Pengaruh Umur Panen Terhadap Viabilitas Benih Serta Hubungannya Dengan Produksi Terna Sambiloto (Andrographis Paniculata Nees

The influence of harvesting time on the seed viability andthe relationship with herb yield of king bitter(Andrographis paniculata Nees)One of the main factors influencing the viability of king bitter(Andrographis paniculata Nees) is appropriate harvesting time. Based onthis problem a research was conducted to study the relationship betweenseed maturity and seed viability, and herb yield of king bitter. The researchwas conducted at Cimanggu Experimental Station and in the laboratory ofIndonesian Medicinal and Aromatic Crops Research Institute (IMACRI)from March 2005 to March 2006. The experiment was arranged in arandomized block design with 10 seed maturity stages and 4 replications.Maturity seed tested was 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 daysafter anthesis. The observations were made on seed quality (percentage ofseed germination, and rate of seed germination), plant growth (plantheight, number of branches) and herb yield (fresh herb weight, leaf dryweight, and stem dry weight). The results of experiment indicated that (1)seed maturity affected seed germination, and rate of seed germination ofking bitter; the highest seed germination and germination rate wereachieved by seeds harvested at 21 and 22 days after anthesis, (2) stage ofseed harvesting affected on the plant height and number of branches at 1month after planting. The highest plant height and number of brancheswere found on the treatments of seeds harvested at 26 and 27 days afteranthesis, they were 39.63 and 36.58 cm and 16.71 and 16.61; (3) seedmaturity also affected herb production, such as wet weight of plants, dryweight of leaf and dry weight of steam at 3 moths after planting. Wetweight of plant, dry weight of leaf and dry weight of stem were achievedat the treatments of seeds harvested at 27 days after anthesis, they were291.25, 28.27 and 28.86 g. The lowest of wet of plant weight, dry weightof leaf and dry weight of stem were found on the seeds harvested at 18days after anthesis. They were 217.09, 22.10 and 20.24 g. Moreover, thestage of harvesting did not influence the number of branches at 3 monthsafter planting