2003-08-28
The Hindu

The two promising turmeric varieties Varna (left) and Sona (right) have higher curcumin content than the other popular varieties.

SCIENTISTS AT the department of Plantation Crops and Spices, College of Horticulture in the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), Vellanikkara, have developed two high yielding varieties of turmeric with high curcumin content. These promising varieties were released for commercial cultivation by the KAU recently.

The team including Dr. Alice Kurian, Dr. E.V. Nybe, Dr. P.A. Valsala, Dr. Asha Sankar and Dr. G.S. Nair, were working for more than a decade on the collection and evaluation of the germplasm material collected from all over the country, and successfully developed the two elite varieties of medium duration (240 to 270 days). These varieties showed field tolerance to Taphrina leaf spot disease, according to them.

One of the varieties is christened as Sona, and this was developed through clonal selection of local germplasm collected from Chundakuzhy. Its yield potential is about 4.02-7.05 tonnes of dry rhizomes per hectare.

The curcumin content of the dry rhizomes of this variety is 7.11 per cent, and its oleoresin content is 10.25 per cent. It contains 4.40 per cent of volatile oil. The rhizomes of Sona are medium bold with no tertiary fingers. The scales on the rhizomes are prominent and dark brown.

The other variety, named Varna, was developed through clonal selection from Mannarcad, and it has a yield potential of 4.1 to 6.37 tonnes of dry rhizomes per hectare.

It has a curcumin content of 7.87 per cent, and an oleoresin content of 10.80 per cent. The rhizomes of this variety contained 4.56 per cent volatile oil. The rhizomes of Varna are also medium bold. However, it produced more numbers of mother rhizomes and tertiary fingers are present.

The two varieties were extensively field tested in the past several years, and both the varieties performed exceedingly well both in the research stations as well as in the farmers' holdings. Their high yields coupled with other desirable field characteristics will make them attractive to the growers.

Turmeric, being the most popular colouring spice and therapeutic agent, is valued for the curcumin content, which imparts yellow hue to the rhizomes. These two varieties with high curcumin content are sure to fetch a premium price in the market, according to the scientists.

These high yielding varieties can be cultivated in all the turmeric growing regions of the State. The cultural practices for high yielding turmeric varieties can be adopted to grow them as well. The two varieties respond well to sound crop management practices.

The varieties grow luxuriantly with application of more of organic amendments such as vermi compost and powdered neem cake, and frequent spraying with cow's urine and vermi wash.

Application of biofertilizers, and introduction of beneficial soil microorganisms such as Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas contribute to warding off soil-borne pathogens inflicting turmeric.

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