RESPONSE OF GARLIC (Allium sativum L.) VARIETIES TO TYPES OF BLENDED FERTILIZERS IN MIHUR-AKLIL DISTRICT OF GURAGE ZONE, ETHIOPIA

Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is one of the major vegetable and cash crops cultivated throughout the world including Ethiopia. Garlic productivity in Ethiopia (9.18t ha-1) is very low compared to the world average (18.4t ha-1. Its production is constrained by several factors including lack of productive varieties, improved agronomic practices, diseases and insect pests. Among these, inappropriate type of fertilizer and lack of improved varieties are the major ones. Hence, this experiment was conducted in 2023 at Mihur-Aklil District of Gurage zone, Ethiopia with the objective of investigating the effect of blended fertilizer type on growth, yield and yield attributes of garlic varieties. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design in three replications using 20 treatments formed from factorially combined five garlic varieties (Tsedey, Kuriftu, Chefe, Holeta and local) and four types of blended fertilizers (0, NPS, NPSB and NPSZn ). Data on different Phenological, growth, yield and yield related variables were collected and analyzed using SAS, version 9.3. The analysis of variance showed that most of the studied parameters were significantly affected by the interaction of the two factors. The highest total bulb yield (17.08t ha-1), marketable bulb yield (14.94 ha-1), bulb weight (37.27g), bulb diameter (24.27mm), plant height (77.8cm), leaf length (52.33) and leaf area (38.80cm2) was recorded from Tsedey variety at NPSB blended fertilizer type while the widest leaf width (1.04cm) was recorded from Tsedey variety treated with NPSZn blended fertilizer type and the highest clove weight (2.70g) was recorded from Kuriftu variety treated with NPSZn blended fertilizer type. The partial budget analysis result showed that the highest net benefit of 963881.281Eth-Birr ha-1was obtained from variety Tsedey and NPSB fertilizer. Thus, from the present study, the variety Tsedey and NPSB fertilizer are recommended for economic production in the study area and areas with similar agro-ecological settings. However, since the study was carried out only for one cropping season and in single location, it is as well recommended that to be repeated across seasons and locations.