Effect of different planting material, planting dates and harvesting dates on growth, yield and quality of turmeric

A field experiment was conducted for two years (2007-2009) at Ludhiana to study the effect of different planting material, planting dates and harvesting dates on growth, yield and quality of turmeric. Use of mother rhizomes as planting material resulted in significantly higher growth parameters viz., number of leaves/plant, plant height and dry matter accumulation/plant as compared to primary and secondary finger planting material during both the years. The yield attributes, viz., number and weight of rhizomes and fresh, dry and processed rhizome yield were also significantly higher with mother rhizome planting material during both the years. Growth parameters, yield and yield attributes were significantly higher with April 25 planting date as compared to May 10 and May 25 in both the years. Different harvesting dates had non-significant effect on growth parameter, yield and yield attributes. The quality parameters were non-significantly influenced by different planting materials, planting dates and harvesting dates.