Buckwheat Plant Response To Tropical Environment Of West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Buckwheat produces high carbohydrate and it can be used as complement and healthy food. The plant is grouped as a subtropical crops but based on preliminary experiment it can be grown well at upland plain in tropical region of Indonesia, which has cooler air temperature. Air temperature is one of the most important factors that influence the growth of buckwheat which related to sowing date and the site of planting. An attempt has been done to study the response of buckwheat plant to tropical climate in West Java, Indonesia. The experiment was done in two years, in 2000, two sites have been chosen which are located at 1150 m (T1) and 500 m (T2) above sea level, respectively. A cultivar of kitawasesoba was grown at three population densities, viz 130, 160 and 200 plants m- 2. Then, the experiment in 2001 has been planted two cultivars of kitawasesoba and hitachi-akisoba at two population densities, viz 100 and 150 plants m-2. The plant growth were observed weekly and yield were sampled at harvesting. Whilst, thermal unit were calculated through the growing season till harvest, the photosynthetic rate at stage of full canopy has been measured at the experiment in 2000.