Effect of spacing and varieties on growth, yield and chemical constituents of Turmeric plants.

Turmeric is one of the minor root crops currently receiving research attention in Egypt. A field experiment was conducted at the Experimental Farm of Faculty of Agriculture Cairo U niversity, Egypt to determine the effects of spacing and variety on the growth, yield and chemical constituents of turmeric plant during the two seasons of 2008/09 and 2009/10. The treatments comprised three spacing between plants (15, 25 and 35 cm) and tw o varieties of Turmeric ( Cur- cuma aromatic Salisb. (C.a) and Curcuma domesticaValeton (C.d)). The results obtained indicated that spacing between plants was significant on plant height, leaves width and rhizome weight in the two seasons. While interaction effects were not significant on leave number. The rhizome yield significantly influenced by the spacing between plants. Also, total essential oil, carbohydrate and curcumine increased significantly by the studied parameters. The spacing 25 cm and Curcuma aromatica variety gave the best performance for all growth, yield and chemical constituents followed by 15 cm spacing. High significant correlation between rhizome yield and total essential oil, carbohydrate and curcumine was n o- ticed. Results concluded that turmeric can be planted by increasing the spacing between plants to 25 cm for getting high growth and yield of Turmeric.