The Use of Lamtoro Plants as Organic Fertilizers for Cayenne Pepper Plants of Local Varieties (Capsicum frutescens L.)

Lamtoro is a dry land plant that is widely found in East Nusa Tenggara. The abundant availability of this plant causes this plant to be of no economic value. On the other hand, this plant contains a lot of nitrogen which can be used to supply nutrients for plants, by utilizing the leaf extract.Lamtoro leaf extract can be used as organic fertilizer for chili plants, where this plant has economic value and is in great demand by the public. This study aimed to determine the effect of various concentrations of lamtoro leaf extract which showed the best results on cayenne pepper. This research has been carried out on farmers' land located in the Liliba Family, Oebobo District, Kupang City which took place from April 2020 to July 2020. The design used in this study was a randomized block design (RAK) with 5 treatments and 4 replications, with treatment P0 (control), P1 (administration of 200 ccliter of lamtoro extract concentration of water-1), P2 (administration of 250 ccliter of water-1 extract of Lamtoro concentration). ), P3 (Giving Concentration of Lamtoro Extract 300 ccliter water-1), P4 (Giving Concentration of Lamtoro Extract 350 ccliter water-1). The results of this study indicate that the treatment of lamtoro leaf extract has a very significant effect on plant height(111cm), number of leaves (221.25 pieces), number of fruit (175.25 pieces), and fruit weight (128,875 kg)

Experiences of health professionals with nutritional support of critically ill patients in tertiary hospitals in Malawi

Background: Nutritional support is a recognized determinant of outcome in critically ill patients. Development of critical care services in low-income countries has not been accompanied by certain appropriate ancillary services and interventions, such as adequate nutritional support. This study was designed to investigate the experiences of health professionals who have provided nutritional supportive care to critically ill patients admitted to two major central hospitals in Malawi, with the aim of identifying the common practices in nutritional support in these settings.Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study in which 50 health professionals working in intensive care and high dependency units, admitting both adult and pediatric patients, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data were coded and then analyzed using SPSS version 16.0. Responses between the two hospitals were compared using Fisher’s exact test.Results: There was no difference in the composition of respondents from the two hospitals. About 60% of respondents had had experience with nutritional supplementation in their patients—mainly enteral. The most commonly used formulations were the “ready-to-use therapeutic feeds,” followed by modified milk. A high percentage of respondents (40%) reported having used dextrose solution as the sole nutritional supplement. Lack of in-service training, nonexistent nutrition protocols pertaining to acutely and critically ill patients, and a lack of clinical nutritionists were the major challenges identified.Conclusion: Knowledge of nutrient supplementation was poor among the respondents. The use of ready-to-use therapeutic feeds was quite common, although there is no evidence of its effectiveness in care of acutely critically ill patients. There is a need to establish nutritional support teams in these tertiary hospitals. Clinical nutritionists would ideally help train and play leadership roles in such teams, who would be responsible for assessing patients for their nutritional needs, and ensuring that the feeds provided to patients are appropriate and adequate for their needs

Effect of Giving Lamtoro Leaf Extract and Pruning on Cucumber Plant Production (Cucumis Sativus L.)

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) has a fairly good nutritional content and is in great demand by the public. Cucumber production in NTT continues to increase, but it is still low when compared to national production data. One of the efforts made is to use liquid organic fertilizers that are cheap and easy to get around us because they come from natural ingredients, namely plant residues or animal remains. Lamtoro leaf extract (Leucaena leucocephala, Ssp) is an organic fertilizer made from plants that is environmentally friendly. In addition to the fertilization factor, pruning activities are also needed to increase the weight of cucumber production. Pruning is a common cultivation action to limit excessive vegetative growth in plants so that nutrients or nutrients can be absorbed by the parts of plants that need them optimally. These nutrients can be provided by lamtoro leaf extract, then pruning is also carried out in order to reduce photosynthetic competition in order to increase cucumber production. Based on this description, it is felt that it is necessary to conduct research on the effect of giving concentration of lamptoro leaf extract and pruning on cucumber plant production. The purpose of this study was to determine the interaction of giving lamptoro leaf extract concentration and pruning on cucumber plant yields. This research was conducted from May to June 2022. This study was arranged using a randomized block design (RBD) in a factorial pattern with two factors. The first factor was the application of lamtoro leaf extract fertilizer consisting of four levels, namely: L0: control (without lamtoro leaf extract), L1: 400 cc of lamtoro leaf extract liter of water-1 plot-1, L2: 450 cc of lamtoro leaf extract liter of water-1 plot-1, L3: 500 cc of lamtoro leaf extract liter of water-1 plot-1. The second factor is pruning (P) consisting of three treatment levels, namely: P0: No pruning, P1: Pruning one leaf and one branch on segments 6–12, P2: Pruning two leaves and two branches on segments 6–12. The results obtained: administration of 500 cc of lamtoro leaf extract liter of water-1 plot-1 and pruning of two leaves and two branches on segments 6–12 of cucumber plants had a very significant effect on cucumber plant yields, concentration of 500 cc of lamtor leaf extract lamtoro liter of water-1 plot-1 and pruning two leaves and two branches on 6–12 plant nodes produced the best growth and yield of cucumber plants, the interaction between lamtor leaf extract and pruning resulted in plant length 79.33, fruit weight 284.83 g, fruit length 30 cm and fruit diameter of 4.48 cm. Recommendation: for cucumber cultivation, it is better to use POC of lamtor leaf extract 500 cc of lamtoro leaf extract liter of water-1 plot-1 and pruning of two leaves and two branches on internodes 6-12 plants. There needs to be further research on the use of POC concentrations of lamtoro leaf extract with higher concentrations to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers