Genetic Parameters , Growth and Yield of Three Garlic (Allium sativum L.) Cultivars Treated with Amino Acids and Salicylic Acid

• Abdullah Majid Nayyef Jasim Shamil Younis Hassan AL-Hamadany Amer Abdullah Hussein Al-Jubouri

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This study, conducted in Nineveh Governorate, Iraq, investigated the inheritance of certain growth and yield traits. It was carried out during the autumn growing season of 2025-2026 at the Agricultural Research Field, College of Agriculture and Forestry, Mosul. The aim was to estimate the genetic parameters of three garlic cultivars (Iranian, Chinese, and French) under the influence of foliar application of the amino acid casein hydrolysate at three concentrations (0, 1, and 2 g/L) and salicylic acid at two concentrations (0 and 2 g/L.The study was conducted as a factorial experiment using a randomized complete block design with three replicates. The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated significant differences between the mean squares of the three cultivars for all studied traits except for total leaf chlorophyll content, where the differences did not reach statistical significance. Genetic variance values ​​were significant for all studied traits except for total leaf chlorophyll content and the percentage of substances Total soluble solids in the lobes were significant, while environmental variance values ​​were significant for all traits.

Broad-sense heritability was high for plant height (0.962), number of leaves (0.657), leaf area (0.905), average bulb weight (0.720), bulb length (0.824), bulb diameter (0.776), average lobe weight (0.651), lobe length (0.863), lobe diameter (0.670), total plant yield (bulbs + leaves) (0.717), and total bulb yield (0.720). This high heritability indicates that an individual's appearance is strongly influenced by its genotype, suggesting the potential for direct improvements to these traits in subsequent seasons. The expected genetic improvement values, expressed as a percentage of the average trait, ranged from low for the number of leaves (9.525) and total leaf chlorophyll content (3.231). The percentage of dry matter in the foliage is 2.786%, the number of cloves per bulb is 5.188, the bulbilization percentage is 6.529%, and the percentage of total soluble solids in the cloves is 3.207%. Average plant height is 22.333 m, bulb length is 29.206 m, bulb diameter is 23.732 m, clove length is 29.734 m, and clove diameter is 20.576 m. High plant leaf area is 43.732 m, average bulb weight is 51.171 m, average clove weight is 42.258 m, total plant yield (bulbs + leaves) is 34.644 m, and total bulb yield is 51.174 m.