Pest
Thrips
Signs · Silvery-white streaks on leaves, leaf tips twist and dry; worse in warm, dry spells of February–March.
Manage · Barrier rows of maize or wheat and blue sticky traps. Spray only if numbers are high — as per label / your KVK.
All crops
Vegetable · Amaryllidaceae (onion family)
Garlic
Lahsun · लहसुन · Allium sativum
Plant a clove in autumn, dig up a whole bulb in spring.
Garlic is a high-value spice-cum-vegetable grown from cloves, not seed. It is planted in late September–October, grows its leaves through the cool winter and forms its cloves when the days lengthen in spring. A well-cured crop stores for months, so farmers can wait for a good price.
- Sowing
- 25 Sep – 31 Oct
- Harvest
- 25 Mar – 30 Apr
- Duration
- 150–180 days
- Yield
- 40–61 q/acre
- 100–150 q/ha
Bulb development · roots shown through the soil
At a glance
Garlic in one look
Garlic needs cool, moist weather for leaf growth and a spell of cold to form cloves. Longer, warmer days in spring then make the bulb swell. Late planting gives small bulbs.
Sowing time
25 Sep – 31 Oct
Harvest
25 Mar – 30 Apr
150–180 days from sowing
Temperature
12–24 °C to grow
18–25 °C at sowing
Soil
Well-drained loam rich in organic matter
pH 6–7.5
Seed rate
202–283 kg/acre
500–700 kg/ha
Spacing
15 × 7.5 cm
4–5 cm deep
Irrigations
10–12
3 critical stages
Yield
40–61 q/acre
100–150 q/ha
Season
AugSepOctNovDecJanFebMarAprMayJun
Grown most inMadhya PradeshRajasthanUttar PradeshPunjabHaryana
Heavy clay soils give misshapen bulbs that are hard to dig. Avoid waterlogging — it rots the bulbs.
Seed to harvest
Watch garlic grow, stage by stage
Scroll through the season. The plant in the glass tank grows to each stage — roots and all — and every card says what the crop is doing and what you should do in the field that week.
Stage 1 of 7
Clove planting
Day 0–7
- 1Day 0–7
Clove planting
The clove takes up moisture and roots start from its flat base.
Your job · Plant upright with the pointed end up, 4–5 cm deep, and irrigate lightly.
- 2Day 8–20
Sprouting
A green shoot pushes up through the soil.
Your job · Keep the soil moist and fill gaps early with spare cloves.
- 3Day 21–45
Early leaves
The plant opens 3–5 flat, strap-shaped leaves.
Your job · First weeding and the first nitrogen top-dressing at 30 days.
- 4Day 46–90
Leaf growth
The plant builds 8–12 leaves and stores food for the bulb.
Your job · Second nitrogen split at 45 days, weeding, irrigation every 10–15 days and thrips scouting.
- 5Day 91–110
Bulb initiation
As days lengthen, cloves start forming inside the swollen leaf bases.
Your job · Keep the soil evenly moist and give no more nitrogen.
- 6Day 111–145
Bulb development
Cloves fill out and the bulb swells and firms.
Your job · Irrigate regularly and watch for purple blotch.
- 7Day 146–175
Leaves drying — ready to dig
Leaves turn yellow-brown from the tips and the neck softens and bends.
Your job · Stop irrigation 10–15 days before and dig when most leaves have dried.
The seed
Good seed is half the harvest
Use certified seed of a variety bred for your region, at the right rate, and treat it before sowing.
One clove
≈ 20 mm
Seed rate
202–283 kg/acre
500–700 kg/ha
1000-seed weight
—
Recommended varieties
Yamuna Safed (G-1)NHRDF variety, white bulbs; widely grown in the plains, matures in about 150–160 days.
Yamuna Safed-3 (G-282)NHRDF variety with large, bold cloves; good for export markets.
Agrifound White (G-41)NHRDF variety, white compact bulbs, good storage.
Bhima PurpleDOGR variety with purple-skinned bulbs, recommended for several north Indian states.
Seed treatment
- 1Pick big, healthy bulbs and use the large outer cloves. Small inner cloves give small bulbs.
- 2Separate the cloves only just before planting.
- 3Dip cloves for about 30 minutes in a carbendazim or mancozeb solution, or Trichoderma, to prevent rots — as per label / your KVK.
Field & sowing
Prepare the land, then sow at the right gap and depth
Dibbling single cloves on flat beds
Layout
Flat beds
Row to row
15 cm
Plant to plant
7.5 cm
Depth
4–5 cm
Land preparation
- 1Plough 2–3 times and plank to get a fine, level seedbed.
- 2Mix 20–25 tonnes of well-rotted FYM per hectare.
- 3Make beds 2–3 m wide with irrigation channels.
Sowing, step by step
- 1Mark rows 15 cm apart on flat beds.
- 2Push each clove 4–5 cm deep, upright with the pointed end up, 7.5 cm apart in the row.
- 3Cover with soil and give a light irrigation.
- 4A thin rice-straw mulch keeps the soil moist and holds back weeds.
Feeding the crop
How much fertiliser, and when
These are the standard doses for a medium-fertility field. Your Soil Health Card can raise or lower them — test first, then feed.
Nutrient dose
Nitrogen (N)40 kg/acre · 100 kg/ha
Phosphorus (P₂O₅)20 kg/acre · 50 kg/ha
Potassium (K₂O)20 kg/acre · 50 kg/ha
Plus 20 t/ha (8.1 t/acre) of well-rotted farmyard manure or compost.
When to apply
- 1At planting: all phosphorus and potash and one-third of the nitrogen.
- 2Remaining nitrogen in two equal splits at 30 and 45 days after planting.
- 3Avoid late nitrogen — it causes split bulbs and poor storage.
Micronutrients, sulphur & biofertilisers
- 1Sulphur 40–50 kg/ha (through gypsum) improves bulb size and pungency.
- 2Zinc sulphate 25 kg/ha where zinc is low.
Bags for your field
For 1 acre of Garlic
What to buy
Urea
1.5
bags · 71 kg
DAP
1
bag · 44 kg
MOP
0.5
bags · 34 kg
Nutrients in it: N 40 kg · P₂O₅ 20 kg · K₂O 20 kg
Also add farmyard manure or compost: 8.1 t
- Don't put it all in at once: follow the timing on the Garlic page.
- Your Soil Health Card can raise or lower these amounts. If you have one, follow it.
- Using SSP, NPK complexes or gypsum instead changes these amounts; the nutrient dose is what matters.
Not yet checked against a package of practices. Confirm the dose with your KVK before you buy.
Urea has 46 % N; DAP 18 % N and 46 % P₂O₅; MOP 60 % K₂O. Urea comes in 45 kg bags, DAP and MOP in 50 kg.
Water
10–12 irrigations — never miss the critical ones
A crop forgives a late irrigation at some stages and punishes it at others. These are the days that decide yield.
Day 7
Day 95
Day 125
SowingDay 180
Critical irrigations
- Day 7Sprouting
- Day 95Bulb initiation
- Day 125Bulb development
Watering tips
- 1Irrigate right after planting, then every 10–15 days in winter and every 7–8 days in spring.
- 2Do not let the soil dry during bulb formation.
- 3Stop irrigation 10–15 days before harvest when leaves begin to dry.
Protection
Weeds, pests and diseases to watch for
Walk the field every week. Most problems are cheap to stop early and expensive to fix late. For any spray, follow the label dose and check with your KVK.
Disease
Purple blotch and Stemphylium blight
Signs · Purple spots with yellow borders or yellow-brown streaks on leaves; leaves dry from the tip.
Manage · Rotate crops, remove debris and spray mancozeb with a sticker when spots appear — as per label / your KVK.
Disease
White rot / basal rot
Signs · Leaves yellow from the tip, roots rot, and white fungus grows on the base of the bulb.
Manage · Plant healthy cloves, avoid waterlogging, apply Trichoderma with FYM and keep garlic and onion off that field for 3–4 years.
Disorder
Secondary growth (split bulbs)
Signs · Cloves sprout into extra shoots in the field and bulbs split open.
Manage · Avoid excess and late nitrogen, and keep irrigation regular.
Disorder
Small or single-clove bulbs
Signs · Bulbs stay small or form one round clove instead of many.
Manage · Plant on time and use large outer cloves; late planting and small cloves are the usual causes.
Weeds
Common · Bathua, motha, doob grass and other winter weeds
- 1Pre-emergence spray of pendimethalin or oxyfluorfen soon after planting — as per label / your KVK.
- 22–3 hand weedings in the first two months.
- 3Rice-straw mulch reduces weeds and saves water.
Harvest
Harvest on time, dry it well, store it safe
A good crop gives
40–61q/acre
100–150 quintal per hectare
When is it ready?
- 1Leaves turn yellow-brown and dry from the tips.
- 2The neck becomes soft and bends over.
- 3Cloves are well filled under a papery outer skin.
Harvesting
- 1Loosen the soil and pull plants by hand.
- 2Leave them in rows in the field for 3–4 days with leaves covering the bulbs.
- 3Tie plants in small bundles with their leaves on.
After harvest & storage
- 1Cure bundles in shade for 2–3 weeks.
- 2Hang bundles in a well-ventilated shed, or store trimmed bulbs in mesh bags in a cool, dry place.
- 3Well-cured garlic stores 6–8 months.
Golden rules for garlic
- 1Plant only big, healthy outer cloves — clove size decides bulb size.
- 2Plant on time; late-planted garlic forms small bulbs.
- 3Keep nitrogen balanced and stop it early to avoid split bulbs.
- 4Cure well before storing.
- 5Rotate — do not grow garlic or onion on the same field every year.