EFFECT OF PLANT SPACING ON PROFITABLE YIELD OF TURMERIC (CURCUMA LONGA L.)

Abstract

A research trail was carried out to elucidate the effect of plant spacing on the profitable yield of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) at the Horticultural Research Area of Faculty of Agriculture, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan during 2009. The experiment was laid out in RCBD with five treatments/plant spacing (30x10, 30x20, 30x30, 30x40 and 30x50cm2) and each treatment was replicated thrice. Plant spacing 30x50cm2 have evidenced significant findings for almost all the parameters, as it took significantly least days taken to sprouting (82.00), maximum plant height (67.73 cm), number of leaves per plant (8.0), leaf length (35.22 cm), leaf diameter (9.917 cm), stem per plant (5.66), number of finger per plant (15.67), finger length (5.367 cm), finger weight (76.10 gm), diameter of finger ( 4.220 mm) and turmeric yield (2184 kg ha-1 ).Thus it is concluded that a wider plant spacing of 30x50cm2 would be more beneficial for the commercial production of turmeric (Curcuma longa L), especially under the agro-climatic condition of Dera Ismail Khan.