Effects of Trichoderma and Foliar Fertilizer on the Vegetative Growth of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) Seedlings

Netty Syam,St Sabahannur,Hidrawati Hidrawati,Akbar Nurdin,David Clay

doi:10.1155/2021/9953239

Netty Syam, St Sabahannur + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/9953239

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Abstract

Black pepper is a high nutrient-demanding crop; however, high application rates of the chemical fertilizer may give a negative impact on the environment and human health. Coapplication of the chemical fertilizer with biological fertilizers or biological agents is very important to support growth and high yield. This field experiment was carried out to study the effect of Trichoderma harzianum and foliar fertilization on the vegetative growth of black pepper. The study was conducted for 4 months. The research method was arranged in a factorial based on randomized block design (RBD). The first factor was the application of Trichoderma (50 g, 75 g, and 100 g per plant), and the second one was foliar fertilizers (1.0%, 1.5%, 2.0%, and without foliar fertilizer as the control). The treatments were repeated three times. The results showed that the application of both Trichoderma and foliar fertilizer affected the rate of shoot growth, the number of leaves, and the emergence time on black pepper seedlings under the nursery conditions. The application of 50 g/plant of Trichoderma and 1.5% of the foliar fertilizer resulted in 26% longer shoot length and 54% more leaves and accelerated the appearance of shoots 10 days earlier compared to without Trichoderma and the foliar fertilizer.

Highlights

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the most economically important crops in Indonesia
E result showed that Trichoderma had a significant effect on shoot length at p ≤ 0.01 and the number of leaves at p ≤ 0.05, but there was no significant effect on shoot emergence time, shoot number, leaf area, and root volume
Application of chemical or organic fertilizers plays an important role in improving soil biochemical characteristics such as bulk density and increasing microbial activities, water absorption, and nutrient availability to the plant [15, 16, 38]. e analysis of variance of the data showed that the application of foliar fertilizer has a significant effect on emergence time of the shoot at p ≤ 0.01, shoot length at p ≤ 0.05, and the number of leaves at p ≤ 0.05 compared to the control

Summary

Introduction

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is one of the most economically important crops in Indonesia. The application of Trichoderma did not have a significant effect on the emergence time of shoots, but at a dose of 50 g/plant of Trichoderma, it was able to accelerate the emergence (35.47 days after planting) of pepper cuttings compared to other doses (Figure 2).

Results

Conclusion