Virus-free garlic seed revolutionizes production in Brazil

Developed by Brazilian research institutions, virus-free seed garlic is transforming the vegetable industry in Brazil. The adoption of this technology has led to an impressive increase in production, reaching an increase of up to 150% in some varieties. Large producers in the Cerrado region are now capable of producing up to 25 tons per hectare (ha), a considerable improvement compared to the modest 8 tons obtained in the late 1990s.

The 2021/22 harvest recorded Brazilian garlic production of 220 thousand tons, in a planted area of ​​16 thousand hectares, with an average yield of 13.750 kg/ha. These impressive numbers are a direct result of the research and development efforts of Embrapa's virus-free seed garlic program, which already has more than 30 years of history.

The Embrapa Hortaliças program, based in Brasília (DF), initially focused on improving cleaning protocols, identifying the viruses present and developing indexing methods. Furthermore, the researchers studied the behavior of virus-free plants under commercial production conditions, especially analyzing viral reinfection curves to determine how long seed garlic could be used without losing its phytosanitary and physiological quality.

Researcher Francisco Vilela Resende, from Embrapa Hortaliças, explains that the second phase of the program focused on taking this technology to farmers and ensuring that they could maintain virus-free seed garlic production in their regions, thus reducing dependence on the responsible institution for the development of the material.

One of the significant advantages of this technology is its accessibility. Both large and small producers have adopted the production of virus-free seed garlic. It is estimated that at least 30% of the increase in productivity in the garlic production chain in Brazil is the result of the adoption of this technology by farmers.

For small producers, the impact is even more significant, as historically they used to use low quality seed garlic, made up of very degenerate and infected varieties. Therefore, it is common to observe a significant increase in the productivity of these producers after the adoption of virus-free seed garlic.

Francisco Vilela Resende reports cases of producers who, after just two years of adopting the technology, managed to double their productivity. "In the first regions where we started working, producers could only get 4 or 6 tons per hectare. With just two years of adopting virus-free seed garlic, productivity rose to 10 to 12 tons per hectare. This without introducing any another change in the production system", highlights the researcher.

A successful example is José Borges de Brito, known as Valdez, a virus-free seed garlic producer in the Cristópolis region, in Bahia. Valdez highlights that the technology was widely accepted in the region due to the excellent results obtained and the increased profitability of families. He emphasizes that technology allows him to remain in the field, supporting his family without having to look for work in other areas.

Before adopting virus-free seed garlic, Valdez's productivity was only 3 to 3,5 tons per hectare using infected garlic and without any technology or monitoring. Currently, he is producing 15 to 16 tons per hectare. This significant advance allowed the expansion of its production and the supply of seed garlic to other producers in the region.

The technology was introduced in Cristópolis between 2000 and 2003, through a contract between Embrapa and the Municipal Department of Agriculture. Five screens were installed to carry out field tests, one of them on the Valdez property, which continues to be in operation today.

Currently, Valdez uses a 140-square-meter screen to produce enough seed garlic to plant half a hectare. This initial production is destined for other producers in the region, which allows 7 to 8 hectares to be replanted. The observation of the good results obtained by Valdez motivated his neighbors to adopt the technology as well.

The production of virus-free seed garlic has revolutionized the garlic industry in Brazil, boosting the productivity and profitability of producers. The accessibility of this technology has allowed both large and small farmers to adopt virus-free seed garlic, paving the way for a promising future in the Brazilian agricultural sector.

The fight against viruses

It is only possible to control diseases caused by viruses in garlic crops through biotechnology techniques that provide for micropropagation in the laboratory of meristematic regions of the plant, in which the presence of viruses is reduced or non-existent. Viruses are intracellular parasites, which makes it impossible to use chemical products to control viruses, as is done for other diseases and pests.

Transmission is via insect vectors, mainly mites and aphids. According to the researcher, the true seed naturally works as a filter for viruses; therefore, species that multiply through botanical seeds are able to avoid the transmission of viruses through the propagation process. In the case of garlic, bulbils are structures for vegetative propagation and, although they are morphologically similar to a true seed, they facilitate the transmission and perpetuation of the virus throughout generations of cultivation.

In the case of garlic, as it is a vegetative structure, the virus passes from generation to generation and increases its concentration within the plant. Over time, as this concentration of viruses increases, the plant begins to degenerate. It starts to lose vegetative vigor, reduces the size of the bulb and corms and, consequently, productivity.

“When we started working with small farmers, they were expelled from the market because they produced a garlic bulb so small that it was no longer suitable for commercialization”, recalls the researcher.

Garlic cultivation

Garlic is one of the oldest species cultivated by humanity. The first records of planting this vegetable originating from Central Asia date back more than 5 thousand years ago by the Hindus, Arabs and Egyptians.

Due to its ability to improve the storage and conservation of other foods – and its medicinal power in the treatment of various diseases – garlic was part of the menu of the crew of Portuguese caravels. And so it arrived in Brazil at the time of the arrival of Europeans, and today it is present in practically every kitchen in the country.

On Brazilian soil, for more than four centuries it was restricted to backyard planting, cultivated in small quantities to meet family demand. Only in the middle of the 20th century did cultivation begin to expand commercially, gaining economic importance in the country.

However, until the end of the 1990s, national productivity was reduced, between 4 and 8 tons per hectare, and the garlic produced in Brazil was of low quality, with bulbs of little commercial acceptance. This reality only began to change with the introduction of virus-free seed garlic, a technology that changed the reality of the production chain for this vegetable.