Application of trichoderma and aspergillus as biofertilizers in eco-friendly ratoon rice cultivation

Abstract

The study’s goal is to find the best native fungus from rice husk waste so that a solid biofertilizer can be made with high-husk flour as a carrier material and an inert agent. This study was conducted on agricultural land in Seloliman Village, Trawas District, and Mojokerto Regency. Biofertilization and biological agent formulation activities carried out at Muhammadiyah University of Sidoarjo’s Microbiology Laboratory aided the research. The experiment was conducted using a factorial randomized block design. The first factor consisted of three treatments: no fungi, Trichoderma sp., and Aspergillus sp. The second factor consists of soil treatment and apical treatment. The six treatment combinations were repeated four times (24 samples). The variables measured comprised plant height, number of panicles, weight of grain per plant, weight of 100 grams of grain, and the efficacy of biological agents in improving plant growth and productivity. All data underwent analysis of variety and then an HSD test at the 5% significance level to identify disparities among treatments. The study reveals that isolates Tc-013 and As-022 were identified as Trichoderma esperellum and Aspergillus flavus or A. oryzae, respectively. The application of Trichoderma and Aspergillus caused a decrease in the intensity of disease symptoms, reaching 64.7% and 37.3%, an increase in plant height and number of panicles, and an increase in the weight of 100 grains of 59.89 and 49.35%, respectively, as compared to the control treatment where the fungus was not applied.