All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Weed Control, Orissa University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar-751 003, India.
Weed survey was conducted during kharif seasons of 1994 and 1995 in turmeric growing areas of Kandhamal district of Orissa. Local turmeric with average duration of 200 days was encountered with 37 different weeds (11 grasses, 3 sedges and 23 broadleaf weeds) belonging to 17 families with a weed density of 91/m2. The perennial weeds viz., Cyperus rotundus L., Digitaria ciliaris (Retz.) Koel, Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Sporobolus diander (Retz.) P. Beauv with importance value indices of 29.94, 10.78, 9.69 and 9.38, respectively, exerted steep competition to the crop. Annual weeds were greatly suppressed by mulching. With gradual decrease in sal forest area, many fields were inadequately mulched and subjected to serious weed infestation. Alley cropping of turmeric with multi-purpose legume trees, timely planting, deep tillage and regular crop rotation are suggested for sustained high turmeric productivity.
