Effect of NPK fertilizer and microbial consortium to growth and production of garlic (Allium sativum L.)

Garlic productivity in Indonesia is relatively low due to ecological fitness, agronomic performance, and pest losses. For the reason, the research was objected to study the effect of microbial consortium and NPK fertilizer toward the growth and production of garlic. This research was conducted at the experimental field of the Indonesian Vegetable Research Institute situated at 1.300 m asl in Lembang – West Jawa – Indonesia from October 2018 until February 2019. The experiment was arranged in randomized block design, consisted of 6 treatments, and 3 replications. The treatments were: 1) no microbial consortium + no NPK fertilizer (negative control), 2) no microbial consortium + 50% NPK fertilizer, 3). no microbial consortium + 100% NPK recommendation, 4) application of microbial consortium + no NPK, 5) application of microbial consortium + 50% of NPK recommendation, and 6). Application of microbial consortium + 100% of NPK recommendation. The results showed that there was no significant effect of NPK fertilizer and the microbial consortium on the growth and production of garlic. However, the application of microbial consortium + 50% of NPK recommendation performed best on plant height and number of leaves, while application of microbial consortium only resulted in the best pseudostem growth and yield component of garlic.