Response of Growth and Yield of Sweet Corn Plants in Rainfed Land to Providing Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria Bamboo Roots

Abstract

Sweet Corn is an important food crop that functions as a source of food, feed, and industrial raw materials. Efforts to increase corn production require technological input to increase yields and be environmentally friendly. One way is by using Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR). This research aims to determine the response of growth and yield of sweet corn plants on rainfed land to the application of PGPR bamboo root plants and to determine the appropriate PGPR concentration for the growth and yield of sweet corn plants. This research was carried out from February to June 2020 in Rantau Panjang, Sambaliung District, Berau Regency. East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The research used a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD) consisting of 6 treatments of bamboo root PGPR concentration, namely treatment: p0 = control; p1 = 5.0 ml l-1 water; p2 = 7.5 ml l-1 water; p3 = 10.0 ml l-1 water; p4 = 12.5 ml l-1 water; and p5 = 15.0 ml l-1 water. Each treatment was repeated 4 times. The results of the research showed that: (1) The responses of cob diameter and cob production were significantly different, while the responses of plant height, number of leaves, age at flowering, cob length, and number of rows of seeds per cob were not significantly different to PGPR treatments; and (2) Giving PGPR with a concentration of 10 ml l-1 water (p3) resulted in high cob production, namely 12.80 Mg ha-1.