Enhancing Shallot Growth with Coconut Shell Charcoal and Biocomposts | InformativeBD

I. Made Sunantra,  and Wawan Apzani, from the different institute of the Indonesia. wrote a research article about, Enhancing Shallot Growth with Coconut Shell Charcoal and Biocomposts. entitled, The effect of coconut shell charcoal (CSC) and liquid biocomposts on the growth and yield of shallot (Allium cepa L.) in dry land. This research paper published by the International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research (IJAAR). an open access scholarly research journal on Agronomy. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences | NNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.

Abstract

This research was conducted to assist farmers in Indonesia in overcoming the problem of scarcity of fertilizers, expensive fertilizer prices and soil conditions on dry lands. The method used is an experimental method with experiments in the field. The activity started in August, 2022 until February 2023. The design used was a Randomized Block Design (RBD) with factorial experiments. The first factor was Coconut Shell Charcoal (CSC) with 2 levels, namely T0 (soil without coconut shell charcoal) and T1 (soil and coconut shell charcoal). The second factor was liquid biocompost consisting of 5 levels, namely P0 (0 cc/litre water), P1 (1 cc/litre water), P2 (2 cc/litre water), P3 (3 cc/litre water) and P4 (4 cc/litre water). The results showed that coconut shell charcoal had a significant effect on shallot growth and yield. This treatment yielded 2.23 tonnes per hectare while the treatment without the addition of charcoal yielded 1.80 tonnes per hectare. The results of this study also showed that liquid biocompost had no significant effect on shallot growth and yield. However, the 4 cc/litre water liquid biocompost treatment gave better results, namely 2.43 tonnes per hectare when compared to the treatment without the addition of liquid biocompost with a yield of 1.80 tonnes per hectare. In addition, the results of data analysis showed that there was no interaction between coconut shell charcoal and liquid biocompost.

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Introduction

Shallots (Allium cepa L.) are one of the core commodities that can have an impact on inflation in Indonesia (Permentan, 2022). Shallots have an economic value with a high demand so that the cultivation of shallots has spread to almost every province in Indonesia. Anitasari et al. (2019), stated that even though shallots are not a basic necessity like rice, shallots are always needed as a seasoning for all Indonesian dishes. Every year the shallot harvested area decreases (BPS, 2020). This is influenced by the declining productivity of agricultural land as a result of the application of inorganic fertilizers (Hand et al., 2021), high doses of fertilization and pesticides that exceed recommended doses which have an impact on soil structure (Nur and Ismiati, 2007). The decrease in harvested area can be increased by utilizing dry land which has the potential to become productive agricultural land (Rahni et al., 2003). However, not all dry land is suitable for farming. This is due to soil limiting factors such as very steep slopes or shallow soil solums. Therefore, the management of dry land in each region will be different depending on the existing limiting factors (Matheus et al., 2017).

Kata et al. (2020) reported that to improve soil quality in dry land it is necessary to use organic matter. This is in accordance with the opinion of Suntoro (2003) that the application of organic matter can improve the physic, chemical and biological of the soil. Organic fertilizers are divided into two types, namely solid organic fertilizers and liquid organic fertilizers. Solid and liquid fertilizers both have the function of adding nutrients to plants for growth and production.

Planting media is an external factor needed by plants (Budiyani et al., 2023). A good planting medium is a medium that is able to provide sufficient amounts of water and nutrients for plant growth. This can be found in soils with good aeration, good aggregates, good water holding capacity and optimal root system (Lewu and Killa, 2020).

This study is aims to utilizing waste that is considered useless as a solution to improve soil conditions in dry land and reduce the use of expensive and rare synthetic chemical fertilizers. In a previous study Apzani et al. (2015) conducted research on solid organic fertilizers and the results were good. However, Apzani et al. 2018a said that liquid fertilizer has the advantage of being easy to carry and nutrients are directly available to plants and can be applied through roots or leaves. Apzani et al. (2015) also have shown that the coconut shell charcoal has no effect on maize growth and yield. So, that is the motivation for investigated further the study about the effect of coconut shell charcoal and liquid biocompost on the growth and yield of shallot (Allium cepa L.) in dry land.

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