Turmeric

Turmeric consists of the boiled, dried, cleaned, and polished rhizomes of the Curcuma longa plant. It is a herbaceous perennial that grows about 60–90 cm tall, featuring a short stem with a cluster of leaves. The plant usually bears 7 to 12 leaves, and their sheaths combine to form a false stem (pseudostem). The leaf blades are dark green on the upper surface and pale green underneath, measuring approximately 30–40 cm in length and 8–12 cm in width.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Turmeric originated in India. Besides India, it is also grown in countries such as Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, various parts of East and West Africa, the South Pacific Islands, Madagascar, the Caribbean Islands, and Central America. Within India, its major cultivation regions include Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala.Turmeric is a tropical plant that thrives from sea level up to elevations of about 1200 meters above mean sea level. It grows well in light black soils, black clay loams, and red soils under both irrigated and rainfed conditions. However, the crop is sensitive to waterlogging and cannot tolerate alkaline soils.