ABSTRACT
This study was conducted at College Orchard, Department of Spices and Plantation Crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore from 2014 to 2015 to study the effects of fertigation of N and K on growth and yield of turmeric transplants. The experiment consisted of nine treatments replicated three times in a Randomized Block Design. The results showed that the fertigation treatment with 125% levels of N and K (water-soluble fertilizers) recorded significantly superior growth parameters viz., plant height (140.05 cm), number of leaves (14.83), number of tillers (9.11), leaf length (31.35 cm), leaf breadth (10.47 cm), total dry matter production (31.50 t ha–1) at 210 days after planting and yield characters viz., yield per plant (401.00 g), yield per plot (109.09 kg/25m2), estimated yield (43.64 t ha–1) and estimated cured rhizome yield (7.92 t ha–1) of turmeric transplants. This was closely followed by fertigation with 100% levels of N and K (water-soluble fertilizers) and recorded the highest benefit-cost ratio of 3.65 as compared to other fertigation treatments. On the basis of good performance on yield and economics, fertigation with 100% levels of N and K through water-soluble fertilizers can be employed for turmeric transplants.
