Solutions for reducing gestation Period and increasing productivity of Turmeric in Paderu

Current practices of Paderu farmers:

Activity	Practice
Land preparation	2-3 times ploughing the soil
Variety	Local variety
Weeding	4-5 times depends on the weeds
Irrigation	Rain fed
Soil fertility	Very low FYM
Pest and disease management	No
Crop rotation	No
Harvesting	Manually
Inter crops	Piper langa + Maize + Cow pea +Red gram + castor

Solutions for Paderu turmeric farmers:

Furrows and Ridges:

Paderu soils are shallow and Turmeric plant requires loose soils with considerable depth for Rhizome development. The land should be thoroughly ploughed (4-6 times) to bring the soil to a fine tilth. Ridges and furrows with 45-60cm height and 25-30cms depth. Optimum spacing for sowing of Turmeric is 20cms between plants. Piper langa can be planted in the furrows.

Heavy manuring:

Turmeric needs heavy manuring, light soils requires more manuring than the heavy soils. Following table suggests the manuring details:

S.No	Manure	Quantity per acre	When to apply
1	Goat / cattle penning	Two days and one night	April - May
2	Farm Yard Manure/ Nadep compost	15 tons	After Ploughing as basal dressing
3	Neem cake / Castor cake	2.5 Qtls	After Ploughing as basal dressing
4	Neem cake / Castor cake	2.5 qtls	40 days after transplantation
5	Ghanajeevamrutham	5 qtls	80 days after transplantation
6	Ghanajeevamrutham	5 qtls	120 days after transplantation
7	Drava jeevamrutham	100lts	With each irrigation

Frequent irrigation:

Turmeric requires frequent irrigation. As Paderu soils are light soils, it requires 20 – 25 irrigation during the crop period. One or two ring wells may dug up to provide regular irrigation. Drip irrigation will lead to higher yields. Following stages are critical stages for irrigation:

A. Germination stage

B. Tillering stage

C. Rhaizome initiation stage

D. Rhizome development stage

Mulching:

Mulching with green /dried leaves, live mulch with creepers is essential for germination, check weed growth and to conserve soil moisture. Mulching with Dhaincha, Sunhemp, glyricidia are the best leaves for mulching.

Inter crops:

Currently Paderu farmers are using Piper langa as inter crop in Turmeric. They can include Chillies, brinjal, Maize and Ragi.

Partial shading:

Turmeric loves partial shade. As long term strategy Jack fruit /Mango can be promoted in Turmeric fields. This will help in increasing income and also works as risk mitigation measure.

 Replacement of planting material:

As Paderu farmers using same planting material for last 20-25 years, it is time to replace the planting material. They may gradually replace the planting material with planting material from Seethampeta (Similar conditions).

Crop rotation:

Crop rotation is very critical for enhancing yield and to conserve soil fertility. Crop rotation may be done with vegetables.