Improving Soil Quality by Using Oil Palm Solid Waste Biochar

Solid waste and land degradation are two main problem faced by oil palm plantation in mineral soils. In order to get rid of these difficulties, a field experiment has conducted at re-planting stage of oil palm in PT. Tidar Kerinci Agung plantation. The objective of this study is to examine the potentiality of biochar made from empty bunch of oil palm on soil quality. Fifteen plots of 100 square meters were applied with the dose of 0.0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0 Mg/ha biochar, respectively. The results show the treatment increase soil organic matter, total pore space, water holding capacity and cation exchange capacity. On the other hand, soil bulk density found decrease significantly along with the treatment. These results indicated that application of biochar might be a better choice for sustainable oil palm plantation in mineral soil.

Effect of BAP (6-Benzyl Aminopurine) on In Vitro Shoot Growth of Curcumas

Curcuma sp has been widely investigated for its anti-cancer properties. Conventionally, vegetative propagation needs a long time to produce a large number of planting materials, so that it is necessary to find an alternative approach through in vitro propagation. The effect of BAP on the in vitro shoot formation of ‘temu putih’ and ‘temu putih’ has been investigated in this study. The experiment was a 4x2 factorial with 5 replications arranged in a completely randomized design. The first factor was the concentration of BAP i.e. 0, 1.5, 3, and 4.5 ppm. The second factor was the curcuma species consisting of ‘temu putih’ (Curcuma zedoaria Roch.) and ‘temu mangga’ (Curcuma mangga Val.). Each experimental unit consisted of 2 in vitro bottles, each of which planted with 1 explant bud. Analysis of variance was conducted on percentage of live explants, shoot height, number of roots, root length, wet weight, percentage of explants that sprouted, percentage of rooted explants and shoot color. Mean comparison was performed by the Least Significant Difference (LSD). The results showed that there was no interaction between BAP concentration and genotype on any variable observed. The shoot growth of ‘temu putih’ was significantly higher than ‘temu mangga’ in vitro. The best concentration of BAP for the growth of ‘temu putih’ and ‘temu mangga’ shoots was 1.5 ppm.

Rice Husk Ash Incorporation in Container Substrates Effect on Romaine Lettuce Plant Growth

Primary substrate components include peat moss, vermiculite, perlite, bark, and compost are commonly-used substrate in horticultural crop production.These substrate components are high cost due to the extreme cost of transportation, fuel for extraction, and processing. Local rice husk ash (RHA) as an alternative substrate component was used to evaluatethe growth of Romaine Lettuce plants in response to the application of different incorporations of RHA in container substrates. The test was conducted with a completely randomized design of four RHA treatment, rates at 0%, 10%, 30%, and 50% (by vol.), with 10 replicates. The results showed that plant stem elongation increased with decreased incorporations of RHA application. Although the fresh weight of plants(shoot or root)and number of leaves increased with the RHA application, no significant difference for the plant biomass produced (dry weight of root and shoot) betweenthe 30% and 50% RHA treatments. The RHA can be used as a local and low cost substrate component; and the incorporation of 30% (by vol.) RHA in container substrates is a certain amount for lettuce plant growth.

Bio-Green Foliar Spray Enhances Rice Growth and Productivity in Cambodia

The use of bioproducts as biostimulants to stimulate plant growth and to increase yields as an alternative to chemical fertilizers are currently being promoted for cost-effective, sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices of crop production systems. The objective of the study was to determine plant growth and productivity of rice responded to Bio Green application. A short growing period (90 – 95 days) OM-5451 rice variety was used in this study. The rice plants were cultivated in the randomized-completed block with two treatments and six replications in the plot of 2 m * 2 m. Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer was applied once at a rate of 100 kg/ha. For treatment, Bio-green with a solution of 1% (v/v) was weekly applied as foliage spray; and without Bio-Green as control. The results showed the grain yield was 3.7 t/ha in the treatment and 2.83 t/ha in the control, indicating that 36.4% of the grain yield was increased. The Bio-Green could be significantly used as plant biostimulants to promote plant growth and grain yield in rice in Cambodia.

The Lactic Acid Bacteria in Fermented Durian (D. Zibethinus )

Lactic acid (C2H5COOH) is the organic acid that can serve as a food preservation. The group of bacteria which can produce lactic acid in their fermentation process known as Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB). A fundamental biochemical change of fermentation is that an acidic environment is created. Many harmful organisms cannot exist in acidic solution so the fermentation productions are save to eat. Fermented Durian is the fermented food prepared from spontaneous fermentation of durian (Durio zibethinus) with or without salt by wild bacteria. The research was conducted to isolate and identify lactic acid bacteria in tempoyak. The data in this study were laboratory analysis. Samples were collected weekly in a month analyzed microbiologically from traditionl markets in Bengkulu. There were four species of lactic acid bacteria involved in fermented durian namely Leuconostoc mesentroides, Pediococcus acidilactici, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus curvatus.

Analysis of Economic Structure and Leading Sectors in Rejang Lebong District

This study aims to determine and analyze the economic structure and leading sectors in Rejang Lebong Regency. The data used is secondary data on Gross Regional Domestic Product from 2015 to 2019 obtained from the Central Statistics Agency. The analysis used is economy structure, Location Quotient (LQ), Dynamic Location Quotient (DLQ), Shift-share, and Overlay. The results show that the highest GRDP contributor is the Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry sectors while the lowest is the Electricity and Gas Procurement sector with contribution of 32% and 0.15% respectively. The results of the leading economic sectors in the Rejang Lebong Regency are the sectors of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Providing Accommodation and Food and Drink; Defense and Compulsory Social Security; Education Services; Health Services and Other Services.

Effectiveness of Ageratum conyzoides (Babandotan) Leaf Extract and Sapindus rarak (Lerak) Fruit Extract in Control of Myzus persicae in Chili Plants

Chili is one of the important agricultural commodities in Indonesia. Myzus persicae Sulz. is one of the important pests in Chili cultivation because it can cause damage up to 80%. Nabati insecticide utilization is one of the safer alternatives to control and more environmentally friendly than synthetic insecticides. One Nabati insecticide utilization that can be used in controlling pests are Ageratum conyzoides L extract and Sapindus rarak D.C extract . The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of A. Conyzoides extract S. rarak extracts and extract S. rarak mixture of both in the control of M. persicae. This research was factorial, treatment consisted of 2 factors: 1 Nabati insecticide consists of A. Conyzoides and S. Rarak and factor of 2 each given concentration is 0 ml, 10 ml, 20 ml, 30 ml. Using a completely randomized design (CRD) with 16 treatments 3 replications. The results variance showed that the treatment performed with extracts from A. conyzoides effect on mortality, damage to crops, M. persicae life, and leaf greenness level after treatment. Extract treatment S. Rarak effect on mortality, M. persicae life and leaf greenness level after treatment. While treatment mix A. conyzoides leaf extracts and fruit extracts S. rarak effect on mortality, M. persicae life. The results showed that the treatment is effective in controlling pests aphids M. persicae are A. conyzoides leaf extract mixture of 30 ml and 30 ml S. rarak fruit extract with the highest mortality value of 96.14%, which gives a real influence in the control of aphids M. persicae and different real control. LC50 and LC90 showed the best application in the control extract are 18.46 ml and 51.86 ml.

An Analysis of Basic Needs Price Trend at the Early Times of COVID-19 Pandemic in Rejang Lebong Regency of Bengkulu Province

The first time of COVID-19 came to Indonesia gave impact to some aspects including the Price of basic needs which are the most necessary needs for people. It also affected on some regions especially in Rejang Lebong Regency of Bengkulu Province. This research aimed to analyze basic needs Price trend at the early times of COVID-19 Pandemic in Rejang Lebong Regency of Bengkulu Province. To acknowledge the research objective, this research used trend analysis with a simple linear regression method. Data used were secondary data from Department of Trade, Cooperative, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Rejang Lebong Regency Industries in the form of weekly basic needs Price growth in a time series from January – April 2020 including 18 weekly series. The result showed that there was one basic need commodity, domestic sugar commodity, which had positive trend while curly red chili and dry kernel corn commodities had negative trend.

Study of Preservation Using Lactic Acid Bacteria from Fermentation of Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. Capitata) to Shelf Life of Fresh Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

This study aims to determine the best concentration of Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) solution from fermented cabbage to tilapia fish during storage. This study used a completely randomized design with the percentage of addition of LAB solution as a treatment (0%, 2%, 4%, 6%). The results of this study indicate that the LAB solution concentration has a significant effect on the physical, chemical, and microbiological quality of fresh fish where the higher the concentration, the higher the resulting value. The LAB solution concentration as the best preservative was found in the LAB solution with a concentration of 6%. The results of the physical properties on the observation of the eyes, gills, meat, and texture met the SNI requirements, namely 7 to the 12th observation hour at a concentration of 6%, but on mucus and odor at the 12th observation hour at a concentration of 2%, 4%, and 6 % still fulfills the SNI requirements, namely 7. The chemical properties at pH until the 24th hour of storage were 6.33 and protein content 21.88%. The microbiological properties of tilapia by giving LAB 6% solution at the 12th-hour observation still met the maximum limit of microorganism growth with a value of the number of colonies/plates 4.2 x 105 cfg / g.

Profitability and Correlation Between Koica Milk Shop and Dairy Farm in Selupu Rejang, Bengkulu, Indonesia

The objective of this research was to analyze profitability and correlation between KOICA milk shop and dairy farms in Selupu Rejang, Rejang Lebong, Bengkulu, Indonesia. Data driven were general condition, performance of Milk Shop, performance of dairy farms, and the correlation between KOICA milk shop and dairy farmer are evaluated. The methodology started by census that chosen only KOICA milk shop owner and dairy farmers who pooled the milk to KOICA milk shop. Data collected then tabulated and analyzed using Excel and Regression. The result showed that both KOICA milk shop and dairy all were gained properly benefit from dairy business. For the average, it was about IDR 6,557,057.75 per month equivalent to USD 493 as a profit in KOICA milk shop. The profit was depending on the milk production from dairy farmer only, if they couldn’t milk from dairy cow, KOICA milk shop won’t be able to earn money. The dairy farmers were also got IDR 3,620,311.09 (USD 272) per month as the average profit from milk, compost and calve. There was very high correlation between the milk produced by dairy farmers then processed by Koica Milk Shop and its profit was r : 0.99. The discovering of this research was very valuable information, and also important to whom it may concern in dairy business as well as dairy farmers and Government for applying or understanding to develop new strategies for reducing production costs and to increase the profit by using model of whom successful in dairy business.