Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Garlic is the second most important allium crop. It is a component of most
of the world's cuisines and, at least in the developed world, its popularity has
been boosted by growing awareness of its health benefits (see Chapter 8).
Climatically, regions with a reasonably mild winter with some rainfall followed
by a sunny, dry summer - which is good for ripening and harvesting the bulbs
- are ideal for garlic production. California has such a climate, and most of the
US garlic production is there.
World production, at about 12.6 million t/year, has increased more than
threefold since the late 1970s, largely as a result of a huge increase in
production by China, from 2,412,477 t in 1978 to 8,153,409 t in 2001,
according to the 3-year moving averages of FAO (2007) statistics. A massive
increase in Chinese garlic exports over the same period, from 11,283 t in 1978
to 1,115,890 t in 2005 (FAO, 2007), has led to the current predominance of
China in the world garlic trade. The high quality and low price of Chinese garlic
is making it difficult for producers to compete in higher-cost regions like
California, and areas planted there are declining. Import tariffs were imposed by
the USA in an effort to protect the local garlic industry and the EU has quotas for
imports, negotiated primarily with China and with Argentina.
There has been a tendency for local production to decline and be replaced
by imports in a number of developed countries in the last decade or more, e.g.
in Japan, France and Italy. Argentina is the second most important exporter of
garlic, with exports fluctuating around 80,000-90,000 t in the years
2001-2005 following a steady increase in the 20 years up to the late 1990s.
Spain exported around 60,000-70,000 t in 2001-2005, having increased
steadily from initially small quantities since the early 1980s. In addition to
fresh consumption, the production of dried garlic for use in food manufacture
and garlic extracts for use in dietary supplements and pharmaceuticals are
important industries (see Chapter 8).
Leeks are an important European crop. Production by the countries of the
European Community (EC), totalling about 800,000 t/year on about 30,000 ha,
represents only about 25% of the annual production for bulb onions. However,
because the price per unit weight of leeks is about 2.7 times higher than for
onions, the monetary value of the crop within the EC is about two-thirds that of
bulb onions. France is the largest EC producer, with 6420 ha in 2005. Other
important producers are Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, the UK
and Greece. The average yield in the major producing countries varies from 20
to 40 t/ha, with Belgium having average yields well above the EC mean (FAO,
2007). A close relative of leek, the kurrat is an important crop grown for fresh
green leaves in eastern Mediterranean countries, particularly Egypt (van der
Meer and Hanelt, 1990).
Japanese bunching onions, rakkyo and Chinese chives are crops of com-
mercial importance in eastern Asia, notably Japan, Korea and China. The
annual production of Japanese bunching onion in Japan is about 600,000 t,
roughly half the nation's bulb onion production. However, the prices obtained
