Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

Vol 26, Issue 2, 2020; Page No.(847-854)

SUNAN CANDLENUT (REUTALIS TRISPERMA (BLANCO) AIRY SHAW) LAND FERTILITY IMPROVEMENT USING BIOPORE IN ALFISOLS

Budi Santoso, Soemarno, Zaenal Kusuma and Moch Dawam Maghfoer

Abstract

Sunan candlenut is an annual plant that can grow on marginal land, with the characteristics of marginal land is having a limited ability in the supply of nutrients, air, and plants. Based on this, it is necessary to improve the level of soil fertility through Bio-pore. Bio-pore technology has long been discovered, but the use of this technology for plants is still very few. Sunan hazelnut leaf waste is quite large during the dry season, where plants enter the flowering period, which is around July to August. Sunan candlenut leaves that physiologically dry fall to the ground, then replaced by new shoots, and flower buds appear to become ovaries. In such conditions, plants need a large number of nutrients, especially macronutrients. The study was conducted in 2017, using soil types that belong to the Alfisols category, the altitude of 323 m above sea level, and rainfall of 1500 mm per year. The coordinates are at 8o12’0.4.66 “South Latitude and 112o27’0.037" East Longitude. The treatments used were arranged using a Randomized Block Design (RBD) and repeated 5 times, with treatment arrangements are, a). Without using pipe (0), without filled with Sunan candlenut dried leaves; b). 20 cm pipe length, filled with 410 grams of dried Sunan candlenut leaves; c). 30 cm pipe length, filled with 615 grams of dried Sunan candlenut leaves; d). 40 cm pipe length, filled with 820 grams of dried Sunan candlenut leaves and e). 50 cm pipe length, filled with 1025 grams of dried Sunan candlenut leaves. All treatments were planted under the canopy of the Sunan candlenut tree. The moisture content of Sunan candlenut dried leaves 9.4%. The parameters observed included plant height, stem circumference, number of branches, canopy width, Carbon, Nitrogen, and C/N ratio analysis, and also Organic Matter. The research aims to determine how far the contribution of organic material sourced from Sunan candlenut dried leaves through the Bio-pore process to improve Alfisols soil fertility. The results showed that the Biopore treatment did not affect the vegetative parameters of Sunan candlenut plants such as height, stem circumference, canopy width and the number of branches, but had a significant effect on organic-C, total- N, and organic matter in Alfisols as for the C/N ratio, it has not been affected. Based on this, the use of the Bio-pore system by utilizing Sunan Candlenut dried leaves can improve soil fertility.