Garlic

1. Production, Market and Expected Return December 2008 Garlic

2. Overview • Garlic is among the oldest known horticultural crops. Some writings suggest that garlic was grown in China as far back as 4000 years ago. • It is a perennial crop. • It belongs to the same family as leeks, onions, and shallots. • One of the world's top producers of garlic is China, which produces 66 percent of the world's garlic every year. • Garlic is a cool-season crop grown in most regions of the U.S. • Garlic will grow in almost any well-drained, friable (easily crumbled in the hand) soil, preferably with high organic matter content.

3. Health and Nutrition

4. Health and Nutrition Benefits • Garlic is known best for keeping cold at bay. Eating a clove of garlic when you feel like you may have an onset of cold, improves your immune system and strengthens up the natural defense system of the body. • Garlic is also credited with anti-oxidants that help fight cancer and cancerous tumors. Medical science has proof that garlic contains compounds like diallye disulphide and s-allycystein, which have anti-tumor properties and help in slowing down the growth of tumors and also reduce their size. • Garlic has compounds that help prevent any kind heart disease. It helps in lowering the cholesterol level in blood, which in turn makes sure there is nothing to block the arteries. It helps keep the aorta of the heart flexible and enables it to pump the blood effectively. • Garlic also helps in the control of blood pressure or hypertension. A chemical known as Ajoene is found in garlic which helps in thinning the blood, thus reducing clots from forming and reducing hypertension. Garlic was used in ancient China to treat people suffering from angina attacks and poor circulation. • Garlic is effective against fighting off a host of infections. It is known for its anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-fungal properties and has been used since a long time to treat wounds, typhus, cholera, intestinal parasites, recurrent yeast infections and candidaalbicans. • Garlic can also be used as an effective aphrodisiac and may be used to treat impotence. Garlic produces an enzyme called nitric oxide synthase, which is required to get an erection. Garlic stimulates the production of this enzyme in people who have lower levels of it.

5. Market Opportunities • Direct market as a local specialty in: • Wholesale market • Farmer’s market • Roadside stand • Local retailer like supermarkets and specialty produce and health food stores, • Can be sold via the Internet, and use advertisements in selected magazines, • Garlic greens are the leaves of the tender, immature garlic plant (can create a value-added product by making garlic greens pesto). • Garlic scapes (or flower stalks), they should be rinsed, drained, bagged, and refrigerated . • Garlic Scallions , Pack the “scallions” for market in banded 6 and 12 bunches per poly bag or waxed and lined box. • Bulbs with leaves attached may be braided, with or without dried flowers or herbs and sold as ornamental edibles. • Can be sold as planting stocks to local gardeners, local farmers, and through the Internet or mail order.

6. Kentucky Market and Producers Seed Suppliers • Local farmers at farmers' markets or roadside and farm stands. Select only large, disease-free bulbs for planting. • Garlic Seed Foundation list, sent on request if you furnish a stamped self-addressed envelope. • Other seed-saver organizations, such as Seed Savers Exchange, Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, and Native Seed Search, • Commercial seed catalogs • Internet.

7. Market Opportunities • Bluegrass Farmers Market • Lexington Farmers Market http://www.lexingtonfarmersmarket.com/ • Roadside stand, • Local retailers like supermarkets and specialty produce and health food stores, • Can be sold via the Internet, and use advertisements in selected magazines.

8. Production Characteristics

9. Production Characteristics • Garlic is a cool-season crop grown in most regions of the U.S. • Ideally, garlic should be planted between mid-September through to early November although planting can be left until spring if you are prepared to accept a lower yield. • Garlic will tolerate a wide range of soils but prefers a free-draining loam high in organic matter.

10. Production Characteristics • If well-rotted manure is not available then a generous application of a general purpose fertiliser such as Growmore should be raked in immediately prior to planting. • This should be followed by two further applications of nitrogen (as ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulphate, urea, etc.) in April and May, applied between the rows at a rate equivalent to 15-20 grams of nitrogen per square metre. • Separate the bulbs into individual cloves just prior to planting and space them at 10 cm in rows about 30 cm apart, • Plant them base down so that there is about 50 - 70 mm soil over the top of the cloves and lightly firm the soil with the back of a spade.

11. Production Characteristics In milder districts no winter protection is necessary but those areas exposed to heavy frosts will benefit from a winter mulch of straw or fleece. In Kentucky if you do plant in spring remember that garlic requires a month or so of low temperatures in order to bulb up properly so store bulbs in a frost-free shed rather than a warm boiler room. During the growing season it is important that the plants have adequate moisture. From March onwards the soil should be checked regularly and watered as necessary. Labor needs vary seasonally. Approximately 20 to 25 "human interventions" are needed between the time he starts and the time he sells bulbs.

12. Production Characteristics A typical 12-row planter can plant 25 acres of bulbs in a day. There are also 3-, 4-, and 8-row configured planters Gauging the right time to harvest is very important. Garlic will double in size during its last stage of growth. If dug too soon, the cloves will not have grown to their maximum size.

13. Production Characteristics • If bulbs are dug too late, they may have begun to split apart in the soil. • Digging some plants up to determine the correct time to harvest is recommended. The outer skin should be tight, the bulbs fully developed and well formed. • In small-scale plantings, garlic can be dug with a garden fork. • For larger acreages, several tools are available for undercutting and harvesting garlic. Bed lifters, potato diggers, or subsoilers can be used to loosen garlic from the soil.

14. Production Characteristics Weed Management Good weed control is essential in garlic production. Advance field preparation with a weed-suppressing cover crop such as ryeor sorghum-sudan grass can significantly reduce weeds as well as build up soil organic matter. Mulching new plantings can also be used as a way to control weeds. Cultivation is another method of weed control. The weeds within the plant rows may be removed by hand cultivation Pest Management Most pests that attack onions will also attack garlic. These include onion thrips, onion maggots, grasshoppers, and gophers. Good cultural practices are essential in controlling this pest. Start by rotating your crops. Don't plant garlic in the same place two years in a row.

15. Production Characteristics Disease Management Most garlic diseases are either soil- or seed-borne and usually can be controlled with proper rotation and by planting disease-free seed. The most common diseases in garlic include: • White Rot • Fusarium (Basal or Bottom Rot) • Botrytis • Penicillium Molds • Rust • Nematodes

16. Production Cost • Capital Requirement (Land , Equipment) • Small tractor • Mower • Sprayer • Harvest bins • Irrigation pipe trailers • Building • One to ten five acres of land • Labor costs are market rates for agriculture labor rate (machine $8.71), labor (non machine is $8.24). • Land Opportunity Cost per acre is $359.38

17. Production Cost Overview Excerpted from: Ford, T. et al. 2006. Agricultural Alternatives: Garlic Production. The Pennsylvania State University. Page 4.

18. Basic Summary Market Opportunity • Wholesale market • Farmer’s market • Roadside stand • To local retail shops like supermarkets and specialty produce and health food stores. • Can be sold via the Internet, and use advertisements in selected magazines. Advantages in Central Kentucky • Garlic is planted in the fall and harvested in the next summer. • Kentucky farmers have the skill and the capital to grow garlic. • Farmer’s market and the wholesale supplies will need access to five workers per • acre during harvest season. • Good often to replace tobacco revenue or add revenue. • Good marginal land use crop.

19. References Health and Nutrition • http://www.garlic.org/health.htm • http://www.garliccenterusa.com Market Opportunities • http://www.uky.edu/Ag/NewCrops/marketing.html • http://www.kyfb.com/federation/Roadside%20Market/roadside.asp Production Characteristics • http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/PDF/garlicpdf • http://www.uky.edu/Ag/NewCrops/introsheets/garlicintro.pdf • http://www.herbsociety-stu.org/Garlic.htm • http://www.uky.edu/Ag/NewCrops/marketing.html • http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/garlic.html • http://www.garlicworld.co.uk/grower/guidelines/

20. References • Compendium of Onion and Garlic Diseases and Pests. 2007. Edited by H. F. Schwartz and S. K. Mohan. APS Press, St. Paul, MN. • Garlic. Report # 387. 1990. By Roger Kline and the Garlic Seed Foundation. Cornell University and the Garlic Seed Foundation, Rose, NY. 10 p. • Growing Great Garlic: The Definitive Guide for Organic Gardeners and Small Farmers. 1991. By Ron L. Engeland. Filaree Farms, Okanogan, WA. 226 p. ISBN # 0-9630850-1-8. • Garlic. 1995. Ronald Voss. University of California Small Farm Center. • Garlic and Elephant Garlic. 2006. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. New Crops Opportunities Center. • Garlic Production. 2006. Thomas Ford et al. Penn State Agriculture Alternatives. The Pennsylvania State University.

21. References • Boriss, Haylee. January 2006. Commodity Profile: Garlic. Agriculture Marketing Resource Center. • Brunt, A., K. Crabtree, M. Dallwitz, A. Gibbs, and L. Watson (1996). Viruses of Plants: Descriptions and Lists from the VIDE Database. 1484 pp. C.A.B. International, U.K. • Cooperative Extension Service (CES). 2006 (revised). Garlic and Elephant Garlic. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension. New Crops Opportunities Center. • Coviello, R. L. Updated 2007. UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Onion and Garlic—Insects section. UC ANR Publication 3453. Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California. • Davidson, Ralph H. and William F. Lyon. 1987. Insect Pests of Farm, Garden, and Orchard. 7th ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY. p. 305.

22. References • Ford, Thomas et al. 2006. Garlic Production. Penn State Agriculture Alternatives. The Pennsylvania State University. • Jepson, Susan B. 2006. Fusarium rot of garlic bulbs. OSU Plant Clinic. Oregon State University Extension Service. • Ocamb, Cynthia, Ed. 2007. Garlic Nematodes (Stem and bulb). Oregon State University Extension Online Guide to Plant Disease Control. Oregon State University. • Smith, R. et al. 2007. UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Onion and Garlic. UC ANR Publication 3453 Weeds. University of California. • Davis, R.M. et al. Updated 2007. UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines: Onion and Garlic—Diseases section. UC ANR Publication 3453. Statewide IPM Program, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California.