Growth and Production of Japanese Taro (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum) by Using Biofertilizer and Plastic Mulch Masyhur Syafiuddin(a*), Asmita Ahmad(a), and Dewi Sartika (a)
a) Department.of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia
Abstract
Japanese taro production in Indonesia is around 20 tons/hectare, but it is still relatively low due to the low level of farmer management including fertilizing and watering especially in dry season. The aim is to determine the effect of biofertilizer and mulch on the growth and production of japanese taro plants. This research used a split plot design. The main plot was plastic mulch consisting of two levels, namely control and plastic mulch, while the subplots were biofertilizers, which consisted of two levels: control and biofertilizer- and with four replications. Each plot planted with 22 plants. Parameters observed were plant height, number of leaves, leaf width, fresh plant weight, plant dry weight, plant tuber yield, and number of tubers. The results are plastic mulch treatment had an effect on plant height with the largest average found in the M1 treatment of 55.98 cm, the largest average leaf width in the M1 treatment was 25.09 cm, the average fresh weight of the M1 plant was 197, 03 g, and the average dry weight of M1 plants was 22.50 g. The biofertilizer treatment affected plant height, with the largest average found in treatment B1 of 55.00 cm. The most significant average number of leaves in treatment B1 was 6.53 strands. The largest average leaf width in treatment B1 was 25.16 cm. Mulch affects the production of taro plants with the highest number of tubers found in the M1 mulch treatment of 32 bulbs with a weight of 881.50g/24.2m2. In contrast, the biofertilizer treatment was not significant in the production of taro plants. We conclude that mulching can increase the number of tubers and tuber weight and more effective than the biofertilizer treatment and it combination in the dry season.
