Cultivation of Turmeric ; Curcuma longa L

June 27, 2020 Agrovista

Cultivation of Turmeric ; Curcuma longa L.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L) is one the most sacred ancient spices of every household in India It is also known as “Indian Saffron.” Turmeric is not only used as the most important ingredient of Indian curry and culinary, but it is also the most favored traditional medicine of every family in India. Turmeric has an important place in offerings in religious and ceremonial events.

Turmeric, what we use in our houses, is a dried form of the rhizomes of Curcuma longa L, which belongs to the family Zingiberaceae a native of South Asia, particularly from India. India has a 78% market share of global turmeric production followed by China (8%), and other countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nigeria, etc. In India, the Major turmeric-producing states are A.P., Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, and Assam out of which, Andhra Pradesh alone occupies 38.0% of the area and 58.5% of the total turmeric production in the country.

Table of Contents

Climate and Soil required for Turmeric Cultivation

Turmeric can be grown in various climatic conditions but primarily, it is a crop of tropical conditions and can be grown at minimum sea level to sea level up to 1500 meters above the ground with a yearly rainfall of 1500 mm and a temperature range of 25 – 35 degrees Celsius.
It can be grown in a variety of soils but sandy or clay loam with a pH level of 4.5 to 7.5, which has good drainage and a high organic stratum.)

Varieties of Turmeric ;

Variety	Duration	Av. Yield Fresh Rhizome Tones/Ha	Recommended For the Area
IISR – Pragati	180	38	Kerala,Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh
IISR – Pratibha	225	39	All Over India
Suguna	190	29	Kerla, AP
Suvarna	200	17	Kerala, Karnataka, AP
Kedaram	210	5.28 dry RhizomeT/Ha	Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and North Bengal
Prabha	205	37	All over India.
Sudershna	190	28	Kerala and Andhra Pradesh
IISR-Alleppey Supreme	210	5.28 dry RhizomeT/Ha	Kerala (rainfed) Maharashtra, Karnataka and N. Bengal (irrigated)

Preparation of Land for Turmeric Cultivation ;

Deeply plough the field 3 – 4 times, afterward planking of the field is done, prepare the beds of one-meter in width, 30 cm. in height, with a convenient length size considering the spacing between the two beds of about 50 cm. In the case of the assured irrigation facilities, the ridges and furrow are prepared, and the planting is done on the top of the ridges in shallow pits

Required Seed material for Turmeric Cultivation;

Rhizomes of Turmeric

1) Select healthy and disease-free rhizomes for the planting purpose (from the already carefully preserved seed stocks).
2) In case of the unavailability of high-yielding varieties, local seed material can be used to avoid the delay in sowing.

3) The mother rhizome and the fingers are used for the turmeric cultivation

4) Fingers are used after cutting it into 4 to 5 cm. long pieces of two splits and each split should have at least one sound bud.

5) Whereas the mother rhizome is sown directly in the field as a whole.
6) Seed rhizomes are treated with mancozeb 0.3% (3 g/L of water) for 30 minutes, shade dried for 3-4 hours, and planted.
7) A seed rate of 2,500 kg of rhizomes is required for planting one hectare of turmeric.

Transplanting of Turmeric ;

1) Conventionally, the transplanting of turmeric is not in practice in India, but the transplanting technique is found highly profitable.

2) For transplanting purposes, the single bud seed material is used ( 5 Gms in weight )

3) Basically, in this technique sprouted rhizomes are raised in a pro-tray and thereafter 30 to 40 days old plant is transplanted in the main field.

4) The main advantage of using this technique is that it is highly cost-effective, which not only reduces the cost of cultivation significantly but also allows for the production of healthy seed material.

The technique of Raising a Single Bud Turmeric Seedling ;

1) Treat the pre-selected rhizome for seed with the chemical mancozeb 0.3% and quinalphos 0.075% for thirty minutes and store it in a safe, ventilated place.

2) Before one month of the schedule, cut the rhizomes into single buds (small pieces of 5 to 7 gms).

3) Sprout the buds and treat every single bud with 0.3% solution of Moncozeb for 30 minutes before planting.

4) Fill the pro trays with nursery medium ( containing partially decomposed coir pith and Vermicompost in a ratio of 75:25 and enrich it with Trichoderma/PGPR @ 10 gms/kg.
5) Plant the sprouted turmeric buds in Pro-trays and keep them under the shade ( 50% Net)
6) Irrigate the Pro-Trays as per need
7) After 30 – 35 days, the seedling is ready to transport for transplanting.

Planting of Turmeric Plant;

The turmeric plants can be transplanted from April to July with a spacing of 25 cm. to 30 cm. between rows and the plants respectively.

For the Transplanting of turmeric, prepare shallow pits with the help of a hoe and cover them with the rotten cow dung or oil cake mixture. For furrow and ridge planting the distance between rows should be 45 – 60 cm, and the plant-to-plant distance should be 25 cm.

Required Manuring and Fertilizers in Turmeric Cultivation;

1) Apply 30 – 40 tonnes FYM per hectare or Compost at the time of field preparation or spreading the FYM / Compost over the pits as a basal dose.
2) Organic manure like neem cake can be applied at the time of planting@, at 2 tonnes per hectare by reducing doses of the FYM/Compost accordingly.

3) The recommended doses of NPK in turmeric cultivation are 120:60:275 kg per hectare in three equal split doses at 45- 60-120 days of interval respectively.

4) Under zinc-deficient soils, apply 5 kg of zinc per hectare ( 25 kg of zinc sulphate per hectare)

Mulching in Turmeric Crop ;

1) Immediately after the planting, cover the crop with green leaves @10 – 12 tonnes per hectare.

2) The mulching process should be repeated at 40- 45 days and 85 – 90 days respectively with green leaves @ 7.5 tonnes per hectare

3) It should be done after the cultural practices like weeding, earthing up, and fertilizer doses application.

Irrigation in Turmeric crop ;

Depending upon the prevailing atmospheric conditions and soil types, the irrigation should be employed to the turmeric crop. in general, clay soil requires 15 to 25 irrigations whereas sandy soil requires 35 – 40 irrigations.

Disease and Pest Management in Turmeric ;

A) Disease Management in Turmeric ;

Diseases	Symptoms	Control
Leaf blotch	Caused by Taphrina maculans and appears as small, oval, rectangular or irregular brown spots on either side of the leaves which soon become dirty yellow or dark brown. The leaves also turn yellow. In severe cases, the plants present a scorched appearance and the rhizome yield is reduced	can be controlled by spraying mancozeb 0.2%.
Leaf spot	Leaf spot is caused by Colletotrichum capsici and appears as brown spots of various sizes on the upper surface of the young leaves. The spots are irregular in shape and white or grey in the centre. Later, two or more spots may coalesce and form an irregular patch covering almost the whole leaf. The affected leaves eventually dry up. The rhizomes do not develop well	controlled by spraying carbendazim (0.5 kg/ha) or mancozeb (0.2 %) or copper oxychloride (0.2%).
Leaf blight	Leaf blight is caused by Rhizoctonia solani. The disease is characterized by the appearance of necrotic patches with papery white centre of varying sizes on the lamina, which spread on the whole surface, leaving a blighted appearance. The disease occurs during the post-monsoon season	Can be controlled by spraying Bavistin 0.2% or Bordeaux mixture 1% with the initiation of infection.
Rhizome rot	The disease is caused by Pythium aphanidermatum. The lower leaves of the infected pseudostem show yellowing, the collar region of the pseudostem becomes soft and water-soaked, resulting in the collapse of the plant and decay of rhizomes. Treating the seed rhizomes with mancozeb 0.3% for 30 minutes before storage and at the time of sowing prevents the disease	When the disease is noticed in the field, the beds should be drenched with COC 0.2% or Metalaxyl-mancozeb 0.125%.
Root-knot nematodes	Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) and burrowing nematode (Radopholus similis) are the two important nematodes causing damage to turmeric. Root lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.) are of common occurrence in Andhra Pradesh.	use only healthy, nematode-free planting material. Increasing the organic content of the soil also checks the multiplication of nematodes. Pochonia chlamydosporia can be applied to the beds at the time of sowing @ 20 g/bed (106 cfu/g) for management of nematode problems.

B) Pest Management in Turmeric Crop ;

Pest	Symptoms	Control
Shoot borer	The shoot borer (Conogethes punctiferalis) is the most serious pest of turmeric. The larvae bore into pseudostems and feed on internal tissues. The presence of a bore-hole on the pseudostem through which frass is extruded and the withered central shoot is a characteristic symptom of pest infestation. The adult is a medium-sized moth with a wingspan of about 20 mm; the wings are orange-yellow with minute black spots. Fully-grown larvae are light brown with sparse hairs.	1. Spray malathion (0.1%) or lambda-cyhalothrin (0.0125%) at 21 days intervals during July to October. 2. Initiate spraying when the first symptom of pest, an attack, is seen on the innermost leaf.
Rhizome scale	The rhizome scale (Aspidiella hartii) infests rhizomes in the field (at later stages of the crop) and in storage. Adult (female) scales are circular (about 1mm diameter) and light brown to grey and appear as encrustations on the rhizomes. They feed on sap and when the rhizomes are severely infested, they become shrivelled and desiccated affecting its germination.	• Adapt timely harvest of rhizomes • Before storage, discard severely infested rhizomes • Treat seed material with quinalphos (0.075%) (for 20-30 minutes) before storage and also before sowing in case the infestation persists.Store rhizomes in sawdust along with dried leaves of Strychnos nuxvomica
Minor pests Lacewing bug	Adults and larvae of leaf-feeding beetles such as Lema spp. feed on leaves, especially during the monsoon season and form elongated parallel feeding marks on them. The lacewing bug Stephanitistypicus) infests the foliage, causing them to turn pale and dry up. The pest infestation is more common during the post-monsoon period, especially in drier regions of the country	Spraying of malathion (0.1%) undertaken for the management of shoot borer is sufficient to manage this pest. Spraying dimethoate (0.05%) is effective in managing the pest
Thrips	The turmeric thrips (Panchaetothripsindicus) infests the leaves causing them to roll, turn pale and gradually dry up. The pest infestation is more common during the post-monsoon period especially in drier regions of the country	Spraying dimethoate (0.05%) is effective for the management of the pest.

Harvesting and Processing of Turmeric ;

Harvesting and curing ;
In general, the turmeric crop is ready to harvest 7 – 9 months after the planting (depending upon the planting time, and the maturity period of a particular variety.) Most commonly, the turmeric crop is harvested in January to March. When the leaves dry and turn yellow to brown, it means the crop is ready to harvest. Harvesting is generally done by ploughing the field by tractor or by manual operations, followed by gathering the clumps carefully either by spade or by manual picking. The average yield of green turmeric is about 25 to 30 tonnes per hectare.
Processing ;
After harvesting the turmeric rhizome, clean all the unwanted adhered material over the rhizomes. Before entering the market, the rhizomes of turmeric must undergo the process of Boiling, drying, and polishing.
Boiling;
It should be done within 3 to 4 days after harvesting the turmeric crop. Before boiling, firstly separate the bulbs and rhizome, otherwise it will take more time in the boiling process, and boiling will not occur properly. Boiling the rhizome in freshwater, the rhizomes ultimately loosen its viability and will also reduce the time of drying. Boiling also helps in reducing the raw odor from the rhizomes and the fingers and gives a uniform colored product.
Boiling is traditionally done in galvanized iron utensils until the white fourth forms do not come out of the pan with a characteristic odor and it is also one of the indications that rhizomes are boiled well and ready to dry. Another indication to check the perfect boiling of the rhizomes is that the properly boiled rhizomes become very soft, and it can be broken very easily when pressed between the forefingers and thumbs (the interior of the rhizomes turns to a yellow color)
Perfect boiling takes approximately 90 minutes for the mother rhizomes and 45 to 60 minutes for the fingers. For larger quantities of turmeric, the steam boiling method can be adopted.
Drying; Well-boiled fingers of turmeric spread over the floor in the form of a thick layer of 5 – 6 cm it takes around 15 days to get completely dried. Care should be taken to avoid contamination and the uniform drying of the rhizomes.

The yield of the turmeric varies from 20 % to 25% after drying it (depends upon the variety and location of the cultivation.)
Polishing and coloring; To improve the poor appearance of turmeric, which is due to its rough surface ( because of scales and root bits) and it is done by polishing the outer surface of the turmeric rhizomes either by mechanical or manual rubbing.

The improved method of polishing is a hand-operated drum or barrel which is mounted over the central axis. Polishing not only improves the color of turmeric but also enhances the appearance of the turmeric as per the market demand, and it also helps in fetching the attractive price of the produce.

Preservation of seeds; Rhizomes for seeds are stored in a well-ventilated place by covering them with the help of the turmeric leaves. Sometimes the heaps can also be plastered by earth mixed with cow dung. Another way of preserving the rhizome for seed is by storing it with sawdust in the pits. ( Pits are covered with a wooden plank with certain holes on it for aeration )

Also, Read Cultivation of Garlic and Cultivation of Ginger