Naturally, Salak Gula Pasir (Salacca zalacca var. Gula Pasir) is flowering every three months or four times a year, but only one or two flowering seasons that the flowers can develop into fruit. The condition causes Salak Gula Pasir is available in the market in a short period (only 2-3 months) i.e. at the time of harvest (on-season) from December to February. This seasonal nature of Salak Gula Pasir occurs because Salak Gula Pasir is planted on dry land where irrigation depends only on rainfall, and drought occurs when water is shortage so that the plant internal water content is low that causes a high failure development rate of flower to become fruit (fruit-set failure). This study was aimed to overcome the fruitset failure by providing drip irrigation. Two treatments (with drip irrigation and without drip irrigation/control) with sixteen replicates were tested at Salak Gula Pasir production centre (at Sibetan village, Bebandem District, of Karangasem Regency, Bali) at two harvest seasons, i.e. Gadu (July) and Sela II (October). The results showed that the plant provided with drip irrigation significantly yielded fruit-set percentage higher that that without drip irrigation, both in Gadu and Sela II seasons. The percentages of fruit-set in Gadu and Sela II seasons provided with drip irrigation were 75.30% and 93.13%, respectively, while those without drip irrigation were only 59.94% and 61.67%, respectively. The increase of fruit-set observed for drip irrigation treatment associated with the increase of leaf chlorophyll content, relative water content (RWC) of leaves, and leaf N, P, and K contents. The increase of fruit-set led to higher number of fruits and fruit weight per plant under drip irrigation than that without drip irrigation. Based on the results of this study, drip irrigation can be applied to produce Salak Gula Pasir planted out of season on dry land.

The study was conducted in Belancan Village, Kintamani, Bangli, Bali, from February to October 2018 with the aim to study the effect of application of mycorrhizal inoculants and auxin to increase off-season production and fruit quality of Siam orange. This experiment used a randomized block design with 2 factors. The first factor mycorrhizal inoculant dosages (0, 50, and 100 g/tree), while the second factor auxin concentrations (0, 50, 100 and 150 ppm/tree), and repeated 3 times. The results showed that the interaction of mycorrhizal inoculant dose and auxin concentration did not significantly effect to all of observed variables. The dose of mycorrhizal inoculant 100 g/tree increased off-season fruit production and quality of fruits, which was reflected by increase number of fruits per tree (142.17 fruits), weight per fruit (96.00 g), weight of fruit per tree (13.53 kg), and total dissolved solids (14.10 %Brix), or an increase of 44.21%; 11.89%; 57.87% and 21.03% compared to without mycorrhizal inoculant (108.58 pieces; 88.80 g; 10.57 kg and 11.65 %brix). Concentration of auxin 100 ppm/tree increased off-season production and quality of fruits, reflected by the higher number of fruits/trees (155.22 fruits), fruit weight per tree (15.03 kg), weight per fruit (96.50 g) and total dissolved solids (14.43% brix), compared to without auxin i.e. 112.11 pieces; 10.44 kg; 84.66 g; and 11.15% brix. The significant result of this research was mycorrhizal inoculant dose of 100 g/tree and auxin in the form of IBA 100 ppm/tree proven fruit drop, increased off-season fruit production and quality of fruits of Siam orange.

Increasing consumer demand for healthy food products has an impact on increasing demand for organic cocoa, but it is difficult for farmers to fulfil it because the production per hectare is still very low. Development of indigenous Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) as biological fertilizers is expected to relieve farmers’ difficulties. This study aimed to find the best AMF biofertilizer prototype that can increase organic cocoa production while increasing soil fertility. The research was conducted through 2 stages. Stage 1 made prototypes of biological fertilizers from 7 indigenous AMF species isolated from cocoa roots using different spore carrier media and then tested the spore viability during storage, and stage 2 selected 2 of the best AMF biofertilizer prototypes to test their effectiveness on organic cocoa plantations. The results showed the AMF biofertilizer prototype with spore’s carrier media volcanic sand and zeolite gave the viability of spores remained high after being stored for 1 month, reaching 91.78% and 90.67%. The effectiveness test on organic cocoa plantations showed that the AMF biofertilizer prototype with different spore-carrying media had no significant effect on the yield and yield components of organic cocoa beans, but AMF biofertilizer prototype with volcanic sand spore-carrying media tended to increase the yield and improves soil fertility. It was concluded that the AMF biofertilizer prototype with volcanic sand spore carrier media was the best prototype, but it is necessary to carry out tests at several locations to determine the consistency of the effect.