Growth and yield performances of turmeric (&lt;em&gt;curcuma longa&lt;/em&gt;) grown in dry zone of Sri Lanka as affected by planting space, growing media and shade

N P Vidanapathirana,S Subasinghe,A J M C M Siriwardana,K Sunil,K G Ketipearachchi,B S Bandusekara

doi:10.4038/atrsj.v1i2.32

Abstract

The Journal of Agro-Technology and Rural Sciences is published by the University of Colombo Institute for Agro-Technology and Rural Sciences, Hambantota, Sri Lanka. It provides an academic pathway for professionals and researchers to contribute ground-breaking work in the field of agricultural technology and rural sciences including crop science, animal science, soil science, agricultural biology, food science and technology, postharvest technology, agricultural engineering, agricultural economics and extension.

Highlights

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the family Zingiberaceae native to tropical South Asia, mainly cultivated in India, China, Bangladesh, and Indonesia
The main plot consisted of two shade levels as 30% shade (S1) and without shade (S2), and subplots were assigned three spacing 30cm x 20cm, 30cm x 30cm, 30cm x 40cm respectively for P1, P2, and P3, and two different potting media Cow dung: Topsoil - 1:1 (M1), Cow dung: Topsoil: Sand – 1: 1: 0.5 (M2)
There was no significant interaction of shade, planting spacing, and planting media on plant height

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is an herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the family Zingiberaceae native to tropical South Asia, mainly cultivated in India, China, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. Plenty of lands are available in the dry zone for cultivations, but it is still hardly found that any research has been done on growing Turmeric in dry and semiarid areas of Sri Lanka. DEA (2021) stated that successfully growing Turmeric required medium-level shade and 1500 mm or above annual rainfall They stated that Turmeric could be grown in the dry zone under irrigation. Recent research indicates the effectiveness of planting spacing, growing media, and shade level to the yield and quality performance of Turmeric (Aly et al, 2019; Bhadouria et al, 2014). The present research was designed to study the growth and yield performances of Turmeric as affected by different planting spacings, growing media, and shade under dry zone conditions in Sri Lanka

METHODOLOGY

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

CONCLUSIONS