Optimasi Dosis Pupuk Kalsium dan Magnesium pada Bibit Kelapa Sawit (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.) di Pembibitan Utama

Oil palm is one of the important plantation crops in the plantation sector. Increased oil palm plantation area causes the need for the availability of oil palm seedlings in large quantities. Good quality oil palm seedlings were obtained through intensive maintenance especially fertilization. Fertilizers needed for the growth of oil palm seedlings include calcium and magnesium fertilizers. The objective of this experiment was to determine the optimum rates of calcium and magnesium fertilizer for oil palm seedling (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.). This experiment was conducted at Cikabayan Experimental Station, IPB Darmaga, Bogor, from December 2011 to November 2012. The experimental design used was factorial randomized block design with three replications. The first factor was Ca fertilizer rates i.e., 0, 5, 10, and 20 g CaCO3 plant-1. The second factor was Mg fertilizer rates, i.e., 0, 24, 48, and 96 g MgSO4 plant-1. The results showed that calcium affected stomatal density, whereas magnesium fertilizer affected morphological and physiological variables (stomatal density and chlorophyll content) of oil palm seedling. Based on the plant height and stem diameter, the recommended rate of magnesium fertilizer for 8 months oil palm seedlings in the main nursery was 58 g plant-1. This total rate should be applied at different amount every month from 1-8 month, at 2.0, 2.0, 8.0, 9.3, 8.8, 9.3, 9.4 and 9.3 g MgSO4 plants-1, respectively. The optimum rate of calcium fertilizer was not able to be determined in this research

Application of Vermicompost with Different Feeding Material for Inducing Rice Plant Resistance Against Brown Planthopper (Nilaparvata Lugens Stål.) Attack

Brown planthopper (BPH) is a major pest in rice plants and has become a global pest. This pest causes hopperburn in rice plants. This research aimed to know the effect of vermicompost from different feeding materials on rice plant damage by brown planthopper attack. This research was carried out between November 2019–March 2020 at the Sistandu integrated farming system, Serang City, Banten. The experiment method used in this research was a factorial Randomized Block Design (RBD) and consisted of two factors with three replications. The first factor was vermicompost (P) 5 levels, while the second factor was rice varieties (V) with two groups resulting in ten treatments. Data were analyzed with ANOVA, then followed by a 5% DMRT. The results showed that the application of vermicompost with different feeding materials had non-significant effects on growth of rice plants in the vegetative phase and fecundity of the BPH. However, it significantly affected the intensity of rice plant damage in the generative phase, the offspring population of BPH, and the BPH feeding rate. While the use of two varieties of rice did not have distinct effects on all parameters. There was no interaction effect between the two factors tested, both vermicompost feeding material treatment and rice plant variety, to all the parameters that have been studied