International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No.21, 172-179
172
Research Article Open Access
Harvesting Techniques and Application of Bio-stimulants on Growth and Leaf
Yield of Curry Leaf (
Murraya koenigii
Spreng.)
Suresh V.
, P. Jansirani
Department of Spices and Plantation Crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India
Corresponding email
International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No.21 doi
Received: 09 Jun., 2017
Accepted: 25 Jun., 2017
Published: 18 Aug., 2017
Copyright
©2017 Suresh and Jansirani, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Suresh V., and Jansirani P., 2017, Harvesting techniques and application of bio-stimulants on growth and leaf yield of curry leaf (
Murraya koenigii
Spreng.),
International Journal of Horticulture, 7(21): 172-179 (doi
Abstract
A field experiment on effect of harvesting techniques and application of bio-stimulants on growth and yield of curry leaf
was conducted at Department of Spices and Plantation Crops, Horticultural College and Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University, Periyakulam during 2015. The experiment was laid out in split-split design consisting of three factors,
viz.,
factor – I
pruning levels (L
1
– 15 cm and L
2
– 30 cm), factor – II harvest intervals (H
1
– 2 months harvest interval and H
2
– 3 months harvest
interval) and factor –III foliar applications (N
1
– 0.25 per cent ZnSO
4
, N
2
– 0.25 per cent FeSO
4
, N
3
– 2 per cent seaweed extract and
N
4
– 0.3 per cent humic acid) constituting sixteen treatment combinations. The results have shown that among the harvesting
techniques and bio-stimulants the highest growth characters
viz.,
plant height (127.84 and 124.78 cm at first and second harvest),
number of secondary branches (7.01 and 13.67 at first and second harvest), leaflet length (7.21 and 7.26 cm at first and second
harvest) and leaflet width (3.94 and 3.98 cm at first and second harvest). It was also observed that yield characters
viz
., leaf yield per
plant (643.50 and 714.21 g at first and second harvest) and leaf yield per hectare (4468.46 and 4959.47 kg at first and second
harvest).
Keywords
Harvest height; Harvest intervals; Foliar application of humic acid and curry leaf
1 Introduction
It is commonly known as curry-leaf tree and is a native of India, Srilanka and other South Asian countries.
Leaves of
M. koenigii
are rich in minerals, vitamin A and vitamin B, and are a rich source of carbohydrates,
proteins, amino acids and alkaloids of the 14 global species belonging to the genus
Murraya
, only two are
available in India, namely,
M. koenigii
(Spreng.) and
M. paniculata
(L.) Jack (M.
exotica
(L.) of the two, the
former is more popular due to its large spectrum of medicinal properties and also because of the use of its leaves
for centuries as a natural flavoring agent in various curries and food items. The plant has been used in traditional
Indian systems of medicine for a variety of ailments. The leaves, bark and root of the plant are used in indigenous
medicine as a tonic, stomachic, stimulant and carminative. An infusion of the roasted leaves is used to stop
vomiting. The green tender leaves are eaten raw for the cure of dysentery. A decoction of the leaves is sometimes
given with bitters as a febrifuge and the leaves have been claimed to be used with mint in the form of chutney to
check vomiting. It has also been used as an antiperiodic and many a time the powdered dry leaf, mixed with
honey and juice of betel nut, is recommended in the Ayurvedic system of medicine.
In moringa, Crosby and Cracker (2007) studied the effect of four pruning methods on leaf yield. The four
methods were (i) defoliation (DFF), (ii) laterals pruned to 10 cm (LP
10
), (ii) two stem harvested every 30 days
(2S30) and (iv) six lateral per stem (6 LPS). The results of the study showed that the treatment LP
10
(lateral
pruned to 10 cm) gave the highest nodes per tree with lateral branches (8.3), laterals per node (2.0), lateral per
trees (10.2), total stem length (162 mm) fresh weight (34 g), leaf dry weight (25.2 g), stem dry weight (7.9 g) and
total dry weight (33.0 g). In Java citronella, Singh and Ganguly (1973) reported that, under Assam conditions,
maximum of four harvests were possible during September, December, March and June. Further they also
observed that June and September harvest gave higher herb and oil yields than other harvests. The first harvest
