Application of nano-silicon foliar fertilizer to double dry season soybean productivity of Central Lombok rainfed lowland

Abstract

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr) is the rotation crop that dominantly grown after rice during dry season in most lowland paddy field of Eastern Indonesia. This on-farm experiment aimed to improve dry season soybean production by spraying liquid fertilizer containing silicon. Burangrang soybean variety grown from August to October 2018 at Tenandon of Penujak Village, Praya Barat sub-district of Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara Province. Five treatments were arranged on randomized block design with five replications on 100 m2 plot size. The treatments were application of silicon-based liquid fertilizer named T1 (O**n or ON), T2 (Bio**x or BX), T3 (BioS****a or BS), T4 (BioU**n or BU) that compare to T0 (control) which was without any foliar spray. Land preparation, planting, irrigation, and harvest were guided using integrated soybean management handbook. Yield and yield component data was collected at harvest. The result showed that application of liquid fertilizer was significantly increase total dry matter weight, including percentage dry matter accumulation on leaf, pods weight, and percentage of filled pods. Soybean productivity was improved about 102.06% (T3), 95.88% (T4), 61.86% (T1), dan 47.42% (T2) when compared to T0 at 0.9 t/ha.