Turmeric

Nutrient Management


Role of Nutrients in The Plant Growth

  • Sixteen nutrient elements are recognised as being essential to all plants for their normal growth and development.

Essential nutrient elements and their source

Essential elements used in relatively large amounts
Essential elements used in relatively small amounts
Mostly from air and water
From soils
Macronutrients
Secondary nutrients
Micronutrients
Carbon Nitrogen Calcium Iron
Hydrogen Phosphorus Magnesium Manganese
Oxygen Potassium Sulphur Boron
      Molybdenum
      Copper
      Zinc
      Cobalt

  • The nutrients are called macro, secondary and micronutrients based only on the quantity required by the plant for its normal growth and not based on their essentiality.
  • The plant cannot complete its life cycle in the absence of even any one of these 16 elements.

Macronutrients

Nitrogen (N)

  • Important constituent of chlorophyll, protoplasm, proline and nucleic acid
  • Increases growth and development of all living tissues
  • Imparts dark green colour to plants.

Phosphorus (P)

  • A constituent of phosphatids like nucleic acids, proteins, phospholipids and co-enzymes
  • Constituent of certain amino acids
  • Necessary for cell division and root development,
  • Necessary for meristematic growth, seed and fruit development and stimulates flowering.

Potassium (K)

  • An activator of enzymes involved in protein and carbohydrate metabolism
  • Helps in carbohydrate translocation, synthesis of protein, stomatal opening and pH control
  • Helps to resist cold and other adverse condition and disease
  • It regulates water conditions within the plant cell and thus reduces tendency to wilt and helps in better utilization of water.
  • It counteracts the injurious effects of nitrogen in plants.

Secondary nutrients

Calcium (Ca)

  • Constituents of cell and necessary for normal mitosis
  • Maintenance of chromosome structure
  • Activator of enzymes and helps in translocation of carbohydrates
  • Acts as a detoxifying agent by neutralizing organic acids in plants.

Magnesium (Mg)

  • Key element in chlorophyll without which photosynthesis would not occur.
  • Promotes uptake and translocation of phosphorus
  • Helps in movement of sugars within plants.

Sulphur (S)

  • Constituent of sulphur - bearing amino acids
  • Helps in stabilizing protein structure
  • Aids in the synthesis of oils and formation of chlorophyll.

Micronutrients

Zinc (Zn)

  • Involved in the biosynthesis of plant hormone, indole acetic acid (IAA)
  • Plays a role in nucleic acid and protein synthesis
  • Helps in the utilization of phosphorus and nitrogen in plants

Copper (Cu)

  • Promotes formation of vitamin A in plants.
  • Components of many enzymes

Iron (Fe)

  • Necessary for the synthesis and maintenance of chlorophyll in plants
  • Essential component of many enzymes
  • Plays as essential role in nucleic acid metabolism

Manganese (Mn)

  • Acts as catalyst in several important enzymatic and physiological reactions in plants
  • Involved in the oxidation of carbohydrate to CO2 and H2O
  • Involved in the synthesis of chlorophyll

Boron (B)

  • Essential for protein synthesis.
  • Changes the activities of certain enzymes
  • Facilitates carbohydrate transport
  • Associated with the uptake of calcium and its utilisation by plants
  • Regulates potassium/calcium ratio in plants.

Molybdenum (Mo)

  • Associated with nitrogen utilisation and in nitrogen fixation
  • Constituent of nitrate reductase and nitrogenase
  • Required by rhizobia for nitrogen fixation.

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Role of Organics

  • Soil organic matter serves as soil conditioner, nutrient source, substrate for microbial activity, preserver of the environment, and major determinant for sustaining or increasing agricultural productivity.
  • Turmeric responds to heavy dressings of organic matter and many experimental evidences are available on the beneficial effects of organic matter either alone or in combination with inorganic fertilizers on the growth and productivity of turmeric.
  • Organic manures contain all the essential plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur, boron, zinc, copper, manganese and iron which are necessary for increasing the yield and quality of the turmeric rhizome.
  • Usually large quantities (25 t/ha) of organic manures in the form of FYM, oil cakes and green leaves (as mulch) are applied in different turmeric growing states.
  • An increase of over 37 per cent in fresh rhizome yield was recorded over control (No FYM) by the application of 25 t FYM/ha.
  • Application of tank silt and sheep penning are also practiced in some areas of Tamil Nadu.
  • Poultry manure is concentrated source of nitrogen and phosphorus and it can be effectively utilized along with inorganic fertilizers to boost yield of turmeric. The highest fresh rhizome yield of turmeric (34.37 t/ha) was recorded in the treatment of NPK + Poultry manure as against the least yield of 25.72 t/ha in NPK alone treatment.

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Functions of Major Nutrients

  • Nitrogen is essential for boosting up vegetative growth and thereby yield.
  • Phosphorus is necessary for root development while K is involved in transportation of carbohydrates to rhizomes.
  • In addition, K also improves curcumin content.
  • There was little response to incremental doses of K upto 180 kg/ha in respect of morphological as well as rhizome characters of turmeric.

Response to Nitrogen

  • Nitrogen and the variety grown have a significant effect on the yield and yield supporting characters in turmeric.
  • N application significantly improved plant height, number of tillers per clump and yield.
  • In Tamil Nadu, increase in N levels upto 120 kg N/ha significantly increased the fresh rhizomes yield (41 t/ha). The yield increase was 62 per cent at 120 kg N/ha.
  • Application of 140 kg N/ha in the form of Urea in five split doses viz. at planting, 30, 60, 90 and 120 DAP along with 60 kg P2O5 and 60 kg K2O recorded yield of 22.9 t/ha which was 56.9 per cent higher than that of the plots which received no application of N.

Response to Phosphorus

  • A good supply of phosphorus has been associated historically with increased root growth of crops.
  • Plant roots proliferate extensively in the areas of phosphate treated soils.
  • Response of applied phosphorus has been reported upto 175 kg/ha with the combination of other nutrients.

Response to Potassium

  • Potassium along with N and P plays a major role in growth and yield, as it is involved in assimilation, transport and storage tissue development.
  • Application of K significantly increased plant height, tiller number, number of leaves, and number of mother, primary and secondary rhizomes in turmeric.
  • Application of K at 90 kg/ha in four splits (basal, 60, 90 and 120 DAP) recorded higher yield of rhizomes (30 t/ha) with an increased curcumin content of 4.06 per cent.

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Response to Micro Nutrients

Iron

  • Iron deficiency has been observed in turmeric grown in calcareous or alkaline soils.
  • The presence of high amounts of phosphate may also induce this condition in acid soils.
  • The deficiency of iron shows up first in the young leaves of plants, which develop interveinal chlorosis and it progresses rapidly over the entire leaf. In severe cases, the leaves turn completely white.
  • Soil application of FeSO4 at 30 kg/ha recorded the highest yield of rhizomes (24 per cent more than control) followed by foliar spray of FeSO4 (2.5 kg/ha) during 3rd, 4th and 5th months which recorded an yield of 23 t/ha of fresh rhizomes at Bhavanisagar.

Zinc

  • Zinc deficiency in turmeric can be identified by the occurrence of light green yellow or white areas between veins of leaves, particularly the older ones. Other symptoms include small, narrow thickened leaves, early loss of foliage and stunted growth.
  • Application of ZnSO4 at 15 kg/ha increased the rhizome yield by 15 per cent over control.
  • The highest yield of 21.4 t/ha of rhizomes was obtained with combined application of 50 kg each of FeSO4 and ZnSO4 per ha against 12.4 t/ha recorded in the control plots followed by FeSO4 (5 kg/ha) + ZnSO4 (2.5 kg/ha) foliar sprays at three stages ie at 2nd, 3rd and 4th month of crop growth.

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Estimating Requirements

  • The nutrient requirement of any crop is estimated based on the uptake of nutrients.

Uptake of nutrients

  • Uptake of nutrients by turmeric is influenced by many factors such as variety, type of planting material used, soil fertility level and cropping systems.
  • Generally as the dry matter production increases, the uptake also increases and the phase of active vegetative growth is also the period during which maximum uptake of nutrients takes place.
  • It has been observed that the uptake of nutrients was higher up to third month for K, up to fourth month for N and up to fifth month for P with subsequent decrease.
  • The crop attains maximum vegetative growth during the fourth and fifth months suggesting the need for earlier application of N, P and K for increasing plant growth.
  • Turmeric is a heavy feeder of nutrients as seen from the data on nutrient uptake.

Uptake of nutrients by turmeric at harvest (kg/ha)

Location /Soil type
Nutrients
N
P2O5
K2O
Bhavanisagar - Sandy loam 166 37 285
Coimbatore - Clayey loam 187 39 327

  • The use of mother rhizomes as planting material resulted in higher uptake of N, P and K compared to the use of either primary or secondary rhizomes.
  • Of all the nutrients, the uptake of potassium was the highest, followed by nitrogen, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus.
  • Studies conducted identified third leaf from the top as the diagnostic leaf for N, P and K status of the crop.
  • Regarding the optimum age of plant for sampling, the period between 90 and 120 days after planting has been suggested.

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Bio fertilizers

  • Biofertilizers are the inoculum of microbial strains capable of enhancing the availability of certain plant nutrients.
  • There are two types of organisms viz., nitrogen fixing, as well as phosphorus mobilising and solubilising organisms.

Nitrogen fixing microorganisms

  • Certain microorganisms can fix and assimilate nitrogen in plants. They utilize molecular nitrogen and reduce it to ammonia. The potential nitrogen fixer is Azospirillum
  • Azospirillum is an associative microaerophilic diazotroph isolated from the root and above ground parts of a variety of crop plants.
  • Azospirillum species are widely distributed in tropical as well as in temperate soils and have proved to be beneficial because of their broad host range.
  • When all the conditions required for biological nitrogen fixation are present, Azospirillum cells are the most efficient nitrogen fixers in the field.
  • Substantial amounts of nitrogen can be fixed by Azospirillum in the rhizosphere. Mainly the nitrogen fixing ability contributes for high productivity and biomass.
  • Use of microbial inoculant, Azospirillum increased the yield of turmeric rhizome by 10 per cent.
  • Soil application of Azospirillum at 15 kg/ha registered higher yield than slurry application.

Phosphorus mobilizing and solubilizing microorganisms

  • Phosphorus mobilization by VAM (Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhizae) fungal association.
  • Plant roots provide an ecological niche for many of the microorganisms around soil.
  • Mycorrhizal association performs the functions of root hairs.
  • The presence of vesicles and arbuscules is the diagnostic criteria for identifying VAM fungus in a root,
  • VAM fungi are partly inside the host and partly outside the host.
  • VAM fungi improve phosphorus uptake by making the immobile PO4 into mobile PO4.

Phosphorus solubilisation by phosphobacteria

  • Phosphate solubilising microorganisms play a major role in the solubilization and uptake of native and applied soil phosphorus
  • They bring about changes in soil micro environment by producing chelating agents and organic acids.
  • They also produce the phosphatase enzyme which causes the solubilization of phosphorus.
  • In turmeric, application of phosphobactria at 10 kg/ha at one month after planting is recommended.

Method of using biofertilizers

  • The microbial inoculants viz., Azospirillum and phosphobacteria available in lignite based carrier in poly bag containing 200 g are pretreated with 10 kg FYM moistened to 60% and then inoculated at ambient temperature, covered with moist gunny bags for a period of 72 hours.
  • After the inoculation period, the inoculated FYM is to be applied in furrows.
  • Biofertilizers should not be mixed with inorganic fertilizers
  • Irrigation should be ensured after application.

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Sources of Nitrogen

Organic sources

Material
Nitrogen (N) (per cent)
Farm yard manure
0.5 - 1.5
Compost (Urban)
1.0 - 2.0
Compost (Rural) 0.5 - 0.8
Green manures 0.5 - 0.7
Non-edible cakes
Castor cake 5.5 - 5.8
Cotton seedcake (undecorticated) 3.9 - 4.0
Mahua cake 2.5 - 2.6
Karanje cake 3.9 - 4.0
Neem cake 5.2 - 5.3
Safflower cake (undecorticated) 4.8 - 4.9

Inorganic fertilizers

Name of the fertilizer
N%
Urea
44.0 - 46.0
Ammonium sulphate
19.9 - 21.0
Calcium Ammonium nitrate 26.0
Ammonium chloride 26.0
Calcium nitrate 13.0 - 15.0
Sodium nitrate 16.0
Calcium cyanamid 21.0
Anhydrous ammonium 82.0
Ammonium nitrate 32.0 - 35.0

Compound fertilizers
N (%)
P2O5(%)
K2O (%)
Diammonium phosphate
18 46
0
Urea Ammonium phosphate
28 28
0
Ammonium phosphate (Gromor) 20 20 0
NPK (Complex fertilizers) 10 26 26
  17 17 17
  15 15 15
  19 19 19
  14 35 14

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Sources of Phosphorus Organic sources

Material
Phosphate P2O5(%)
Farm yard manure
0.4 - 0.8
Compost (Urban)
1.0
Compost (Rural) 0.3 - 0.6
Green manures 0.1 - 0.2
Non-edible cakes
Castor cake 1.8 - 1.9
Cotton seedcake (undecorticated) 1.8 - 1.9
Mahua cake 0.8 - 0.9
Karanje cake 0.9 - 1.0
Neem cake 1.0
Safflower cake (undecorticated) 1.4 - 1.5

Inorganic fertilizers

Phosphatic fertilizers
P2O5(%)
Super phosphate (single)
16.0 - 20.0
Super phosphate (double)
30.0 - 35.0
Super phosphate (Triple) 45.0 - 50.0
Basic slag 3.0 - 8.0
Mussori 23.0 - 24.0
Purulia 23.0

Compound fertilizers
N (%)
P2O5(%)
K2O (%)
Diammonium phosphate
18 46
0
Urea Ammonium phosphate
28 28
0
Ammonium phosphate (Gromor) 20 20 0
NPK (Complex fertilizers) 10 26 26
  17 17 17
  15 15 15
  19 19 19
  14 35 14

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Sources Of Potassium

Organic sources

Material
Potash (K2O) (per cent)
Farm yard manure
0.5 - 1.0
Compost (Urban)
1.5
Compost (Rural) 0.7 - 1.0
Green manures 0.6 - 0.8
Non-edible cakes
Castor cake 1.0 - 1.1
Cotton seedcake (undecorticated) 1.6 - 1.7
Mahua cake 1.8 - 1.9
Karanje cake 1.3 - 1.4
Neem cake 1.4 - 1.5
Safflower cake (undecorticated) 1.2 - 1.3

Inorganic fertilizers

Potassic fertilizers
K2O(%)
Muriate of potash (KCl)
50.0 - 60.0
Potassium sulphate
48.0 - 52.0
Potassium phosphate 30.0 - 50.0

NPK Complex fertilizers
N (%)
P2O5(%)
K2O (%)
  10 26 26
  17 17 17
  15 15 15
  19 19 19
  14 35 14

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Nutrient Management

Role of Nutrients in The Plant Growth

  • Sixteen nutrient elements are recognised as being essential to all plants for their normal growth and development.

Essential nutrient elements and their source

Essential elements used in relatively large amounts
Essential elements used in relatively small amounts
Mostly from air and water
From soils
Macronutrients
Secondary nutrients
Micronutrients
Carbon Nitrogen Calcium Iron
Hydrogen Phosphorus Magnesium Manganese
Oxygen Potassium Sulphur Boron
      Molybdenum
      Copper
      Zinc
      Cobalt

  • The nutrients are called macro, secondary and micronutrients based only on the quantity required by the plant for its normal growth and not based on their essentiality.
  • The plant cannot complete its life cycle in the absence of even any one of these 16 elements.

Macronutrients

Nitrogen (N)

  • Important constituent of chlorophyll, protoplasm, proline and nucleic acid
  • Increases growth and development of all living tissues
  • Imparts dark green colour to plants.

Phosphorus (P)

  • A constituent of phosphatids like nucleic acids, proteins, phospholipids and co-enzymes
  • Constituent of certain amino acids
  • Necessary for cell division and root development,
  • Necessary for meristematic growth, seed and fruit development and stimulates flowering.

Potassium (K)

  • An activator of enzymes involved in protein and carbohydrate metabolism
  • Helps in carbohydrate translocation, synthesis of protein, stomatal opening and pH control
  • Helps to resist cold and other adverse condition and disease
  • It regulates water conditions within the plant cell and thus reduces tendency to wilt and helps in better utilization of water.
  • It counteracts the injurious effects of nitrogen in plants.

Secondary nutrients

Calcium (Ca)

  • Constituents of cell and necessary for normal mitosis
  • Maintenance of chromosome structure
  • Activator of enzymes and helps in translocation of carbohydrates
  • Acts as a detoxifying agent by neutralizing organic acids in plants.

Magnesium (Mg)

  • Key element in chlorophyll without which photosynthesis would not occur.
  • Promotes uptake and translocation of phosphorus
  • Helps in movement of sugars within plants.

Sulphur (S)

  • Constituent of sulphur - bearing amino acids
  • Helps in stabilizing protein structure
  • Aids in the synthesis of oils and formation of chlorophyll.

Micronutrients

Zinc (Zn)

  • Involved in the biosynthesis of plant hormone, indole acetic acid (IAA)
  • Plays a role in nucleic acid and protein synthesis
  • Helps in the utilization of phosphorus and nitrogen in plants

Copper (Cu)

  • Promotes formation of vitamin A in plants.
  • Components of many enzymes

Iron (Fe)

  • Necessary for the synthesis and maintenance of chlorophyll in plants
  • Essential component of many enzymes
  • Plays as essential role in nucleic acid metabolism

Manganese (Mn)

  • Acts as catalyst in several important enzymatic and physiological reactions in plants
  • Involved in the oxidation of carbohydrate to CO2 and H2O
  • Involved in the synthesis of chlorophyll

Boron (B)

  • Essential for protein synthesis.
  • Changes the activities of certain enzymes
  • Facilitates carbohydrate transport
  • Associated with the uptake of calcium and its utilisation by plants
  • Regulates potassium/calcium ratio in plants.

Molybdenum (Mo)

  • Associated with nitrogen utilisation and in nitrogen fixation
  • Constituent of nitrate reductase and nitrogenase
  • Required by rhizobia for nitrogen fixation.

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Tamilnadu