EFFECT OF ORGANIC AND COMPOUND BIOFERTILIZER AND PRUNING ON THE PRODUCTIVITY AND RESILIENCE OF RICE PLANTS IN SALINE SOIL

Abstract

Saline soil is one of the main problems for increasing rice productivity in Indonesia.  One approach that can be taken is to select salt-tolerant varieties and manage crops through pruning and adding organic fertilizer to play an important role in regulating the balance between vegetative and generative growth of rice plants. This study aims to evaluate the effect of various rice varieties and pruning combined with organic fertilizer on the growth, yield, and resistance of rice plants in saline soil. The activity was carried out in Ujung Gagak Village, Cilacap Regency through farmer action research. The results showed that the variety treatment had a significant effect on the number of tillers, plant height, leaf greenness, 100-grain weight, panicle length, and the incidence of bacterial leaf blight. Pruning combined with liquid organic fertilizer had no significant effect on most growth and yield variables, but it affect the percentage of empty grains and plant weight, as well as the incidence of bacterial leaf blight during the generative phase. The combination of pruning and organic fertilizer produced higher growth and yield components compared to treatments without pruning and solid fertilizer. In general, Neunah and Inpari 43 varieties showed relatively good performance in growth parameters, while Neunah and Ngaos Mawar varieties showed a higher yield in crop yield parameters. These findings indicate that selecting varieties that are adaptive to salinity conditions, combined with proper crop management such as pruning and organic fertilizer application, can be a strategy to increase rice productivity in saline soils.