Crop Weather Relationship of Turmeric Under Different Mulching Practices

Abstract

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is also known as “golden spice” or “Indian saffron,” is an important spice crop that originated and is cultivated in India. It is an annual herbaceous crop and belongs to the family Zingiberaceae. Weather is one of the most important independent variables in turmeric production. A field experiment was carried out at the College of Agriculture, KAU, Vellanikkara, under the department of Agricultural Meteorology from 2020 to 2021. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with four different dates of planting (D1-1st May, D2-15th May, D3-1st June and D4-15th June) as the main plot treatments and four different mulches (M1-white polythene mulch, M2-black polythene mulch, M3-paddy straw mulch and M4-green leaf mulch) as subplot treatments. The whole crop period was divided into four phenophases viz. planting to 100% germination, 100% germination to initiation of active tillering, active tillering to bulking and bulking to physiological maturity. The effect of planting dates and mulches on yield was found to be significant. May 1st and May 15th dates of planting had produced more yield and they were on par. Paddy straw mulch produced a superior yield among mulching treatments. The decrease in maximum temperature, bright sunshine hours and evaporation, as well as the increase in minimum temperature, forenoon relative humidity and rainfall during the bulking stage enhanced the yield of the turmeric crop.