Effects of seed rhizome size on growth and yield of ginger cultivated using fertigation system

Abstract

Ginger planting in Malaysia is usually carried out using shifting cultivation technique. This technique is practiced due to the infertile soils and the need to avoid soil-borne diseases that could infect the plant roots. Fertigation system could overcome the above problem and replaces the shifting cultivation technique, which is detrimental to the environment. Since the rhizome is the planting material, it is necessary to determine its suitable size and feasibility using this system. An experiment was conducted to study the influence of seed rhizome size on the growth and yield of ginger, thus determine an optimum seed rhizome size for the fertigation cultivation techniques. The study was conducted under rain shelter equipped with an irrigation system to supply fertiliser solution at a scheduled time. The study revealed that 1 g of rhizome seed yield fresh rhizome weight by 53 times after a nine-month cultivation period. It is concluded that the greater the seed rhizome size/weight, the larger is the fresh rhizome.