Effect of plant nutrition on turmeric production

Abstract

Studies on the effect of plant nutrients on turmeric production, the experiment was conducted at Nakorn Nayok Province during 2009 with RCBD design for 4 replications and 5 treatments namely: 1) untreated check 2) farm manure at 12 kg N/rai 3) farm manure at 12 kg N/rai plus chemical fertilizer at 5-5-5 (N-P2O5-K2O) kg/rai 4) farm manure at 12 kg N/rai plus chemical fertilizer at 10-5-5 (N-P2O5-K2O) kg/rai 5) chemical fertilizer at 10-5-5 (N-P2O5-K2O) kg/rai. Plot size was 3.5x9 meter. Land preparation was made by mixing black rice hull. Then, soil was sun-dry for about 1 month prior to planting. The results showed that effect of plant nutrition to yield was significant. Untreated check (1,242 kg/rai) was provided lowest yield, while as, fertilizer using provided higher yield (2260.22 kg/rai). The combination of farm manure and chemical fertilizer trended to have higher yield than the single treatment. The curcuminoids and volatile oil contained in turmeric were more than 5% curcuminoids and 6% volatile oil, which were met to standard level and no significantly different in amounts of active constituents on any treatment.