The poductivity and economic value of sweet potato (Ipomea batatas) planted intercropping with satoimo taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott var. Antiquorum) with various levels of compost Masyhur Syafiuddin (a*), Muh. Jayadi (a), Burhanuddin Rasyid (a), Nurbaya Busthanul (b)
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 potato (Ipomea batatas), 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) as staple crop should be suspected of being able to be a ^safety^ crop when there is a failure in taro plant-due to the relatively new and un-well-known plant. The study was aimed to know the productivity and economic value of sweet potato grown as an intercropping on the satoimo taro staple crop 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 in a spot in the hole of the plant and 1200 grams per plant homogeneously fit in the beds. Sweet potatoes planted between plants with a population of as much as satoimo taro, namely 25,000 hectares each. The results showed that the level of 1200 grams of spot and 1200 grams of mixture was significantly different from a level of 400 gam, but not significantly different from 800 grams. The 1200 gram level of the mixture gives the highest tuber yield and the highest economic value.
