DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM FOR STRAWBERRY PLANTS (FRAGARIA SP) : CASE STUDY IN PANDANREJO VILLAGE, BUMIAJI SUBDISTRICT, BATU CITY, INDONESIABambang Suharto, Jonathan Ebet Koehuan and Medha NandiniAbstract Strawberry plants can usually live in the highlands, while in land that is not in the highlands strawberries can live only during the rainy season. Strawberries can be categorized as fruits with high economic value. The high economic value found in strawberries is not accompanied by a high quantity of production. Strawberry plants are included in plants that can not stand the drought and therefore it is necessary to provide water regularly, especially during the dry season. One area that has been known to have a fairly large area of strawberry plantations is the city of Batu, East Java Province. Inappropriate irrigation is the main cause of the low productivity of strawberry plants, this can be seen from the strawberry plants that rot easily caused by excess water, because the provision of water through traditional irrigation, farmers provide water without any quantities that are in accordance with the needs of strawberry plants. Drip irrigation is chosen for strawberry plants so that the use of water for irrigation is more efficient and can improve the quality of the strawberries produced. The research method uses factorial randomized block design (RBD) which is arranged in a systematic and useful way to solve the problems examined in the research to be conducted. The results showed the results of the performance evaluation, drip irrigation design included in both categories with EU values of 84.98%, Ea 76.47%, CU 98.57% and SU 88.52%. The operational time of drip irrigation depends on crop water requirements and Kc value of strawberry plants. The operational time for drip irrigation tends to be longer when the plants are at the stage of growth and mid-season. When giving the best water for strawberry plants is done once every day to avoid drought in plants and have good strawberry crop production. |