The poductivity and economic value of sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata) planted intercropping with satoimo taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott var. Antiquorum) with various levels of compost
Muh. Jayadi (a), Masyhur Syafiuddin (a*), Nurbaya Busthanul (b), Burhanuddin Rasyid (a)

a) Soil Science Departement, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin Univesity, Makassar, Indonesia.
*masyhur.syaf[at]agri.unhas.ac.id
b) Social Economy Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.

Abstract

Sweet corn (Zea mays convar. saccharata), as a well-known plant and widely cultivated by farmers in South Sulawesi, if it is intercropped with satoimo taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott var. Antiquorum), should be suspected of being able to be a safety crop when there is a failure in staple crop of taro satoimo. The study was aimed to know the productivity and economic value of sweet corn grown as an intercropping on the satoimo taro as staple crop in with several level of compost. The study used a randomized design with four levels of compost of chicken manure, namely 400 grams, 800 grams, 1200 grams per staple plant with spotly in the plant hole, and 1200 grams per plant homogeneously fit in the beds. The sweet corn planted with two seeds between two strips satoimo taro, so that be the same population, namely 25,000 plants per hectare. The results showed that the level of 800 grams, 1200 grams of spotly in hole not-significantly different with the level 400 gram, however 1200 grams of mixture was significantly different from a level of 400 gam, but not-significantly different with the 800 grams one. The 1200 gram level of the mixture gives the highest corncob yield and the highest economic value.

Keywords: intercropping- sweet corn- satoimo taro

Topic: Crop Production and Environment