Humic Acid and Biofertilizer Applications Enhanced Pod and Cocoa Bean Production during the Dry Season at Kaliwining Plantation, Jember, East Java, Indonesia

Abstract


 
 
 Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) is an important crop in Indonesia, but many farmers still face problem in improving bean production. This research aimed to evaluate the effect of humic acid and biofertilizer applications on pod growth and yield of cocoa. The research was conducted at Kaliwining Plantation managed by Indonesian Coffee and Cocoa Research Institute at Jember District, East Java, Indonesia from June 2017 to February 2018. The experiment used mature tree of Sulawesi from one clone. Treatment used were humic acid at level of 0, 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 ppm in combination with biofertilizer at level of 0, 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 ppm that were applied through soil and foliar respectively. Results of this experiment showed that there was an interaction between humic acid and biofertilizer on beans number per plant and photosynthesis rate. Plants treated with 1000 ppm humic acid produced the highest number of small cherelle. Biofertilizer applied at 1500 ppm increased cherelle number, healthy cherelle, number of young pods, number of harvested pods, bean weight per plant and bean yield. The combination of 1000 ppm humic acid and 1500 ppm biofertilizer increased bean production by 39.7%. The high bean production was in line with the high photosynthetic rate. Thus, humic acid and biofertilizer applications could be a way to increase cocoa bean production in this area.
 
 

Enzyme activities and microbial population status of soil as influenced by humic acid under doses of nitrogen in Spinach rhizosphere

“…The per cent enhancements of bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes due to application of H 5 were 54.5, 50.0 and 31.5, respectively in soil over the control (Figure 1.b). Application of humic acids to soil increased the population of beneficial microorganisms in soil by serving as a source of nutrients, which is in agreement with results (Dong et al, 2009;Rohman et al, 2019).The increasing dynamics for the microbial count and enzymatic activities were obtained for HA and nitrogen application which might be due to fact that HA enriches nourishment for soil micro-organism (Rohman et al, 2019). Increase in the nitrogen lowers C:N ratio which facilitates the decomposition rate much faster (Spohn, 2015).…”

“…Soil enzymes are the biological catalysts for certain reactions, and these reactions depend on various factorsvizkinetics and kinematics of nutrient releaseretention pattern, variety of germplasm etc. Incorporation of soil organic matter as HA might stimulate the enzymatic activity of soil (Rohman et al, 2019).The soil microbial population increased with the application of humic acids after harvesting of spinach (Table 1). The microbial population (bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes) was found maximum in H 5 (29.91, 15.31, 20.50, respectively) followed by H 4 , H 3 , H 2 and H 1 as compared to control in harvested soil.…”

Response of growth and production of melon (Cucumis melo L. var. inodorous) on different concentrations of AB mix fertilizer and gibberellin in tefa smart green house polije

“…Plant growth and production is influenced by the photosynthesis rate which is determined by the availability of soil water and nutrients [9]. Increasing photosynthetic rate could distributed higher photosynthate into fruits [10]. Phosphorus is an energy source for plants and this mineral plays a role in the process of flower, fruit and seed growth so it is needed in the generative growth phase [6].…”

Faktor-faktor yang Memengaruhi Produksi dan Efektivitas Panen pada Kakao Mulia

“…Pengamatan dilakukan pada lima pohon contoh dengan tiga ulangan untuk masing-masing klon. Pertumbuhan buah kakao dibagi lima fase (modifikasi dari Rohman et al, 2019), yakni fase 1 (pentil mini; panjang buah 0.5-5.0 cm), fase 2 (pentil kecil; panjang 5.1-10.0 cm), fase 3 (buah kecil; panjang 10.1-15.0 cm), fase 4 (buah sedang, panjang 15.1-20.0 cm), dan fase 5 (buah besar, panjang 20.1-masak fisiologis).…”