Abstract

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The effects of bulb placements on shallot production were evaluated for two seasons (rainy and dry) using local shallot cultivar, DZ-sht-78. The experiment was conducted at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center on two types of soils characterized as light soils (sandy clay loam) and Vertisol (black clay soil). Bulb placement treatments were planting at the top, side, base of the ridges, and flat land planting followed by top, side, basal ridge placement after sprouting, and flat land planting across and along the slope followed by immediate ridging. Side ridge placement of shallot bulbs consistently yielded higher than all other treatments and significantly higher than the conventional practices. The ranges of the yield differences, however, narrowed under the moist condition of the vertisol in wetter season. The study showed little yield differences between bulb placements in wetter season as compared to yield differences in the drier season and in the light soil. The result pointed the importance of using appropriate bulb placement practice for bulb crops production by taking into account the soil type, moisture availability, and the slope of the land. In the absence of supply of adequate irrigation water and good distribution of rain, bulb crops have to be grown on side ridges using all possible means of soil conservation techniques.

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