Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is one of the most
important spice crops grown in Andhra Pradesh. It is a major
cash crop cultivated in high-altitude and tribal areas of North
Coastal Andhra Pradesh, and is mainly grown on hill slopes
under rainfed conditions. During harvest season, fresh as
well as cured rhizomes are marketed on weekly shandy
days. However, due to lack of knowledge, tribal farmers
grow only the local variety and that too without proper
fertilization, leading to poor harvest. Hence, an investigation
was launched to study performance of some improved
cultivars for yield potential and yield attributing characters,
to identify a better variety for commercial cultivation in this
region.

Field experiments were conducted for two
consecutive years during 1997 and 1998 at Agricultural
Research Station, Seethampeta, Srikakulam (Dist.,) which
falls under the High Altitude and Tribal Zone (HAT) of
Andhra Pradesh. Seethampeta is located at an elevation of
400m above MSL, with average rainfall of 1280mm
(contributed from the South West and North East
monsoons). Turmeric is generally planted during the second
fortnight of May, or the first week of June, to coincide with
onset of early monsoon showers.

The experiment was conducted in Randomized Block

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 8(1):118-120, 2013

Short communication

Evaluation of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) varieties for rainfed cultivation

L. Naram Naidu and K. Purushotham
Horticultural Research Station, Lam, Guntur - 522 034,  India

E-mail: naramlnaidu@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Field experiments were carried out for two years at Agricultural Research Station, Seethampeta, Srikakulam Dist.,
Andhra Pradesh, to identify suitable turmeric cultivars for tribal areas of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh for rainfed
cultivation.  Ten cultivars were screened for their performance for comparison with the most popular local cultivar,
‘Seethampeta local’.  All the cultivars tested outperformed the local cultivar.  Cultivars PTS-24 and CLL-326 were
better in terms of plant height (93.43cm and 92.70cm, respectively) and mean number of tillers / plant (2.16 and 2.21
respectively). Per cent curing was highest in PTS-38 (28.5), followed by PTS-24 (25.7) and CLL-326 (25.2). Cultivars
PTS-24 and CLL-326 recorded highest mean yield of both fresh and cured rhizomes. Yield of fresh rhizomes was
positively correlated to number of tillers and number of leaves, while, yield of cured rhizomes was significantly
influenced by per cent curing and number of leaves. Cultivars PTS-24 and CLL-326 recorded highest mean yield
(23.08 t ha-1 and 22.93 t ha-1, respectively) and were identified as suitable varieties for rainfed cultivation in tribal
areas of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Key words: Turmeric, tillers, rhizome, curing, rainfed cultivation

Design with ten cultivars, viz., PTS-9, PTS-24, PTS-38, CO-
1, BSR-1, CLI-317, CLL-324, CLL-325, CLL-326 and
Local, and replicated thrice. Selected primary-finger
rhizomes were planted during the first fortnight of June in
both the years of study.  These were planted at 45cm x
15cm in a plot of 3m x 1.5m. N, P

2
O

5
 and K

2
O were applied

as per recommendations and normal cultural practices / plant
protection measures were followed for raising a successful
crop.

Observations on plant height, number of tillers and
number of leaves per plant were recorded on ten randomly
selected plants from each plot on the 180th day after planting.
Rhizome yield was estimated and expressed as tonnes ha-1.
Per cent curing was evaluated by boiling and drying a sample
of 2kg of fresh rhizomes from each plot. Yield of cured
rhizomes was worked out based on curing percentage and
was expressed as tonnes ha-1. Data were statistically
analyzed as per standard procedures (Gomez and Gomez,
1984).

Significant differences among cultivars were observed
for all the characters studied during both the years of study
(Table 1). All the cultivars were found to be superior to the
local variety.

Cultivars PTS-24, CLL-324 and CLL-326 recorded



119

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J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 8(1):118-120, 2013

Turmeric varieties for rainfed cultivation



120

Naram Naidu and Purushotham

Table 2. Correlation coefficient of yield and yield attributing
characters in turmeric

Plant No. of No. of Per cent Yield of
height tillers leaves curing freshrhizomes

No. of tillers 0.450
No. of leaves 0.653** 0.776**
Per cent curing 0.380 0.029 0.501*
Yield of fresh 0.455 0.644** 0.735** 0.052
rhizomes
Yield of cured 0.386 0.592** 0.726** 0.542* 0.864**
rhizomes

**Correlation significant at 0.01 level
*Correlation significant at 0.05 level

the tallest plants, with highest number of tillers and leaves
in these were found to be the most vigorous. Cultivation
PTS-24 had the tallest plants (93.43cm) with highest number
of leaves (24.11 per plant), closely followed by CLL-324
(92.9cm plant height). CLL-324 recorded maximum number
of tillers per plant (2.26), followed by CLL-326 (2.21) and
PTS-24 (2.16). The local cultivar recorded shortest
(79.83cm) plants, with a mean of 1.9 tillers and 20.53 leaves
per plant. Similar results have been reported earlier by
Ramakrishna and Reddy (1992).

Yield per plot ranged from 6.71kg (PTS-9) to 10.39kg
(PTS-24), whereas, per cent curing ranged from 21.7
(Local) to 28.5 (PTS-38). Though yield of fresh rhizomes
in the local variety (15.40 t ha-1) was higher than in PTS-9
(14.91t ha-1), yield of cured rhizomes was relatively low in
this variety (3.37t ha-1) owing to low curing percentage.
Mean yield of fresh and cured rhizomes was highest in PTS-
24 (23.08t ha-1 and 5.95t ha-1, respectively) closely followed
by CLL-326 (22.94 and 5.78t ha-1, respectively). These two
cultivars were found to be consistent in their performance
in both the years under study.  Suitability of these cultivars
to different agro-climatic zones (Pujari et al, 1987;
Ramakrishna and Reddy 1992; Pruthi, 1998) and yield
potential of long-duration cultivars released by Andhra
Pradesh (Subbarayudu et al, 1976) have been earlier
reported by many workers. These cultivars have been
already recommended for commercial cultivation in Andhra

Pradesh (Chadha, 2001). Results in the present investigation
are in conformity with those reported earlier. Correlation
studies (Table 2) revealed fresh yield to be positively
correlated to number of tillers and number of leaves, while
yield of cured rhizomes was significantly influenced by per
cent curing, yield of fresh rhizomes and number of leaves.
These findings are in accordance with those reported by
Indiresh et al (1996). Thus, superiority of cvs. PTS-24 and
CLL-326 can be attributed to vegetative vigour and high
curing percentage.

In view of yield potential and consistent performance
of cv. PTS-24 and CLL-326, these two cultivars were
concluded to be suitable for rainfed cultivation in the High-
Altitude Tribal areas of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

REFERENCES

Chadha, K.L. 2001. Handbook of Horticulture, ICAR, New
Delhi. pp: 726-728

Gomez, K.A. and Gomez, A.A. 1984. Statistical procedures
for agricultural workers. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
New York

Ramakrishna, M. and Reddy, P.S.N. 1992. Performance of
different varieties / cultivars of turmeric under
Northern Telangana Zone of Andhra Pradesh.
Geobios News Rep., 12:85-86

Indiresh, K.M., Uthaiah, B.C., Herle, P.S.  and Balakrishna
Rao, K. 1996  Morphological, rhizome and yield
characters of different turmeric varieties in Coastal
Karnataka. Mysore J. Agril. Sci., 24:484-490

Pujari, P.D., Patil, R.B. and Satpal, R.T. 1987. Studies on
growth, yield and quality components in different
turmeric varieties. Indian Cocoa, Arecanut and
Spices, 11:15-17

Subbarayudu, M.R., Reddy, R.K. and Rao, M.R. 1976.
Studies on performance of different turmeric varieties.
The Andhra Agril. J., 23:195-198

Pruthi, J.S. 1998.  Major spices of India – Crop management,
Post-harvest Technology, ICAR, New Delhi, pp.
289-314

(MS Received 08 February 2011, Accepted 14 June 2012, Revised 11 December 2012)

J. Hortl. Sci.
Vol. 8(1):118-120, 2013