Effect of different rhizome types and sizes on growth and yield of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.)

Curcuma longa L. is known as spice crop and have important medicinal properties due to presence of bioactive compounds. This study was carried out to determine the effect of mother and finger rhizomes size on growth and yield of turmeric. Rhizomes with three different sizes were used viz., T1: mother rhizome 15-25 g, T2: mother rhizome 25-35 g, T3: mother rhizome 35-45 g, T4: finger rhizome <10 g, T5: finger rhizome 15-25 g and T6: finger rhizome 25-35 g. This experiment was arranged according to randomized complete block design with three replications. Results showed that treatment T3 (mother rhizome 34-45 g) produced maximum plant height (82.57 cm), stem diameter (17.39 mm), number of tillers (10.31), number of leaves (16.04), leaf area (73.21 cm²), total number of rhizomes (28.01), number of primary rhizome (11.70), number of secondary rhizome (21.45), yield per plant (345.06 g/plant), rhizome length (25.93 mm), rhizome diameter (22.53 mm), and 8.11% curcumin content while the seedling emergence percentage was non-significant for all the treatments.