PRE-DESIGN OF A RED AND GREEN SPINACH PRODUCTION SYSTEM USING ORGANIC FERTILIZER WITH A COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA) DISTRIBUTION MODEL IN URBAN AREAS

• Main Author: Aini Wardana, Sarah
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/84372
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Indonesia has geographical conditions that support the growth of several types of plants, including red spinach (Amaranthus tricolor) which is rich in nutrients and has many health benefits. However, the production of red spinach is still low, so supply does not meet market demand. This can be caused by many factors, one of which is due to land degradation. One approach that can be taken to address this problem is the use of biofertilizers to enrich microorganisms in the soil. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of using Liquid Organic Biofertilizer (LOB) on the growth performance of plants, especially red spinach (Amaranthus tricolor) and to determine the most appropriate dosage of LOB application for the growth of red spinach. The experimental design used a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with differences in LOB concentration in the growing media as treatments. There were 4 treatments used, namely P1 (control), P2 (10 ml LOB/L water), P3 (20 ml LOB/L water), P4 (30 ml LOB/L water) with 8 replications for each treatment. The research was conducted in a greenhouse with a total of 32 polybags of experimental samples. The parameters measured include microclimate (air temperature and humidity), edaphic (soil pH, temperature and humidity), growth performance (plant height, number of leaves, leaf area), biomass (wet shoot weight, dry shoot weight, water content and shoot-root ratio), chlorophyll content, and vitamin C content. as well as the parameters observed are the soil chemical content which includes the content of N, P, K and soil C-Organic. The data were analyzed using the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method with a significance level of 5% and followed by the Duncan test. The results of the study showed that the effect of LOB concentration applied to red spinach did not significantly (P>0.05) affect plant height, leaf chlorophyll content and wet shoot weight. However, it can significantly increase the number of leaves, leaf area, dry shoot weight, and shoot- root ratio as well as increase the vitamin C content in red spinach, namely 14.61±1.70 leaves, 57.30±9.72 cm2, 10.64±4.08 gr, 13.03±6.26 and 4%, respectively. Application of LOB at a concentration of 20 ml/L to red spinach plants showed better growth and biomass compared to the control, 10 ml/L, and 30 ml/L treatments. Based on the results of this study, the use of LOB at a concentration of 20 ml/L was proven to be the most effective in enhancing the growth, biomass, and vitamin C content of red spinach, making this dosage recommended for increasing red spinach productivity.