ARGENTINE GARLIC I: A WIDE OFFER OF CLONAL CULTIVARS

Argentina is the second garlic exporting country in the world. In the last decade a clonal selection program has been carried out by the Garlic Project of INTA Experiment Station La Consulta (Mendoza, Argentina). Ten years ago, only two local populations (red and white) with great genetic variability were cropped in the main producing areas. Nowadays, 12 clonal cultivars of five commercial types of Allium sativum (IRAM/INTA Quality Standard) have been released and are being adopted by growers: ‘Morado INTA’ (purple commercial type); ‘Lican INTA’ (violet commercial type); ‘Norteño INTA’, ‘INCO 207’, ‘INCO 283’, ‘Nieve INTA’ and ‘Perla INTA’ (white commercial type); ‘Gostoso INTA’, ‘Sureño INTA’, ‘INCO 30’ and ‘Fuego INTA’ (red commercial type); and ‘Castaño INTA’ (brown commercial type). All these cultivars have temperate or cold-temperate requirements and are mainly intended for the fresh market. The new cultivars have 30-50% higher yield than their original populations and provide a wide offer for the external markets, both in quality and time. These great advantages will allow the differentiation of the Argentine garlic, looking for profitable segments of the worldwide market.