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Associated Authors:Department of Species and PlantationCrops, Kerala Agricultural University,Vellanikkara, THRISSUR (KERALA)INDIA

Article history :Received : 20.06.2014Accepted : 21.11.2014

Author for correspondence :H.C. VIKRAMK.R.C. College of Horticulture,Arabhavi, GOKAK (KARNATAKA)INDIAEmail : vikram.hc@gmail.com

Performance of turmeric in cashew plantation asintercrop compared to sole cropping

H.C. VIKRAM AND N.K. HEGDE1

HIND AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND TRAINING INSTITUTE

ABSTRACT : A field investigation was undertaken during 2011-12 to assess the performance of turmericunder cashew plantation as intercrop compared to sole cropping in open area. An experiment was laidout in cashew plantation spaced at 6 m × 6 m by utilizing of 16 m2 (4 m × 4 m) area and replicated thricewith similar management under both management conditions. Significantly higher fresh weight of rhizome(353.52 g/clump), number secondary rhizome (27.97) and clump size (201.24 cm2) of turmeric var. PTS-24 was recorded under sole cropping compared to intercropping (271.83 g/clump, 25.53 and 157.88 cm2,respectively) under cashew plantation. Interception of PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) byturmeric crop at 150 days after planting as intercrop in cashew plantation was 27390 Lux compared to30876 Lux in open condition. Due to shade loving nature of turmeric plants growth was significantlyhigher under cashew intercropping and yield was recorded higher under open situation.

KEY WORDS : Cashew, Turmeric, Intercropping, PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation)

HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE : Vikram, H.C. and Hegde, N.K. (2014). Performance of turmeric in cashew plantationas intercrop compared to sole cropping. Asian J. Hort., 9(2) : 496-499.

Cashew (Anacardium occidentale L.) is a majorcommercial crop in India that earns considerableforeign exchange. Area under cashew as acommercial plantation crop is rapidly expanding intransition tract of Karnataka (Belgaum district). It ismostly planted on hill slopes as rain fed crop where itprotects soil erosion besides giving profit and producehaving vast export potential. Land is the limiting factorfor the cultivation of any crops. Available inter space inthe perennial crops can be utilized for cultivation ofrhizomatous spice crops, vegetable and tuber crops etc(Singh, 2013). During initial years of plant growth pineapple, papaya, tapioca and vegetable are suggested incashew plantations of Dakshina Kannada district (Rao andYadukumar, 1991). In intercropping system, productivityis improved either by efficient interception of availablesolar energy or by having crop of greater radiation useefficiency (Anonymous, 1979). Turmeric is profitable spicecrop popularly grown in Belgaum district. In view of this,the present scientific approach was made to carry out studythe performance of turmeric as intercrop in cashewplantation and as sole crop in open area under northerntransition zone.

RESEARCH METHODSThe field experiment was conducted at the Horticultural

Research Station, Kanabargi, Belgaum district, Karnatakaduring 2011-2012. Kanabargi is situated in northerntransition tract (Zone-8) of Karnataka receiving an annualmean rain fall of 1250 mm and soil of the tract was mediumred. Turmeric variety PTS-24 was grown in three replicationsboth under cashew variety Vengurle -4 planted in 1992 (asintercrop) and in open area (as sole crop) in a plot of 16 m2(4m×4m) in the interspace of four cashew trees. Statisticalcomparison was worked out to find out the significance ofresults between intercropping and sole crop based on paired‘t’ test. Observations on growth and yield attributes wererecorded on turmeric. Interception of photosyntheticallyactive radiation (PAR) at noon was studied with the help ofdigital photometer (Lux meter). Intercepted PAR wascalculated by deducting reflected radiation (QR) and radiationreaching soil surface (QS) with total radiation (QT).Intercepted PAR was calculated according to the methodsuggested by Gallo and Davghtry (1986). Recommendedcultivation practices were followed for both intercrop andsole crop as per the package of practice of University of

A CASE STUDY

THE ASIAN JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE

Visit us -www.researchjournal.co.inVolume 9 | Issue 2 | Dec., 2014 | 496-499AJH

DOI : 10.15740/HAS/TAJH/9.2/496-499

eISSN- 0976-724X

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Hind Agricultural Research and Training InstituteAsian J. Hort., 9(2) Dec., 2014 : 497

Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad (Anonymous, 2011).

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONThe data on growth parameters of turmeric viz., plant

height, pseudostem diameter, number of tillers per clumpand number of leaves per plant are presented in Table 1. At180 days after planting (DAP) turmeric grown underintercropping produced significantly higher plant height(63.57cm) and number of tillers per clump (6.86) whencompared to corresponding data in open area as sole cropping(60.03cm and 6.14, respectively). Pseudo stem diameter andnumber of leaves per plant were significantly higher in solecropping at all the stages of growth compared to intercroppingunder cashew plantation. Kumar (2004) also recorded thehigher plant height of turmeric intercropping with tamarindplantation compared to sole cropping. Satheesan andRamadasan (1988) compared the growth of turmeric

H.C. VIKRAM AND N.K. HEGDE

Turmeric as sole crop

Turmeric as intercrop

Plate 1 : Turmeric as intercrop in cashew based intercroppingsystem and as sole crop in open

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Hind Agricultural Research and Training InstituteAsian J. Hort., 9(2) Dec., 2014 : 498

intercropping with coconut and as sole crop. In the presentstudy leaf area index values of turmeric were significantlyhigher under intercropping in cashew plantation whencompared to sole cropping in open area except at 30 DAP.Turmeric grown under cashew plantation recordedsignificantly higher leaf area index (20.28) compared to solecropping (17.63) at 150 DAP. This reveals turmeric is shadeloving plant. Similarly Shankar and Swamy (1998) alsoobtained higher LAI in when grown as intercrop with mango.

Significantly higher fresh weight of rhizome per clump(353.52g), number of secondary rhizome (27.97) and clumpsize (201.24cm2) was recorded under sole cropping comparedto cashew based intercropping (271.83g/clump, 25.53 and157.88cm2, respectively) with turmeric. Yield of turmericunder sole cropping was significantly higher (224.58q/ha)when compared to intercropping (203.12q/ha) in cashewplantation (Table 2). Whereas higher harvest index wasrecorded under sole cropping (81.90%) compared to cashewbased intercropping with turmeric (79.38%). It is alsoobserved that intercropping made synergistic effect on cashewplantation. Similar results were also reported by Kumar(2004) in turmeric under tamarind canopy.

Photosynthetically active radiation was higher in solecropping (30876 Lux) compared to intercropping (27390Lux) at 150 DAP (Table 3). PAR of the present attemptsindicated that, the mean PAR available for interception washigher in open (sole cropping) in turmeric throughout thestages of growth when compared to spice crops grown undercashew trees. The reduction in light intensity due to

interception within leaf canopy is usually exponential(Trenbath, 1976; Jaswal et al., 1993 and Jayachandran etal., 1992 and Kasturibai et al., 1991) also reported about thereduction in light intensity reaching canopy of intercropsdue to interception by coconut canopy. Hegde et al. (2000)also reported that, interception of PAR by ginger wasmaximum in open area compared to areca basedintercropping with ginger.

REFERENCESAnonymous (1979). Multiple cropping in coconut and arecanutgardens. Ed. Nelliat, E.V. and Bhat, K.S., Central Plantation CropResearch Institute. Technical Bull, 3: 54.

Anonymous (2011). Totagarike Belegala Sudharita BesayaKramagalu (Kannada). University Agriculture Science, Dharwad,KARNATAKA (INDIA).

Gallo and Davghtry, C.S.T. (1986). Technique for measuringintercepted and absorbed photosynthetically active radiation in corncanopies. Agron. J., 78: 752-756.

Hegde, N.K., Sulikeri, G.S. and Ratnam, B.P. (2000). Distributionof photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and performance ofginger under arecanut shade. Proceedings of Centennial Conferenceon Spices and Aromatic Plants, 107-112 pp.

Jaswal, S.C., Mishra, V.K. and Verma, K.S. (1993). Intercroppingginger and turmeric with poplar (Populus deltoids). AgroforestrySystems, 22 (2) : 111-117.

Jayachandran, B.K., Meerabai, M., Mammen, M.K. andMathew, K.P. (1992). Influence of shade on growth and productivityof turmeric. Spice India, 3 (4): 2-9.

PERFORMANCE OF TURMERIC IN CASHEW PLANTATION AS INTERCROP COMPARED TO SOLE CROPPING

Table 2 : Yield and yield attributes of turmeric var. PTS-24 as intercrop in cashew plantation and as sole crop in open area Sr. No. Yield and yield attributes Intercrop Sole crop t-value

1. Fresh weight of rhizome (g/clump) 271.83 353.52 2.89* 2. Number of primary rhizome per clump 4.30 4.52 0.72 3. Number of secondary rhizome per clump 25.33 27.97 3.27* 4. Clump size (cm2) 157.88 201.24 3.62* 5. Fresh rhizome yield per plot (kg/ 16 m2) 16.25 17.96 3.84* 6. Fresh rhizome yield (q/ha) 203.12 224.58 3.31* 7. Harvest index (%) 79.38 81.90 3.29* *indicates of significance=0.05 is 2.77)

Table 3 : Mean interception of PAR (Lux) by turmeric as intercrop under cashew plantation and in open area as sole crop Turmeric as intercrop Turmeric as sole crop Days after

planting QT QR QS QI QT QR QS QI

30 38520 2690 7900 27930 40940 2729 8260 29951

60 40600 3115 6320 31165 42960 3310 6571 32449 90 45980 3860 10170 31950 48470 4121 11900 33079 120 46874 4550 9110 33214 46874 4550 9110 33794

150 41180 3980 10810 27390 44140 4290 8974 30876 Mean 213154 18195 44310 151649 223384 19000 44815 160149 QT - Radiation at the top of the canopy, QR - Reflected radiation, QS - Radiation at ground level, QI - Intercepted radiation, QI= QT-QR-QS

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Kasturibai, K.V., Voleti, S.R., Ramdasan, A. and Kailasam, C.(1991). Growth and dry matter production in the component cropsunder high-density multispecies cropping system. J. PlantationCrops, 18: 151-155.

Kumar, R.D. (2004). Intercrop studies in tamarind (Tamarindusindica L.) plantation. (M.Sc.) Thesis, University AgricultureSciences, Dharwad, KARNATAKA (INDIA).

Rao, E.V.V.B. and Yadukumar, N. (1991). Directions of cashewresearch in India with specific reference to Dakshina Kannaddadistrict. Proc. of seminar on cashew development in Karnataka,Mangalore, KARNATAKA (INDIA).

Satheesan, K.V. and Ramdasan, A. (1988). Growth and

productivity of turmeric grown as pure stand and as an intercrop incoconut garden. Proc. National Symposium Ginger and turmeric,CPCRI, Kasargod, KERALA (INDIA).

Shankar, C.R. and Swamy, M.S. (1998). Influence of light andtemperature on leaf area index, chlorophyll content and yield ofginger. J. Maharashtra Agric. Univ., 13: 216-217.

Singh, R., Bhushan, S., Kumar, S. and Shanker, S. (2013). Yieldassessment of elephant foot yam grown under multilayer vegetablecropping system. Bioscan, 8(4): 1237-1239.

Trenbath, B.R. (1976). Plant interaction in mixed crop communities.In: Multiple cropping. American Soc. Agron., 24 : 129-169.

H.C. VIKRAM AND N.K. HEGDE

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