Effect of Vermicompost on Growth, Yield and Quality of Garlic (Allium sativum L.) in Enebse Sar Midir District, Northwestern Ethiopia

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an important vegetable crop in Ethiopia. However, the yield of the crop is often constrained by low and imbalanced nutrient supply in the soil. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted at Mertule Mariam ATVET College to study the effect of vermicompost on growth, yield and quality of garlic (Allium sativum L.) during 2013 main rainy season. A locally grown garlic cultivar called Tsedey 92 (G-493) was used for the study. The treatment consisted of three levels of vermicompost (0, 2.5 and 5 t ha-1). The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design (RCBD), and replicated three times. Data were collected on phenology, plant growth, bulb yield, and quality of the crop. The results revealed that increasing rate of vermicompost significantly (P < 0.05) affected days to emergence. The effect of vermicompost also significantly (P < 0.05) influenced days to maturity, leaf number, leaf area index, mean clove weight, mean bulb weight, fresh biomass yield, total bulb yield, dry matter percent and total soluble solid. The highest bulb dry matter percent (51.05) and total bulb yield (7.78 t ha-1) was recorded at 5 t vermicompost ha-1. Increasing level of vermicompost also significantly (P < 0.05) affected marketable and unmarketable bulb yield, and mean clove number. The highest marketable and the lowest unmarketable yield was obtained at 5 t ha-1 vermicompost. Marketable yield of garlic was increased by 9.96% and unmarketable bulb yield was decreased by 12.83% at an application rate of 5 t vermicompost ha-1 over the control. Total soluble solid was also increased from 5.13 to 5.69 oBrix by applying 5 t vermicompost ha-1 over the control. Harvest index was also significantly (P < 0.05) affected by the increased application of vermicompost. The maximum harvest index 68.36% was also recorded at application of 5 t vermicompost ha-1. It can, thus be concluded that, application of 5 t ha-1 vermicompost led to the maximum growth, yield and quality of the garlic crop. Keywords: vermicompost, garlic, organic fertilizer, earth worm, Eisenia foetida, yield, qualit