Application of liquid bio-fertilizer reduced the need of chemical fertilizer in black galingale (Kaempferia parviflora) production

Abstract

Kaempferia parviflora Wall ex. Baker (black galingale) is a medicinal plant which has high potential to be developed in Indonesia as medicinal products. Thus, in order to develop appropriate standard operasional procedure in K parviflora cultivation, this research was conducted to study the effect of biofertilizer applicationon late-vegetative growth and yield of rhizome. The experiment was arranged in Randomize Completely Block Design (RCBD), where the treatment were Control (0 L ha-1 of bio-fertilizer and 100% of chemical fertilizer), D1 (15 L ha-1 of bio-fertilizer and 50% of chemical fertilizer), D2 (22.5 L ha-1 of bio-fertilizer and 50% of chemical fertilizer), and D3 (30 L ha-1 of biofertilizer and 50% of chemical fertilizer). The 100% chemical fertilizer application were consisted 300 kg ha-1 urea, 250 kg ha-1 SP-36, and 250 kg ha-1 KCl. The block of the experimental design was based on the shading position of raised bed and difference of sun-lighting time. The result showed that application of 15 L ha-1 of bio-fertilizer and 50% of chemical fertilizer resulted in the best late-vegetative growth (i.e. plant height, leaf number, leaf length, and leaf area) of K. parviflora up to 29 week after planting (WAP). Moreover, application of 50% of chemical fertilizer with various rate of bio-fertilizer resulted in similar rhizome yield compared to those planted with 100% of chemical fertilizer. Thus, application of bio-fertilizer can be recommended to be applied in K. parviflora cultivation since it could reduce the usage of chemical fertilizer (urea, SP 36, and KCl) up to 50%. The potencial productivity from each treatment range from 4.38 to 8.19 ton ha-1. The result also imply that the usage of bio-fertilizer could suppress disease severity of root-knot caused by nematode in the field.