Increasing Red Onion Plant (Allium ascalonicum L) Growth and Production by Providing Cascing and NPK 16.16.16. Fertilizer

Abstract

Riau Province relies on other regions, such as North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Java, for its needs. However, when natural disasters occur, or transportation disruptions happen from the sources of onion production, the price of shallots in the market increases. To reduce Riau companies' dependency on this raw material, it is necessary to develop shallot plants using optimal cultivation techniques to maximize growth and production. This research was conducted at the Experimental Garden of the Faculty of Agriculture, Pasir Pengaraian University, Rokan Hulu Regency, for three months from May 2022 to July 2022. The research utilized a completely randomized factorial design with two factors. The first factor involved the application of Vermicompost Fertilizer, with four treatment levels: 0. 200. 400. and 600 g/plot. The second factor involved the application of NPK 16.16.16 fertilizer with four treatment levels: 0. 10. 20. and 30 g/plot. The parameters observed included plant height, harvest age, number of tubers per cluster, tuber weight per bulb, wet tuber weight per cluster, dry tuber weight, and percentage of tuber weight loss. The research results indicated that the interaction between vermicompost fertilizer and NPK 16.16.16 fertilizer had a significant impact on plant height, harvest age, number of tubers per cluster, number of tubers per tuber, wet tuber weight per cluster, and dry tuber weight per cluster. The best treatment was a combination of Vermicompost 600 g/plot and NPK 16.16.16 30 g/plot. The main effect of the Vermicompost Fertilizer application was significant for all observation parameters, and the main effect of NPK 16.16.16 also had a significant impact on all observation parameters.