Effect of nutrient sources on growth, yield and quality of turmeric under Terminalia chebula Retz. based agroforestry system

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of nutrient sources on vegetative growth, rhizome yield and quality attributes of turmeric during 2015-17 at Agroforestry Research Centre (Haldi), G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. The experiment comprised of two farming systems i.e. harad-turmeric based agroforestry system and open system (without tree) with eight treatments viz., T₁- control, T₂- farmyard manure, T₃- poultry manure, T₄- wheat straw, T₅- vermicompost, T₆- NPK (100:80:60), T₇- integrated 50% and T₈- integrated 100%. The experiment was laid out in a split plot design with three replications, with farming system as main plot and nutrient sources as sub plot treatments. The results revealed that the agroforestry system was superior to open (no tree) system and recorded higher yield of turmeric rhizome during both the years. Among nutrient sources, integrated 100% source was significantly superior to NPK, integrated 50% and organic sources. Among organic sources, the effect of vermicompost was superior to other organic sources. Curcumin content of rhizome also followed a similar trend.