A New Line of Winter Garlic in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Specific biological traits of garlic cultivars and cultivated populations such as resistance to low temperature, reaction to day length and capacity for vegetative propagation determine their geographic distribution. Cultivated populations are typically highly specific to particular agro-ecological areas, which makes them a good starting material for selection. The paper reviews the traits of NL-1, a new line of garlic developed at Federal Department of Agriculture in Sarajevo, and its suitability for cultivation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A two-year trial (2007/08-2008/09) was conducted in two locations (Sarajevo-Butmir, Tuzla-Velika Brijesnica) using a randomized block design in five replications. The following production characteristics were tested: yield, bulb weight and clove number and weight. The tested quality characteristics included the contents of dry matter, total sugars and proteins. The cultivar 'Domaci Ozimi' was the standard. The line NL-1 brought an average yield of 16.61 t/ha, 87% more than 'Domaci Ozimi'. In the location of Velika Brijesnica, the average annual yield varied from 16.39 to 18.36 t/ha. The average yield for the trial was 17.38 t/ha, which was significantly higher (78%) than that of the standard cultivar. In the location of Butmir, the two-year average yield of the line NL-1 was 15.54 t/ha, 98% higher than that of the standard cultivar. Dry matter content in NL-1 was 41.54%, 0.8% lower compared with the standard cultivar. The sugar content (in DM) was 27%, 1% below that in the standard cultivar. The content of proteins, the most important ingredient of garlic, was 5.31 or 24% higher than the protein content in 'Domaci Ozimi'.