Pemanfaatan Limbah Cair Tahu sebagai Bahan Amelioran Tanah dan Pengaruhnya terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Produksi Tanaman Caisin (Brassica juncea L.)

Abstract

Nowadays there are many marketable tofu-based food. In line with the increased growth of tofu industries, volume of tofu waste also increase progressively. The tofu industries produce solid waste and liquid waste. Solid waste is produced from the filtering and clumping processes. This kind of waste can be used as tempe gembus or animal food. Liquid waste is produced from washing, boiling and stamping. Tofu wastes cause numerous environmental problems. Liquid wastes contain a high amount of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and acidity (pH). Otherwise, liquid waste is rich of organic materials such as protein, carbohydrate, fat, oil and many more. Therefore a research to utilize tofu liquid waste as soil ameliorant is necessary. This research was aimed to investigate the effect of tofu liquid waste as soil ameliorant on plant growth and production. The research used Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four levels of tofu liquid waste (0 m3/ha, 50 m3/ha, 100 m3/ha and 150 m3/ha). Plant indicator for this experiment was caisin (Brassica juncea L). The results showed that tofu liquid waste could improve chemical soil properties and showed positive influences on growth and production of caisin. The soil chemical properties values such as total nitrogen, available P, CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity), K+ and Na+ rised with increasing levels of tofu liquid waste. Application of tofu liquid waste with levels of 150 m3/ha effectively increased the soil fertility, and also the growth and production of caisin.