGR)
- Seed rate400–500 kg of cloves per hectare, using cloves above 1.5 g and rejecting small, damaged or diseased ones
- Spacing15 cm between rows, 10 cm between cloves, each planted vertically 2 cm deep
- Sowing methodFlat beds 1.5–2.0 m wide work for a rabi crop. Dip cloves in 0.1% carbendazim before planting. Weeds come up in 3–4 days against the crop's 7–8, so plan the first weeding before the garlic is even through
- IrrigationWater immediately after planting and then every 7–10 days, about 12–13 irrigations in all for the rabi crop. Stop 10–15 days before harvest. A dry spell followed by a heavy watering splits the outer skin, which costs you grade
- Fertilizer75:40:40:40 kg NPKS per hectare in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, and 100:50:50:50 with 20 t/ha farmyard manure in Uttar Pradesh. One-third of the nitrogen with all the P, K and S at planting, the rest at 30 and 45 days (ICAR-DOGR)
Advantages & considerations
Why farmers may choose it
- High total soluble solids (around 41°Brix) and dry matter (around 43%) that give it good keeping quality in storage
- Large, elongated cloves (20–25 per bulb) and a bigger bulb size than many desi types, which helps at the mandi
- Widest adoption of any white garlic variety in the country, well outside its original two-state notification
Things to consider
- The original 1989 notification named only Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The wider state list above reflects the variety's much broader on-farm adoption, not an official multi-state recommendation.
- No specific, independently confirmed disease-resistance rating was found beyond good storability, so treat the “moderate purple blotch tolerance” above as a field-level rating, not a laboratory-confirmed one.
Suitable regions
States this variety is recommended for — check locally, since a state can have more than one recommended zone.
- Madhya Pradesh
- Rajasthan
- Gujarat
- Uttar Pradesh
Keeping your own planting cloves season to season
Garlic is planted from cloves, not from true seed, so farmers routinely keep their own. Agrifound White is the most widely grown white garlic in the country, which means seed is easy to buy — but also that a careless seed stock spreads whatever was in last year's crop straight into this year's field.
Do it properly. During the season, mark a healthy block and take your seed bulbs only from there, never from the bulbs rejected at grading. Pick the biggest, firmest, disease-free bulbs, cure them, and store them separately in a cool, dry, airy place with the stalks on. Break them into cloves only at planting time, because cloves separated early dry out. Throw out small, soft, mouldy and sprouted cloves, since clove size at planting carries straight through to bulb size at harvest. Bring in a fresh certified lot every few years to reset the stock.
Can you keep your own planting material?
This crop is planted from cloves, not from a seed packet, so your own field can supply next season. Keep the biggest, firmest bulbs from a patch that stayed free of rot, and break them into cloves only at planting time. Plant the fat outer cloves — small inner cloves give small bulbs, every season. Bring in clean stock when the size starts slipping or rot shows up in store.
How it compares with other varieties
Every Garlic variety with a page on this site, side by side. The row for this page is highlighted.
| Variety | Best for | Maturity | Yield | States |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agrifound Parvati (G-313) | Hill garlic with very large bulbs and a long cool season | 230–250 days | 200–225 q/ha | Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand |
| Agrifound White (G-41)this page | The default plains white garlic, with good keeping quality | 150–160 days | 120–150 q/ha | Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh |
| Bhima Omkar | Holding the crop in storage until the off-season price lifts | 120–135 days | 100–120 q/ha | Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan |
| Bhima Purple | An early purple-skinned crop with a market of its own | 120–135 days | 60–70 q/ha | Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh |
| Yamuna Safed (G-1) | Long storage before sale, with large sickle-shaped cloves | 120–130 days | 150–170 q/ha | Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh |
| Yamuna Safed-3 (G-282) | Bold large-cloved white garlic for the export and premium trade | 140–150 days | 175–200 q/ha | Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh |
Tools for this crop
The numbers you need next: how much seed to buy, whether the lot germinates, what the fertilizer bill looks like and what Garlic is selling for.
- Seed Rate CalculatorHow much seed your Garlic plot needs, corrected for the germination of the lot you bought.
- Seed Variety FinderFilter every Garlic variety on this site by state, season, duration and soil.
- Fertilizer CalculatorTurn the NPK recommendation for Garlic into bags of urea, DAP and MOP for your field size.
- Crop Profit CalculatorPut your seed, labour and input costs against the yield you expect from this variety.
- Mandi Price CheckerToday's Garlic rate in your nearest mandi, before you fix a price with a trader.
Subsidy and government support
Schemes that help with the cost of Garlic seed or planting material. Rules and the application route are on each scheme page.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Agrifound White grown so much wider than its original notification states?
It was officially notified in 1989 for Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh only, but its bulb size, good storability and market acceptance made it the default white garlic choice for farmers well beyond those two states over the following decades.
What makes Agrifound White store well?
Its relatively high total soluble solids (around 41°Brix) and dry matter (around 43%) are the underlying traits agriculture sources point to for its good keeping quality in storage.
How long will Agrifound White keep in storage?
Well enough to hold for the off-season, thanks to its high dry matter of about 43% and TSS near 41°Brix. The variety is only half the job: cure the bulbs properly in shade, store in a dry, airy place and sort out any soft or sprouting bulbs each month.
Agrifound White or Yamuna Safed?
Agrifound White has the wider track record and the higher reported average yield, so it is the safer default. Yamuna Safed is rated the better storer across sources and has larger cloves, 25–30 per bulb, so it suits a plan to hold the crop for months before selling.
Can I use my own bulbs as seed next year?
Yes, garlic is planted from cloves and farmers routinely keep their own. Set aside the biggest, firmest, disease-free bulbs at harvest, cure and store them separately, and break them into cloves only at planting time so they do not dry out.
How long does Agrifound White take, and what does it yield?
150–160 days for 120–150 q/ha. Yamuna Safed-3 is listed higher at 175–200 q/ha over 140–150 days, but Agrifound White is the one most plains dealers actually stock, and its keeping quality is why it stayed the default.
Where did Agrifound White come from?
It is a mass selection from a local garlic collection at Biharsharif in Bihar, not a formal cross. That is worth knowing when you buy: it is a selected local type kept as seed stock, so the quality of the lot you buy depends a good deal on who multiplied it.
Sourced from: Garlic Variety Agrifound White — Global Agriculture, Garlic Agropedia, ICAR-Directorate of Onion and Garlic Research: planting calendar by state, clove rate, spacing, fertiliser dose and irrigation. editorial policy.