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Turmeric(Curcuma longa Val.);Zingiberaceae

CO 1, BSR 1, BSR 2, CO 2, Roma,Suroma, Suvarna, Sudarshana, Suguna, Sugandham, Ranga, Rasmi, Rajendra Sonia, Krishna, IISR Allepy Supreme, IISR Kedaram, IISR Prabha, IISR Prathiba, IISR Pragati, Erode local and Salem lo
A friable well drained red loamy soil in wet or garden lands under tropical conditions is ideal.

May-June

 Seed rhizomes dipped in phosalone 35 EC 2ml/lit + 0.3% copper oxychloride for 30min or
 Seed treatment with P. fluorescens 10 g/kg and T. viride as 4 g/kg.

Mother rhizome & finger rhizomes. Seed rate of finger rhizome-2,000kg/ha.
The technique involves raising transplants from single bud rhizomes (5-7g) in the protray and planting in the field after 30-40 days. The advantages of this technology are production of healthy planting materials and reduction in seed rhizome quantity and eventually reduced cost on seeds.

 Select healthy turmeric rhizomes for seed purpose
 Treat the selected rhizomes with mancozeb (0.3%) and quinalphos (0.075%) for 30 min and store in well ventilated place
 One month before planting, the seed rhizomes are cut into single bud rhizomes(4g) with small piece of bud sprout weighing 5-7 g.
 Treat the single bud sprouts (Mancozeb 0.3%) for 30 min before planting
 Fill the protrays (98 cells) with nursery medium containing partially decomposed coir pith and vermicompost (75:25), enriched with     PGPR/Trichoderma 10g/kg of mixture
 Plant the turmeric bud sprouts in protrays
 Maintain the protrays under shade net house (50%)
 Adopt need based irrigation with rose can or by using suitable sprinklers
 Transplants will be ready within 30-35 days for transplanting

Main field is ploughed four times with chisel and disc plough each one time and cultivator twice. Ridges and furrows are formed at spacing of 45 cm (or) raised beds of 120 cm width are formed at an interval of 30 cm and the laterals are placed at the centre of each bed. The beds are wetted for 8-12 hours through drip irrigation depending upon soil moisture level.

45 x 15 cm. 25-30 g weight rhizomes are to be dibbled at a depth of 4 cm

Recommended dose of fertilizer: 150:60:108 kg NPK/hec. (Basal + top dressing)

Basal
FYM – 25 t /ha, neem or groundnut cake – 200 kg/ha, 25:60:18 kg of NPK per ha; 30 kg of FeSO4 and 15 kg of ZnSO4, 10 kg in each of Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria per ha to be applied at the time of planting.
 Apply 50 kg ZnSO4, 100 kg FeSO4 + FYM basally if the soil is deficient.
 Foliar spraying of 0.5% ZnSO4, 1% FeSO4 + 0.1 % Citric acid thrice at 60, 90 and 120 DAP.
 Apply TNAU Micronutrient mixture @ 10kg/ha as in enriched FYM (1:10 ratio) at 50% basal and 50% on 90 DAP.
Top dressing
25:18 kg of N and K/ha applied on 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 days after planting.

Apply 375g each of Boron, Iron and Zinc, at rhizome development stage, as Borax, Ferrous sulphate, Zinc sulphate + 375 g of Urea in 250 lit of water/ha. Spray twice at 25 days interval. The above micronutrients are dissolved in Superphosphate (15 kg Superphosphate solution is dissolved in 25 lit of water stored overnight and the supernatant solution is made upto 250 lit). In this solution, the micronutrients are added.
Fertigation is done as per the recommended dose with 150:60:108kg of NPK/ha and is applied throughout the cropping period once in three days. 75% of the recommended dose of phosphorus is applied as basal dose. Water soluble fertilizers like 19:19:19, Mono ammonium phosphate (12:61:0), Multi K (13:0:45) and urea are used.
Onion, Chilli, Elephant foot yam, Coriander and Fenugreek can be planted as intercrop on the sides of the ridges 10 cm apart. Redgram and Castor can also be planted at wider spacing. First weeding after three weeks and subsequently whenever necessary. The plants are earthed up at the time of 2nd and 4th top dressings

Pre planting treatment
The seed rhizomes are dipped in carbendazim 1g/lit and phosalone 35 EC 2 ml/lit for controlling rhizome rot and scales

Pests
Rhizome scale
 Apply well rotten sheep manure @ 10 t/ha in two splits (one basally and other at earthing up) or Poultry manure in 2 splits followed by drenching with dimethoate 30EC @ 2 ml/lit or phosalone 35 EC @ 2 ml/lit.

Thrips
 Dimethoate 30 EC 2 ml/lit.
 Methyl demeton 25 EC 2 ml/lit.

Avoid planting turmeric after banana or solanaceous vegetables. Apply carbofuran 3G @ 1kg a.i./ha twice on the third and fifth month after planting the rhizomes.

Rhizome rot
 Treat the seed rhizomes with copper oxychloride @ 0.3% for 30 minutes or drench with 1% Bordeaux mixture or copper oxychloride @ 0.25 % or metalaxyl – M4 % + mancozeb 64% WP @ 0.1%
 Seed treatment with P. fluorescens @ 10 g/kg or T. asperellum @ 4 g/kg of rhizome and soil application of 2.5 kg/ha each of P. fluorescens and T. asperellum with 50 kg of FYM as basal and top dressing on 150 days after planting
Leaf blotch and Leaf spot
 Spray carbendazim @ 500 g/ha or mancozeb @ 1 kg/ha or copper oxychloride @ 1.25 kg/ha or propiconazole @ 500 ml/ha

The plants will start lodging, yellowing and drying on crop maturity. The rhizomes are dug with spade or digging forks.

Fresh rhizomes: 25-30 t/ha,

Cured rhizomes: 5-6 t/ha

Growing Districts                                 Karur, Villupuram, Coimbatore, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Erode
Major markets in Tamil Nadu           Erode, Karur, Coimbatore, Salem and Dharmapuri
Grade designation                               Alleppey Finger Turmeric, Rajapure Finger Turmeric
Grade specification                             Bright Yellow colour, size above 3cm length, hard, when broken gives metal sound , smooth skin ,                                                                               without impurities

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