We have planted 22 garlic cultivars with 7 cultivars making almost 80% of plantings:
|
Cultivar
|
%
|
|
Dunganski
|
26.7
|
|
Monaro Purple
|
13.3
|
|
Australian White
|
10.3
|
|
Italian Purple
|
10.0
|
|
“Tooley’s” Purple
|
10.0
|
|
Italian White
|
6.7
|
|
Spanish Roja
|
6.3
|
|
Oriental Purple
|
6.0
|
|
California Late
|
3.3
|
|
Printanour
|
3.0
|
|
Early ‘Large’ Purple
|
2.0
|
|
Dynamite Purple
|
0.5
|
|
Ajo Rojo
|
0.3
|
|
Melbourne Market
|
0.3
|
|
Cream
|
0.3
|
|
Ail du Pays de Ger
|
0.3
|
|
Blue Sky (Creole)
|
0.2
|
|
Blue Sky (Silverskin)
|
0.2
|
|
Japanese Red
|
0.1
|
|
Xian
|
0.1
|
|
Foster’s Purple
|
0.1
|
|
Tochliavri
|
0.1
|
A Purple Turban (early softneck) cultivar
The cultivars were chosen to give a core crop of early, mid and late garlic and a number of trial cultivars grown for seed for next year’s crop.
There are probably over 1,000 garlic cultivars grown worldwide and they vary in size, colour and flavor. In the 1970’s there were only three cultivars grown commercially in Australia. In the mid 1990’s the Australian Garlic Industry Association imported about 130 cultivars for trials in South Australia. At about the same time cheap Chinese imports virtually killed the Australian garlic industry. The resurgence began in the mid 2000’s, as consumers started to realize that irradiated and chemically treated imported garlic may not be a very good health choice and people wanted to know where there food came from. We are situated at 35.39S 149.99E and 650 metres above sea level in case anyone wants to look it up.
Individual cultivar identification is not always that easy as often they have been passed from generation to generation (plant and family) and the same cultivar has several local names. Broadly there are 11 garlic groups to which all cultivars belong.
As a side note, Elephant Garlic is not garlic at all but a kind of leek with a large garlic tasting bulb. It is mild tasting and widely grown but is no substitute for the ‘real thing’.
