Aplikasi Pupuk Organik Cair dan Pupuk Kandang Ayam terhadap Pertumbuhan dan Produksi Jagung Manis (Zea mays saccharata Sturt)

Abstract

Sweet corn (Zea mays saccharata Sturt) is one of the food commodities that has experienced increased consumption in Indonesia in recent years. To meet this demand, efforts to increase production are needed, one of which is through the utilization of organic fertilizers. This study aims to determine the effect of liquid organic fertilizer (LOF) application from pineapple peel waste and chicken manure on the growth and production of sweet corn. The research was conducted at the Research Field of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Sumatera Utara from January to April 2025 using a factorial Randomized Block Design (RBD) with two factors: LOF dosage (0 and 4,000 L/ha) and chicken manure dosage (0, 15, 20, and 25 tons/ha), with three replications. The results showed that chicken manure application significantly affected plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, fresh root weight, root volume, fresh shoot weight, cob length, cob diameter, number of kernel rows per cob, cob weight per plant, and cob weight per plot. Conversely, liquid organic fertilizer application did not show significant effects on these parameters except for plant height at 3-4 weeks after planting (WAP) and cob weight per plant. There was a significant interaction between both treatments on plant height at 6 WAP. The chicken manure dosage of 20 tons/ha provided the most optimal results in improving sweet corn growth and production.