KITTUR RANI CHANNAMMA COLLEGE OF HORTICULTURE, ARABHAVI

University of Horticultural Sciences, Bagalkot

Dr. P. M Gangadharappa Prof , PMA dept

KRCCH

Submitted to

Costus

Costus S.N. :- Costus speciosus

F. :- Costaceae

Economic part:- Rhizomes

Active constituent:- Rhizomes contain Diosgenin (2.12%) out of total Sapogenins (3.86%), curcumin and curcuminoids

COSTUS PLANT

Rhizome

Common namesCane ReedSpiral FlagCrepe GingerSpiral GingerMalay GingerSetawarSetawar HaliaWhite CostusSetawar TawarWild Ginger

Medicinal uses 

Leaves

Leaves are also crushed and used in a poultice applied to the

head.

Plant

In Malaysia , the plant is boiled in water to prepare a

decoction, which is used to bathe a patient with high fever

Decoction of the plant are applied as a lotion for smallpox

Stem

The scrapings of the stem are applied to leprous skin

Shoot

Juice of the tender shoots or pith is squeezed into the eye for

ailments of the eye

Rhizome

The juice of the fresh rhizome is taken as a purgative

In India, the rhizome is powered and taken for colds,

rheumatism and pneumonia. It is also believed to be a tonic,

depurative and aphrodisiac

In Java, the rhizome is used after confinement, and also to treat

syphilis

Diosgenin, widely used as starting material in commercial production of steroidal hormones,

It is chiefly obtained from certain species of Dioscorea of which Dioscorea deltoidea constitutes the main Indian raw material.

This source, however, has limitations in ensuring large supplies on a sustained basis due to its restricted distribution in few localities in North-West Himalaya and poor response to domestication.

It become necessary to search for an alternative botanical source which could be easily cultivated under a wide range of agro-climatic conditions and provide the industry with a raw material at comparative low price and on sustained basis

A number of plants were found to contain steroidal sapogenins but none could satisfy all the criteria of such substitute.

The report of the presence of diosgenin in the rhizomes of Costus speciosus (Family: Zingiberaceae) raised the hope of developing such a source as the plant was widely distributed in India.

Origin and Distribution

Costus is native to Indo-Malayan regioon

In India the plant naturalizes in Sub-Himalayan tract, in parts of

central India and in the Western Ghats of Maharashtra, Karnataka

and Kerala.

Two varieties of C.specious viz., nepalensis found only in

Nepal and Arunachal Pradesh and var. argyrophyllus having a wide

distribution in India have been described.

Description of the plant

The Plant has broad, lanceolate, dorsally silky leaves, borne

spirally on stout, erect or sometimes ascending stems. The flowers

are white, with a large incurved lip.

These are clustered in terminal globose heads characterized with

large and shiny brown or red bracts.

Both diploid (2x=18) and tetraploid forms occur in nature.

C.speciosus perenniates through underground

Rhizome which lies a few centimeters below the soil surface.

The rhizome is differentiated into nodes and internodes.

The vegetative activity above the ground lasts for about 7-8

months.

Stems sprout during the month of April, flowering commences

during July and continues till the end of September,

The fruits ripen during the middle of November, after which the

leaves are shed and majority of the canes start drying up.

The underground portion remains dormant from December to

March.

Soil

The plant can be grown on a variety of soils ranging

from coastal alluvium to heavy brown forest type.

It grows more luxuriantly on alluvial soils having a sandy

to clay loam texture with a pH of 5.7-7.5.

ClimateIt can be grown from sea level to about 1500 m elevations. But the areas

situated at elevations between 400 and 600 m above mean sea level.

Having a subtropical climate with an rainfall ranging between 1000 and 1500

mm bear good quality material. High humidity and minimum temperature 13°

C is best for its cultivation.

A well marked dry period between monsoon precipitation results in higher

diosgenin content in naturally occuring plant populations.

Coastal regions and regions with high annual rainfall and humidity

throughout the year bear poor quality raw material in terms of diosgenin

content.

Cultivation :

Propagation

Although the plant can be propagated from seeds, stem cuttings and

rhizomes

Commercially it is being propagated only through rhizome cuttings.

Selection of rhizomes for planting is however important. The rhizomes

have a number of nipple shaped buds most of them being concentrated

around the stem scars and the tips.

The formation of buds on the rhizomes is poor during April. Cuttings

of rhizome pieces for propagation should have at least two viable buds.

The rhizome pieces weighing around 40g should be selected.

Propn cont….

It can also be grown through seeds. Costus seeds are dispersed by birds when they feed on the fruits. The percentage of seed germination is about 62%.

Seed rate: 2000 to 2400kg/ha. Rhizomes required.

Land preparationLand is ploughed 2-3 times and soil is brought to a fine tilth.

FYM at the rate of 15 tonnes is applied and mixed well with the soil. Furrows are opened at 50 cm apart.

Planting : The rhizome pieces are placed at a depth of 8-10 cm taking care to place the eye buds facing upwards, horizontally in rows at 50 cm apart and covered with soil.

The crop is irrigated immediately after planting. Thick sized pieces show a slow rate of sprouting till 40-45 days of planting.

This is due to eye buds being dormant on these rhizome pieces which take a longer time to develop especially in case of the crop planted during April. After 70-75 days about 90-95 percent sprouting is obtained

Desiccation of young sprouts has been observed during hot summer months, necessitating liberal water supply during this period.

Best period of planting is from 3rd week of April to 3rd week of May. Rhizomes planted during June and July complete germination within 60 days but yields obtained are low as the crop has a shorter growth period in the first year before dormancy sets in.

The active vegetative growth period of crop is from July to Mid September and maximum tuberization takes place between September to November before dormancy sets in.

The effect of planting on ridges versus flat beds indicated that there was no significant difference in yield due to the method of planting although a higher yield of fresh rhizomes was obtained in the crop planted on ridges.

Manures and Fertilizers:

It is a rhizomatus crop and to compensate the biomass production, heavy manuring is required.

In a trial conducted at Vallanikkara, the tentative optimum dose for obtaining the maximum yield of diosgenin was observed to be 45 kg N, 30 kg P2O5 and 30 kg K2O along with 15 tonnes of FYM per hectare.

The farm yard manure and half dose of phosphorus and potash are applied in 2 split doses at 20 and 60 days of planting, the remaining half dose of phosphorus and potash is given along with the second dose of nitrogen after 60th day of planting.

Irrigation :

The crop requires a liberal supply of water for successful

growth. The crop planted during April and May requires to

be irrigated atleast two to three times a month till the

outbreak of monsoon.

As September to November is the period of miximum

tuberization atleast two irrigations should be given.

During the dormancy period (December to March), if

winter rains are scanty, there is need for irrigation.

If moisture conditions are adequate it has been observed that

the crop sprouts towards the end of March or early April.

With a liberal supply of irrigation during the hot summer

months excellent crop growth is observed during these months.

Thus, for a crop to be harvested after a period of 17 to 18

months, 14 to 17 irrigations are required.

Weeding and Inter-culture

One weeding during the sprouting period of the crop followed by

two more keeps the crop fairly free of weeds.

During the period of active vegetative growth (July to September)

most of the weeds are suppressed. If the monsoon is erratic, there is

need to remove weeds at least once.

Weeding once or twice during the dormant season helps in better

sprouting of the crop during the next season.

During the second year of the crop, the inter-row space between

plant is covered up by the canes and only two to three weeding are

necessary before the crop is harvested in August or September

Pests and Diseases

There are no major pests which affect this crop. However,

following are some diseases which are observed to affect the crop.

1. Rhizome rot

It is caused by Phytophthora solani and develops very fast from July

to August, in the rhizomes kept in storage after the harvest.

Initially symptoms start from the tip from the injure portion of the

rhizomes. Subsequently, the rhizome becomes light brown and gives

offensive odour.

Properly harvested rhizomes without injuries can be stored for long

time. No chemical control has been worked out.

2. Pythium rhizome rot

It is caused by Pythium spinosum.

In this disease, the infection in the plant starts from injured

portion of the rhizomes and in later stages rhizomes turn

into dirty brown in colour, the leaves become yellowish

brown and finally dry off.

Selection of rhiozmes from the healthy crop and dipping the

rhizomes in fungicidal solutions like Benlate, Bavistin or

Dithane-z-78 has been recommended to control the disease.

3. Leaf blight

It is caused by Curvularia paradisii. It is very severe from July to

September.

The symptoms develop on the leaf lamina as a small, spherical to

irregular spots, light brown in colour, and in advanced stages they

become dark brown upward.

Curling of young leaves towards upward is very common. In

advanced stages all the leaves fall down leaving bare stem in the

field.

This pathogen can be effectively controlled by spraying 0.3 per

cent Dithane M-45 at fortnightly intervals.

Harvesting and Yield

It is observed that diosgenin content is maximum when the crop is in an active stage of vegetative growth, and when it is of 16-17 months old.

Two operations viz., harvesting the aerial shoots and digging out the rhizomes are required to complete the harvesting in costus.

After harvesting the aerial shoots, the most satisfactory and economic method to dig out the rhizomes is to run the tractor drawn cultivator crosswise twice or thrice in the field and simultaneously collect the uprooted rhizomes manually.

A negligible amount of damage is caused to rhizomes during the operations.

The harvested rhizomes are spread out for a few days and the earth sticking on the rhiozmes is removed or alternatively the rhizomes are washed under the jet of water from the tube well discharge pipe.

The rhizomes have to be chopped and dried before diosgenin can be extracted.

Hand chopping is time consuming and costly, so chopping by mechancial means has to be resorted to.

Several methods have been tried but the ordinary wheat theresher with a little modification is found satisfactory for chopping the fresh rhizomes.

Very fine chopped material dries quickly (2-3 days).

An yield of 28 to 30 tonnes per hectare of fresh rhiozmes may

be obtained in the Ist season crop (8-9 months) harvested in

the dormant season, but the diosgenin yield would be poor.

On account of low recovery. The crop should therefore be

harvested after 17-19 months of planting for better yield of

fresh rhiozmes and diosgenin content.

From the second season crop (17-19 months), an yield of 50

tonnes of fresh rhizomes from which 75-125 kilgrams of

crude diosgenin may be obtained.

Thank You