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Growth and yield of turmeric ( Curcuma longa L.) cultivated under different mulching materials
Ruhuna Journal of Science 15(2): 60–74 · 2024
https://doi.org/10.4038/rjs.v15i2.149
Abstract
In agricultural systems, mulching is important in soil conservation, moisture retention, and weed suppression, influencing crop growth and yield. This study investigates the efficacy of utilizing diverse mulching materials such as albizia sawdust, banana pseudo-stems, sunflower lopping, and gliricidia lopping in turmeric cultivation by evaluating their impact on crop yield and vegetative growth. Turmeric yield was significantly increased by gliricidia lopping (1928.4 g/plant) and albizia sawdust (1664.6 g/plant) compared to sunflower lopping (1212.8 g/plant), banana pseudo-stem (1061.9 g/plant), and the control (977.7 g/plant). All treatments showed significant positive correlations between fresh yield and the number of mother rhizomes, the number of primary and secondary fingers, and fresh canopy biomass. Only albizia sawdust did not increase plant height, but it increased the number of tillers significantly. Any mulching material did not affect the number of leaves and leaf width. The leaf blade length was significantly higher in the gliricidia lopping (64.4 cm) and banana pseudo-stem (62.2 cm). Petiole length was significantly different (p
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