Cuban university carries out study that demonstrates value of Pata de Elefante garlic

ARTEMISA, Cuba, Jun 28 (ACN) A study on the Pata de Elefante ("Elephant Foot") garlic developed by the University of Artemisa (UA) at the La Rebeca farm school of the Niceto Perez Credit and Services Cooperative (CCS), in Guira de Melena(western Cuba), has demonstrated the benefits of the species in favor of food security.

Originally from Central Asia, the Elephant's Foot or Elephant garlic (Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum) is a new clone that has gained popularity in the international market due to the size of its bulb and cloves, larger than usual.

Esperanza Elisa Mendoza Ramirez, Master of Science and assistant professor at the UA in charge of the process in the territory, explained in an interview with the Cuban News Agency that, along with Dr. Humberto Izquierdo Oviedo and four students, the study, initiated last year, will begin its next stage in October, with the second planting of garlic in the same area.

The research, she said, demonstrated the possibility of obtaining high volumes of a healthy species from the use of nationally produced growth biostimulators based on chitosan (QuitoMax®) and/or pectin (Pectimorf®) to mitigate the use of chemical fertilizers, contributing to reduce the effect of stress on the crop and as a tool in the face of the shortage of artificial products in the sector.

In the second phase, the expert added, it is intended to confirm those results where high yields were obtained without using any kind of chemical products and also to validate the benefits previously observed in the sowings carried out in Havana and Batabano with that species.

Since the introduction of new genotypes is not always satisfactory, Mendoza Ramirez emphasized, it is vital to comply with all the stages planned to check the adaptability to the edaphoclimatic conditions (soil and climate), a process that takes time and should be concluded in 2023.

If these results are ratified, the scientist noted, the experience could be extended to the rest of the country to increase the volume of harvests, superior to those of the Creole and Vietnamese varieties, predominant in the Cuban countryside.