Efficacy of Paper Mill Sludge Along with Organic and Inorganic Nutrients on Growth and Yield of Turmeric ( Curcuma longa L . )

Red soils are strongly to moderately acidic with low to medium organic matter and poor water retentive capacity. These soils are deficient in macro as well as micronutrients like boron and molybdenum. Being a commercially cultivated crop turmeric production was drastically affected in such type of soil. To defence against the above said crisis an experiment was conducted with seven treatments and replicated thrice, at Regional Research & Technology Transfer Station (OUAT), during kharif-2012, under Eastern Ghat High Land zone of Odisha, to assess the efficacy of paper mill sludge (PMS) with a mixture of organic and inorganic fertilizers on turmeric cv. Roma. Results revealed that application of 100% Recommended Dose of Fertilizer with PMS i.e. (T3) recorded highest fresh rhizome yield of 285.30 q per ha followed by 100% RDF i.e. T2 with 261.83 q per ha which is at par with T3. Maximum plant height of 136.97 cm along with highest weight of 73.25 g and 98.27 g of primary and secondary fingers per clump respectively were obtained from T3.


Introduction
Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.), one of the Indian customary medicinal plant used in Ayurveda, Unani and Siddha medicine as home remedy for various diseases, botanically it belongs to the family Zingiberaceae.It is a perennial plant having a short stem with large oblong leaves and bears ovate, pyriform or oblong rhizomes, which are often branched and brownish-yellow in colour.Turmeric is used as a food additive (spice), preservative and colouring agent in Asian countries, including China and South East Asia.It is also considered as auspicious and is a part of religious rituals.In old Hindu medicine, it is extensively used for the treatment of sprains and swelling caused by injury.In recent times, it is extensively used as digestive aid and treatment for fever, inflammation, wounds, infections, dysentery, arthritis, injuries, trauma, jaundice and other liver problems.It is considered to be safest herb of choice for all blood disorders since it purifies, stimulates and builds blood.
India is projected to have a population of 1.7 billion by 2050 and there is no possibility of increase in cultivable land (Anonymous, 2014).Consecutively India produces 11.9 lakh MT of turmeric from an area of 2.3 lakh ha with an average productivity of 5.1 MT per ha (Saxena et al., 2014).Odisha produces around 0.3 lakh MT of turmeric from an area of 0.025 lakh ha with an average productivity of 12.10 tonne per ha.However, the productivity of turmeric remains constant since 2012 to till date (Anonymous, 2015).On the other hand the consumption pattern of turmeric is increased frequently due to its high therapeutic and nutritional value.To cater the requirement of the increasing population and per capita consumption, there will be required for higher production from a precise unit of land.This demands an increase in average productivity from the same piece of land.But inadequate plant nutrition causes serious disorders in turmeric as well as enormous loss in yield.Higher productivity is possible through quality planting material, balanced nutrition and optimum plant health management.Integrated approach of nutrient management is found beneficial for maintenance of soil fertility and sustaining crop productivity through all possible sources of plant nutrients.
In Odisha turmeric is extensively cultivated in the districts like Kandhamal, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Nawarangapur and Malkangiri.Red soil covers about 7.14 m ha of lands and being the highest coverage of all soil groups of the state, extend to the above said districts.The soils are strongly to moderately acidic with low to medium organic matter and poor water retentive capacity.These soils are deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus.Micronutrients like boron and molybdenum are highly deficient in these soils.These soils have low cation exchange capacity with high phosphate and sulphur absorption property and deficient in calcium and magnesium.Water soluble phosphates get fixed and become unavailable to crop plants.Applications of in-soluble phosphates two weeks before sowing seeds or mixed application of insoluble rock phosphates and single super phosphate at equal proportion (1:1) makes the best utilization of phosphate.Soil acidity is corrected by application of lime.Application of 1 to 2 ton per ha of paper mill sludge corrects soil acidity as described by Sahu and Mishra (2005).
Keeping these in view, the present experiment was conducted to find out the effect of paper mill sludge (PMS) on turmeric along with various organic and inorganic fertilizers viz.Farm Yard Manure (FYM) Vermicompost (VC) and chemical fertilizers as recommended dose of fertilizer (125:100:100 NPK Kg per ha).

Experimental Site
The experiment was conducted at Regional Research & Technology Transfer Station (OUAT) Semiliguda under Eastern Ghat High Land zone (18 o 42′N, 82 o 30′E, elevation of 884 m.a.s.l.) of Odisha during kharif 2012.The soil of experimental field was red and laterite with sandy to clay loam in texture.The pH of the soil was 5.8 with low in organic carbon (0.03-0.05%), available N (150-170Kg per ha), available P (16-18 kg per ha) and available K (152-160 kg per ha).

Climatic Situation of the Experimental Site
The climatic situation of the experimental site was hot and humid with an annual mean rainfall of 1567 mm, most of which (90%) was received during the month of June to September, mean summer and winter temperature were 34 o C and 12 o C respectively.

Experimental Management
Turmeric cv.Roma was planted on 11 th June 2012 with a seed rate of 20 q per ha, spacing of 30 cm × 20 cm in a plot size of 10 m × 9 m.The PMS was applied 30 days before planting.FYM, VC and fertilizer was applied as basal dose as per the treatment schedule.Immediate after planting mulching was done by using dry niger stalk and silver oak leaves.All other scheduled cultural operations until the harvest of the crop were followed uniformly to obtain a healthy crop production.At matured stage the above ground dried portion (shoot) was removed carefully before harvesting to obtain good and healthy rhizomes.The rhizomes were harvested subsequently the yield and yield attributes of fresh rhizomes were recorded.

Statistical Analysis
The data recorded on vegetative growth, yield and yield attributing parameters were subjected to statistical analysis and treatment mean were compared at 5% level of probability as derived by K. A. Gomez and A. A. Gomez (1984).

Effect on Growth and Yield Attributes
Effect of paper mill sludge on plant height, number of tillers per plant, number of leaves per tiller, leaf length, leaf breadth, number of primary fingers per clump, number of secondary fingers per clump, weight of primary fingers per clump and weight of secondary fingers per clump are presented in Table 1.All the growth parameters and yield attributes achieved higher values for PMS along with 100% recommended dose of fertilizer.Highest plant height (136.97 cm), number of tillers per plant (4.13), number of leaves per tiller (8.30), leaf length (50.70), and leaf breadth (17.17 cm) were recorded with application of PMS along with 100% RDF(T3).This is due to