Pendugaan kehilangan air melalui perhitungan neraca air serta analisis pertumbuhan tanaman kentang (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Abstract

The growth and the production of a plant are determined by favourable environment. Soil is water reservoir and planting area for which the capability to keep the water in the soil will determine the total water that can be used for the plant. Water availability in the soil is used by the plant to fullfil plant’s water requirement such actual evapotranspiration and runoff which can be calculated by using the water balance. The objective of this research is to calculate the potato water loss during the measurement through the water balance and to analyse the effect on potato growth. The result of this research shows that the potato water loss (actual evapotranspiration and runoff) during measurement on 37 days until 73 days after planting is 148-191 mm or 4.6 mm/days, whereas the run off is 28-59 mm or 19-30 % from total water loss potato. The relations between soil water content and the growth rate in each treatment has a different disposed. When the storage of soil water content is high, the growth rate is uncertainly high, and vice versa. The growth rate is of the potato in this research not only influenced by soil water content, but also influenced by other factors that are not observed in this research.