Effects of Concentration and Soaking Duration of Shallot Extract on Yield and Growth of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas L.)

Abstract

Sweet potato is an important agricultural commodity in Indonesia and it is the source of carbohydrates after rice. However, the quality and quantity of sweet potatoes produced decreased and did not fulfill the demand. Provision of growth regulators is one of the efforts to increase the growth of sweet potatoes, shallot extract is one of the natural growth regulators that can be used. This study aims to determine the interaction between the concentration of shallot extract and the duration of immersion on sweet potato cuttings. This research was conducted in Garut from February to June 2021. This study used an experimental method with a Randomized Block Design 3x3 factorial pattern with 3 replications. The first factor is the concentration of shallot extract (K), namely k1 (30% shallot extract concentration), k2 (60% shallot extract concentration), and k3 (90% shallot extract concentration). The second factor is the soaking duration (P), namely, p1 (soaking duration 30 minutes), p2 (soaking duration 60 minutes), and p3 (soaking duration 90 minutes). The experimental results showed that there was an interaction between the concentration of shallot extract and the soaking duration of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) cuttings on leaf area, tuber weight, and tuber length, the best concentrations being k1 (30% concentration) and p3 (soaking duration 90 minutes).