AGRONOMIC PERFORMANCE OF SHALLOT (Allium cepa L. var. Aggregatum) UNDER DIFFERENT MULCH AND ORGANIC FERTILIZERS

Abstract

Background. Shallot plant is an important commodity in Central Sulawesi because it functions as a raw material in the fried onion home-industry. Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of mulch and organic fertilizers on the agronomic performance of the “Lembah Palu” variety of shallot (Allium cepa L. var. Aggregatum) on dryland. Methodology. The experiment consisted of three types of mulch (no mulching, rice straw, and Gliricidia sepium leaf) and four types of organic fertilizers (no fertilizer, bioculture, biourin and cattle manure compost). The experiment was laid out as a randomized complete block design in a factorial arrangement with three replications. A total of 36 plots were used for the experiment. The agronomic performance measured were: plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of tillers, fresh weight, dry weight, bulb diameter and bulb yield of shallot. Environmental parameters include temperature and humidity. Result. Results showed that the application of rice straw mulch plus bioculture organic fertilizer had positive  significant effect (P≤ 0.05, respectively) on next agronomic parameters: plant height, number of leaves per plant, number of tillers, fresh weight, dry weight, bulb diameter and yield bulb of shallot. Implications. Significantly positive results on the agronomic parameters of shallots indicate that the application of mulch and bioculture organic fertilizers can be used on other crops to increasing the efficiency of dryland. Conclusion. The highest production of shallots was 9.46 t.ha-1. Thus, it can be recommended that straw mulch at a dose of 5 t.ha-1 and bioculture at a dose of 750 L.ha-1 is better for the growth and yield of shallot in dryland. The use of rice straw mulch and bioculture as organic liquid fertilizer provides benefits to increase productivity, add value to the crop and livestock waste, reduce environmental pollution, and application to plants will produce healthy products.