Performance of ginger, turmeric and mukhi kachu under shade of mango orchard.
Haque M. E., Roy A. K., Sikdar B.
Author Affiliation: Institute of Biological Sciences, Rajshahi University, Rajshahi-6205, Bangladesh.
Horticultural Journal 17 : 101-107
Abstract : To determine whether ginger, turmeric and mukhi kachu (Colocasia esculenta) grow under shade of mango trees at 2 age levels, i.e. juvenile (8-10 years old) and adult (18-20 years old), an experiment was conducted in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, during 2001-02. The treatments comprised sole crops of ginger, turmeric and mukhi kachu, ginger+juvenile, ginger+adult mango, turmeric+juvenile mango, turmeric+adult mango, mukhi kachu+juvenile mango and mukhi kachu+adult mango. Ginger produced a high yield of 4.33 t/ha when grown under juvenile mango trees and a low yield of 0.92 t/ha when cultivated as a sole crop. A high yield (28.33 t/ha) of turmeric was obtained when it was grown as a sole crop and a moderate yield of 11.66 t/ha was obtained when it was grown under juvenile mango trees. Mukhi kachu produced a high yield of 11.53 t/ha when cultivated as a sole crop and a moderate yield of 8.60 t/ha when it was cultivated under juvenile mango trees. Higher gross return (Tk 39?270, 139?920 and 60?830/ha), net return (Tk 54?450, 91?265 and 39?270/ha) and benefit cost ratio (6.18, 2.88 and 2.82) were obtained when ginger, turmeric and mukhi kachu were intercropped with juvenile mango trees, respectively, compared with adult mango trees.