Articles
Shallot fertilization practice at farmers level in West Java Province, Indonesia
Article number
1398_24
Pages
179 – 184
Language
English
Abstract
Most shallot growers in Indonesia are small-scale farmers with landholdings averaging less than 0.5 ha per person.
Smallholder farmers have limited resources so that input use efficiency becomes indispensable to improve farm income.
However, there is a tendency that shallot farmers apply an excessive rate of fertilizers as their common practice with the expectation of gaining higher yields.
This study was aimed at understanding farmers fertilizer application and determining its correlation to shallot yield.
The study was conducted in four regions of West Java, involving 25 farmers in each region.
In total, 100 farmers participated in this study.
The results show that farmers from Pacet region apply the highest rate of NPK fertilizer, averaging 271 kg N ha‑1, 135 kg P ha‑1 and 155 kg K ha‑1 but obtained the lowest bulb yield of 5.4 t ha‑1. Meanwhile, farmers from Babakan region apply the lowest rate of NPK, 120 kg N ha‑1, 87 kg P ha‑1 and 117 kg K ha‑1 but gained the highest bulb yield of 12.2 t ha‑1. There was weak correlation between fertilisation and the bulb yield in all regions.
It seems that the nutrient use efficiency in Pacet region is very low in comparison to other regions, Therefore, further study to improve nutrient use efficiency in this region is necessary and justified.
Smallholder farmers have limited resources so that input use efficiency becomes indispensable to improve farm income.
However, there is a tendency that shallot farmers apply an excessive rate of fertilizers as their common practice with the expectation of gaining higher yields.
This study was aimed at understanding farmers fertilizer application and determining its correlation to shallot yield.
The study was conducted in four regions of West Java, involving 25 farmers in each region.
In total, 100 farmers participated in this study.
The results show that farmers from Pacet region apply the highest rate of NPK fertilizer, averaging 271 kg N ha‑1, 135 kg P ha‑1 and 155 kg K ha‑1 but obtained the lowest bulb yield of 5.4 t ha‑1. Meanwhile, farmers from Babakan region apply the lowest rate of NPK, 120 kg N ha‑1, 87 kg P ha‑1 and 117 kg K ha‑1 but gained the highest bulb yield of 12.2 t ha‑1. There was weak correlation between fertilisation and the bulb yield in all regions.
It seems that the nutrient use efficiency in Pacet region is very low in comparison to other regions, Therefore, further study to improve nutrient use efficiency in this region is necessary and justified.
Publication
Authors
G.A. Sopha, C. Hermanto, H. Kerckhoffs, J.A. Heyes, J. Hanly
Keywords
Allium cepa, fertilizer, shallot, smallholder farmers
Groups involved
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