The effect of five nutrient (fertilizer) sources on garlic (Allium sativum L.) grown under irrigation in Bauchi state was in vestigated. Irrigation was scheduled at 25% management allowable deficit, giving an irrigation interval of 4 days and gross application depth of 56 mm of water per application. The nutrient sources were NPK fertilizer (15:15:15), wood ash, poultry manure, and fermented cow dung slurry, while the control was zero fertilization. The composition of crop samples grown under application of the various fertilizers was assessed in the laboratory following recommended analytical procedures. Pungency level was taken as a measure of the bulb sulphur content. Results of the study indicate that NPK has the effect of significantly increasing (p ≤ 0.01) the bulb moisture content and crude protein level of irrigated garlic, while causing significant reduction (p ≤ 0.01) in the pungency of the crop relative to the control. The organic fertilizers (wood ash, poultry manure, and fermented slurry) yielded crops having relatively higher pungency with wood ash giving the highest pungency strength. The mineral contents of the crops grown with organic fertilization were equally higher than those from the control and those grown with NPK. Furthermore, the crops produced with organic fertilizers had relatively lower moisture content. Results of this study demonstrate that organic fertilizers would give better quality garlic with higher pungency than the widely used NPK fertilizer and no fertilizer application.

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Crop water requirements and irrigation timing are particularly important in arid and semi-arid regions where water is scarce. In this paper, theoretical crop water requirements and irrigation timing for Amaranthus hybridus in Maiduguri metropolis, north-eastern Nigeria were determined under drip irrigation for the dry season. Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) was based on the PenmanMontieth formula and CROPWAT 8.0. An elemental irrigated area (A i ), crop canopy factor (Cp) and emitter application rates (ar) at each growth stage, were assumed. The highest reference evapotranspiration (ETo) of 6.6 mm day -1 was obtained in May while the lowest of 3.7 mm day -1 in December compared to other months. Also, water requirement (WR) values were computed based on the Freeman Garzoli correction factors. At 30%, 60% and 100% crop canopy coverage, peak water requirements (WR) of 0.7, 1.8, 2.3 L day -1 and low values of 0.4, 1.0, 1.3 L day -1 were obtained in May and December respectively. Emitter application rates of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 Lh -1 resulted to longest irrigation time (T irrig .) of 1.4, 3.7, and 3.9 h day -1 in May while shortest irrigation were 0.3, 0.7 and 0.9 h day -1 in December for early, development and maturity stages respectively.

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