Alley Cropping and Organic Compost: An Efficient and Sustainable Agro-Ecological Strategy for Improving Turmeric ( Curcuma longa L.) Growth and Attributes

Yassin M. Soliman, Wagdi S. Soliman () and Ahmed M. Abbas
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Yassin M. Soliman: Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag 82524, Egypt
Wagdi S. Soliman: Horticulture Department, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Aswan University, Aswan 81528, Egypt
Ahmed M. Abbas: Department of Biology, College of Science, King Khalid University, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Alley cropping is a sustainable agriculture approach that improves ecosystem services while also promoting biodiversity. The current study was conducted over two seasons, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, to examine the impact of leucaena–turmeric alley cropping and organic compost addition as agroforestry systems on the growth, yield and characteristics of the turmeric crop. Alley cropping included four treatments: control (turmeric as sole crop), turmeric cultivated between leucaena trees pruned at 1 m height, leucaena trees pruned at 1.5 m height and unpruned leucaena trees. Meanwhile, organic compost rates were control (received recommended NPK) and 17 and 34 m 3 ha −1 . This study’s results showed that growing turmeric in between rows of unpruned leucaena resulted in maximum turmeric plant growth, production and characteristics. Minimum turmeric growth and yield parameters were recorded with plants grown between pruned leucaena at 1 m and those where the turmeric was the sole crop. In addition, compost addition at 34 m 3 ha −1 led to maximum growth, yield and attributes of the turmeric crop. Compost addition and alley cropping were shown to be an effective and sustainable agro-ecological system for increasing turmeric output and quality. The study demonstrated the importance of selecting the appropriate crop–tree combination in this system and it was discovered that leguminous leucaena trees significantly contributed to improving fertility and nutrient availability, which in turn improved the growth characteristics of turmeric, particularly the leaf-area index and its nutrient content, which are beneficial to the characteristics of the rhizome yield and curcumin content.

Keywords: alley cropping; leucaena; turmeric; organic compost; curcumin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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