Forage grasses as alternative cover crops on young rubber
1989
Siagian, N. | Sumarmadji (Pusat Penelitian Perkebunan Sungei Putih (Indonesia))
Productivity of rubber estate could be increased by intercropping system. Beside as cover crops the intercrops also give additional income to farmers during immature period of rubber. An experiment to plant forage grasses as cover crops in immature rubber of BPM 1 was done. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design, non-factorial, with four treatments and three replications. The treatments were (1) elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum), (2) Dallis grass (Paspalum dilatatum), (3) Hamil grass (Panicum maximum) and (4) Pueraria javanica as control. Observations were made on yield of forage grasses, rubber growth and soil fertility. The results indicated that cumulative dry yield of forage grasses for 12 months of elephant, dallis and Hamil grasses were 43, 48 and 25 tons/ha respectively. Based on the observations of girth increment, bark thickness, number and diameter of latex vessels, it was noted that the rubber growth was not affected by the forage grasses. Rubber growth index of BPM 1, with elephant, dallis and Hamil grasses as cover crops were 118, 102 and 105 compared with control respectively. Soil fertility under forage grasses was not significantly different from the control. Commonly, the availability of P, K, Mg and Ca decreased, while N slightly increased. Consequently, proportional fertilizing on the rubber was needed due to limited nutrient contribution of the forage grasses
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