Vol. 19 No. 1
Spacing and propagule size on yield and quality of Curcuma aromatica Salisb.
Author(s): DIVYA V. U. AND SINDHU P. V.
Abstract: A study was conducted at the Department of Agronomy fram, College of Agriculture Vellanikkara to assess the influence of spacing and propagule size on the growth, yield and quality of Curcuma aromatica from May 2021 to December 2021. The experiment design was a two-factor completely randomized block design with three replications. The factor A included three spacings (60 cm x 40 cm, 40 cm x 25 cm, and 25 cm x 25 cm). Factor B consisted of average propagule size ( ~ 5 g, ~ 10 g, and ~ 20 g). A closer spacing of 25 cm × 25 cm was comparable to 40 cm x 25 cm regarding plant height (123.79 cm and 118.93 cm, respectively). The shortest plants were under broader spacing of 60 cm x 40 cm. Concerning the effect of the size of propagules on the plant height of Curcuma aromatica, taller plants were obtained when large-sized propagules (20 g) were used for planting (122.21 cm). It was on par with medium-sized (10 g) propagules (117.82 cm). Six months after planting, the 60 cm × 40 cm spacing was found to have significantly more leaves (10.75) than the other two. The treatment combination of wider spacing 60 cm x 40 cm and bigger propagules (20 g) produced a higher number of tillers, rhizome length, number of rhizomes, rhizome yield per plant, and essential oil content. It was on par with 60 cm x 40 cm spacing with 10 g propagules. The per hectare yield was significantly higher in closer plant spacing of 25 cm x 25 cm (21461 Kg ha-1). Compared to wider spacing, the yield increase in closer spacing was 11901 Kg ha-1 (124.49 %).
Download Full Article: Click Here