Organic fertilization for optimizing dryland rice production

Productivity of local upland rice varieties are usually low, making farmers refrain to cultivate upland rice. This resulted in the low contribution of upland rice in production. However, farmers are still planting upland varieties of rice because of their desirability and adaptation to the environment. Therefore, we always need to develop new varieties that have high production and flavors that suit the tastes of society. The key to increase production of variety is providing sufficient nutrients during the growing period. This study aims to accelerate the availability of nutrients of organic fertilizer for the production of new upland varieties with high productivity. The study carried out in two phases and three different locations. All stages of research was setup in the field using Grid Design Divided (split plot design). In the phase-1, we determined the dose, 5, 10, and 15 tons/ha of organic fertilizer, as well as the adaptability of new varieties (genotype JT-DR-G-416 and parental varieties Jati Luhur and Dayang Rindu). The results of phase-1 showed that best dose was 15 tons/ha. Then we proceeded to the phase-2, which aimed to determine the best management practice to provide organic fertilizers such as: C1= organic fertilizer spread directly on planting plots, C2 = organic fertilizer spread over the terraced planting, then sprayed EM-4, C3 = composted organic fertilizer spread on the plots before planting. The variables measured for the study at phase-1 and phase-2 included plant height (cm), number of productive tillers/hill, the number of grains/panicle, 1000 grain weight (g), percent grain hollow/panicle (%), and grain yield per clump (g). The results showed that the new variety/genotype JT-DR-G-416 can adapt better than both parents at upland field conditions. The production of JT-DR-G-416 was increased by 7.75%, when 15 tonnes/ha of organic fertilizers was applied. Application of composted organic fertilizer could increase production by 33.22%, compared to without compost. Application of organic fertilizers followed by giving a solution of microorganisms (EM-4) could improve upland rice production by 30.56 to 32.06%.