Response to Growth and Yield of Purple Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) Yufita F1 Variety on the Mutiara NPK Fertilizer and Kayabio Biological Fertilizer

Abstract

The aims of this study were: (1) to determine the response of the growth and yield of the purple eggplant variety Yufita F1 to the application of Mutiara NPK fertilizers and KayaBio biological fertilizers and their interactions and (2) to obtain appropriate doses of Mutiara NPK fertilizer and KayaBio biological fertilizers to produce good growth and yield of purple eggplant of the Yufita F1 variety. This research was conducted from March to June 2020 at the Experimental Garden of the East Kalimantan Institute for Agricultural Research and Technology, Jalan Gunung Lingai, Kelurahan Gunung Lingai, Sungai Pinang District, Samarinda City. The study used a 4x4 factorial experiment in a randomized block design (CRBD). The first factor was the dose of Mutiara NPK fertilizers (N) consisting of 4 levels, namely: without Mutiara NPK (n0), 200 kg ha-1 (n1); 300 kg ha-1 (n2), and 400 kg ha-1 (n3). The second factor was the dose of KayaBio biological fertilizers consisting of 4 levels, namely: without KayaBio biological fertilizer (k0), 20 kg ha-1 (k1), 25 kg ha-1 (k2), and 30 kg ha-1 (k3). Overall there were 16 treatment combinations, each repeated three times. The results showed that: (1) response to plant height at 14, 28, and 42 days after planting, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight per plant, and fruit production were significantly different to very significantly different from fertilizer application Mutiara NPK. The highest fruit production was produced in the 300 kg ha-1 (n2) treatment, namely 16.59 tons ha-1, and the lowest was produced in the treatment without Mutiara NPK fertilizer (n0), which was only 10.53 tons ha-1; (2) the response of plant height at 14, 28, and 42 days after planting, the number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit weight per plant, and fruit production were not significantly different. In contrast, the response of fruit diameter was highly different from the application of KayaBio biological fertilizers. The highest fruit production was produced in the 25 kg ha-1 (k2) treatment, namely 16.18 tons ha-1, and the lowest was produced in the treatment without KayaBio biological fertilizers (k0), which was only 12.57 tons ha-1; and (3) the response of plant height aged 14, 28, and 42 days after planting, number of fruits per plant, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight per plant, and fruit production were not significantly different to the interaction between Mutiara NPK fertilizer and KayaBio biological fertilizer.