Ever heard of garlic being sold at Rs. 10,000 per kg in Pakistan? Well, the answer is yes and people have even willingly paid far more than that for a variety that has taken over every big and small corporate farm across the country
G1 Garlic cultivar was developed by the country’s most prestigious research institute National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) which comes under the Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC). The rationale was that Pakistan imports 70 percent of its garlic demand, but this cultivar can save foreign reserves.
Researchers discovered it during their regular expeditions in the mountains around Battagram, Kashmir in 2007 and after ten years of breeding and agronomic perfection under Dr Humayun Khan, it was finally approved in 2019. Although Dr Humayun, unfortunately, died of Coronavirus the same year, he was awarded Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 2023 for his contribution in this regard.
Pakistan imported $102 million worth of garlic in 2020, so it made a lot of sense. Moreover, this variety boosted the garlic yields by three times to 200–250 maunds per acre. It has reportedly far more nutritional value as well compared to traditional cultivars so can serve several medicinal purposes as well.
