Sustainability approach in cropping intensity (CI) 400 through optimizing the dosage of compost and chemical fertilizers to early-maturing rice varieties based on multivariate analysis

Abstract

The development of early maturing rice varieties in the cropping intensity 400 program is one of the alternatives in overcoming the challenges of rice production against land conversion and dynamic climate change. Optimization of the program is feasible through composting and reduction of chemical and synthetic substances in order to avoid excessive soil damage. Therefore, evaluation in the combination of compost and chemical fertilizers is important with evaluation criteria through multivariate analysis. This research aimed to identify evaluation criteria, fertilizer packages and potential of early maturing varieties in supporting the cropping intensity 400 concept on rice. This research was conducted in two locations in South Sulawesi, Indonesia with different environmental conditions … This study employed a nested split-plot design with a group randomized design as the environmental design. The main plot was the fertilizer package (FP) consisting of 5 levels. The subplots consisted of 7 rice varieties. Each combination of fertilizer package and variety was repeated three times. The results showed that reducing the dose of NPK fertilizer together with compost application is generally effective in the growth of early maturing rice. This study also revealed the characters of chlorophyll a, harvest age, panicle length, 1000-grain weight and yield were effective in evaluating the effect of fertilizer packages on early maturing varieties. The 75 % dose of N:P:K and 3 tons.ha−1 of compost is effective fertilizer packages to the growth and production of early maturing rice in supporting cropping intensity 400. The Cakrabuana, and Inpari 13 varieties are good early maturing varieties used with the FP3 fertilization packages. Conclusively, the results of this research are important for recommending optimization of rice cultivation with the CI 400 concept, especially in the South Sulawesi region.