Abstract
The research aimed to know growth of maize and soil moisture retention of the Luro-Entisol by application of organic matter. Field research was carried out in the Odofuro / Luro Timor Leste, analysis of soil samples was done in the Soil Physics Laboratory, Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Brawijaya, and Malang. Field experiment used the split plot design, consisting of two factors and four replications, resulting in 24 units of experiments. The first factor is organic matter (P) consisting of cow manure (P1) and sheep manure (P2), and the second factor is dosage of manure, including without fertilizer (D0), manure 5 tons ha-1 (D1) and manure of 10 tons ha-1. Results showed that dosage of manure has significantly effects on plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight and dry weight of stalk, but not significant effected the soil particle density, soil bulk density, total soil porosity and soil moisture.
Highlights
Maize is an important carbohydrate plant in the Timor Leste, increasing of domestic maize production to meet food needs in Timor Leste
The average bulk density of soil after manure application tends to be higher at P1 treatment (1.31 g cm-3) and soil bulk density tends to be lower at D2 treatment (1.28 g cm-3) at 0-20 cm of soil depth; whereas at 20-40 cm of soil depth the soil bulk density tends to be higher at P2 treatment (1.33 g cm-3) and D1 (1.33 g cm-3)
The manure application had no significant effect on soil particle density, but the particle density of manured soil decreased slightly compared with the unmanured soil (Table 6)
Summary
Maize is an important carbohydrate plant in the Timor Leste, increasing of domestic maize production to meet food needs in Timor Leste. The research results show that the improvement of physical, chemical and biological properties of soil can be done by application of organic matter into the soil, such as cow manure and sheep manure. This manure application can improve soil characteristics and improve the ability of soil to retain water, and improve growth and yield of maize. Rahmi and Jumiati (2007) reported that the productivity of maize in Samarinda City can reach 2.9 to 3.6 tons ha-1 This shows that the productivity of maize in Timor Leste, especially Lautem / Lospalos District has the potential to be improved. One of efforts in improving quality of drylands to cultivate maize crops is by soil tillage and adding organic matter into the soil (Mucheru-Muna et al, 2007; Basamba et al, 2007; Agbogidi dan Okonmah, 2012; Okoroafor et al, 2013)
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