The objective of this study was to evaluate and select garlic cultivars for the climatic conditions of Picos region. The experiment was carried out in a randomized block design, with eight treatments and four replications. The evaluated cultivars were Branco Mineiro, Centenário, Amarante, Chinês, Cateto Roxo, Mexicano II, Cateto Roxo Local and Mossoró. There were evaluated the plant height at 60 and 90 days after planting, commercial bulbs yield, incidence of non-commercial bulbs, top sets, lateral shoots, malformed and shrunken bulbs. The cultivar Mossoró showed the highest plant height at 60 and 90 days after planting. The highest commercial yields were obtained from "Mossoró" (4.63 t/ha), being the most promising cultivar, and "Cateto Roxo Local" (3.94 t/ha), followed by "Cateto Roxo" (3.46 t/ha). The cv. Branco Mineiro had similar behavior of Cateto Roxo Local and Cateto Roxo cultivars. The cultivars Chinês, Centenário, Amarante and Mexicano II presented the lowest commercial yields. The cultivar Chinês showed the highest percentage of non-commercial bulbs (80.5%). All cultivars had low lateral shoots percentage.
Allium sativum; breeding; bulb yield
