Abstract
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is an economically important rhizome crop whose productivity is strongly influenced by plant population and nutrient availability. A two-year field experiment was conducted in 2019 and 2020 at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Agronomy, University of Cross River State, Obubra Campus, Nigeria, to evaluate the effects of plant population and fertilizer type on the growth, yield and yield components of turmeric. The experiment was arranged as a 4 × 4 factorial in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Four planting spacings (20 × 20, 20 × 30, 30 × 30 and 20 × 40 cm) were combined with four nutrient treatments: unfertilized control, 300 kg ha¹ NPK 15:15:15, 10 t ha⁻¹ moringa leaf manure, and 150 kg ha-¹ NPK + 5 t ha⁻¹ moringa leaf manure. Growth and yield parameters were evaluated. Fertilizer application significantly improved plant height, tiller production, leaf development, shoot dry matter, rhizome number and fresh rhizome yield compared with the unfertilized control. The integrated treatment of 150 kg ha⁻¹ NPK + 5 t ha⁻¹ moringa leaf manure generally produced the highest vegetative growth and fresh rhizome yield, attaining fresh rhizome yield of 6.34 and 6.52 t ha⁻¹ in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Plant spacing also influenced several growth and yield attributes, with wider spacings, particularly 30 × 30 cm and 20 × 40 cm, generally producing greater rhizome yield per plant and per unit area. The results in this study showed that combining inorganic and organic nutrient sources increased turmeric yield over sole inorganic fertilization. Therefore, for optimum yield of turmeric, it is recommended that moringa leaf biomass (5 t/ha) should be combined with 150 kg/ha NPK fertilizer at a spacing of 30 cm x 30 cm.
Key words: Tumeric, moringa, integrated nutrients, rhizome, tiller
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