Effect of planting material on plant growth, yield and rhizome size of turmeric

The present investigation was conducted to find the effect of two genotypes (PH-3 and PH-4) and three planting materials (mother rhizome, primary fingers, secondary fingers) on plant growth, yield and rhizome size of turmeric. The genotype and genotype x planting material exerted non-significant effects, while planting material showed significant differences on most of the characters. As planting material, mother rhizome and primary fingers were significantly better than secondary fingers in respect of plant growth characteristics, yield/plant and size of mother rhizome, primary fingers and secondary fingers production. Although, mother rhizome and primary fingers were at par in terms of plant growth, yield and size of secondary fingers, but former was a better planting material in terms of size of mother rhizome and primary fingers. It is therefore recommended that the growers should use either mother rhizome or primary fingers as planting material to raise the turmeric crop.