Degenerescence of virus-free garlic cultivars in altitude conditions in the Semiarid region of the Northeast of Brazil

ABSTRACT It is necessary to use virus-free garlic seeds reach high bulb yields; however, information needed on the number of generations that these can be grown in field conditions without decreasing yield and quality due degeneration. Degeneration dependent production season locality; thus, objective this work was evaluate degeneration cultivars Semiarid region Northeast Brazil, through three experiments conducted Portalegre, state Rio Grande do Norte. Virus-free were used first generation (G1) second-generation (G2) clonal cleaning (infected) third experiment. The randomized blocks experimental design, with four replications. treatments consisted five cultivars: Amarante, Branco Mossoró, Cateto Roxo, Gravatá, Hozan. G2 viable, mainly for Mossoró Hozan, which showed lower losses. However, further evaluations, considering at least generations, are cultivars, since level depends crop environment.