Growth and production of japanese taro (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum) by using plastic mulch and biofertilizer

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Japanese taro (Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum) production in Indonesia is around 20 tons/hectare, but it is still relatively low due to the low level of farmer management including fertilizing and watering especially in dry season. We determined the effect of plastic mulch and biofertilizer on the growth and production of japanese taro plants. This research used a split plot design. The main plot was plastic mulch consist of two levels, namely control and plastic mulch, while the sub-plots were biofertilizer, which consist of two levels: control and biofertilizer; and with four replications. Each plot planted with 22 plants. Parameters observed were plant height, leaf number, leaf width, fresh plant top weight, dry plant top weight, plant tuber yield, and number of tubers. The results are plastic mulch treatment had an effect on plant height with the largest average found in the mulch treatment of 55.98 cm, the largest average leaf width in the mulch treatment was 25.09 cm, the average fresh weight of the mulch plant was 197.03 g, and the average dry weight of mulch plants was 22.50 g. The biofertilizer treatment affected significantly on plant height, leaf number, and leaf width. Mulch was affects significantly on production of taro plants with the highest of weight of 881.50g/plant equal to 22 t/ha, and number of tubers found in the mulch treatment of 32 bulbs. However, the biofertilizer treatment was not significant in the production of taro plants. We conclude that the plastic mulch can increase the growth, yield and number of tubers, better than the biofertilizer and the combination of its combination especially in the dry season.