ISSN 2808-3229
Journal of Biodiversity and Biotechnology.
, 51Ae56, 2025 URL: https://jurnal.
id/jbb/article/view/111756 doi: http://dx.
org/10.
20961/jbb.
The Effect of Various Fertilizer Doses on Sugarcane Seed Growth and Productivity Deny Bagus Surendra1*.
Dony Agung Wicaksono1.
Febry Ari Marpaung2.
Nanik Tri Ismadi1 Sugarcane Research Center Sukosari.
Jatiroto.
Lumajang.
Indonesia PT Sinergi Gula Nusantara (Sugar Compan.
Jakarta.
Indonesia *Corresponding Author: denybagussurendra12@gmail.
Abstract Fertilization plays a crucial role in promoting plant growth, increasing yield, and improving crop quality.
Current fertilization recommendations for sugarcane are generally based on production-oriented cultivation with a 12-month growth period, while specific fertilization requirements for seed sugarcane remain insufficiently studied.
This study aimed to determine the optimal fertilizer dosage for sugarcane seed by evaluating the effects of different fertilizer combinations on plant growth and productivity.
The research was conducted at the Experimental Farm of Puslit Sukosari.
The experimental area covered 046 ha, with planting rows 8 m in length and a row factor of 1042 rows/ha.
Four fertilizer treatments were applied: (A) ZA 640 kg/ha.
SP 36 48.
1 kg/ha, and KCl 255 kg/ha.
(B) ZA 531 kg/ha.
SP 36 40 kg/ha, and KCl 213 kg/ha.
(C) ZA 427.
5 kg/ha.
SP 36 31.
9 kg/ha, and KCl 171 kg/ha.
and (D) ZA 321.
kg/ha.
SP 36 23.
9 kg/ha, and KCl 129 kg/ha.
The results showed that increasing fertilizer dosage did not result in a linear increase in seed sugarcane productivity.
The highest seed productivity and optimal growth performance, including the number of stalks, stalk height, stalk diameter, and seed weight per hectare, were obtained under Treatment B.
In contrast, the lowest productivity was observed under Treatment D.
Considering both fertilization efficiency and production costs during the vegetative growth phase, seed sugarcane plantations may be fertilized using the complete fertilizer combination in Treatment B or solely with nitrogen fertilizer at a rate of ZA 531 kg/ha.
Keywords: Fertilization.
Nitrogen.
Productivity.
Seed Sugarcane.
Vegetative Growth Cite this as: Surendra.
Wicaksono.
Marpaung.
Ismadi.
The Effect of Various Fertilizer Doses on Sugarcane Seed Growth and Productivity.
, 51Ae56.
http://dx.
org/10.
20961/jbb.
Introduction Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.
is one of the most essential plantation commodities in tropical and subtropical regions, including Indonesia.
Approximately 65% of the worldAos sugar production comes from sugarcane.
The need for cane-based sugar in Indonesia continues to increase year after year, both for direct consumption of sugar and as a raw material for the food and beverage industry .
In addition to sugar production, sugarcane is also utilized in the pharmaceutical and food industries, as well as in other sectors that use by-products of sugar processing, such as livestock feed, paper manufacturing, and as a raw material for biofuel .
The demand for sugar in Indonesia continues to increase in line with population growth.
however, a decline in sugar production from sugarcane has been observed in recent years.
Sugarcane also plays a vital role in the national economy by providing extensive employment opportunities for the Indonesian people .
Improper nutrient management is a primary constraint on sugar production.
This includes the application of sub-optimal fertilizer rates .
educed dosag.
, asynchronous application that fails to match crop demand .
mproper timin.
, the use of imbalanced or inappropriate fertilizer sources .
luctuating qualit.
, and a lack of integrated nutrient strategies that maintain soil health .
imited soil conservatio.
These poor practices are directly linked to decreased nutrient use efficiency, lower cane tonnage, and reduced sugar yield .
In addition, the use of low-quality seed canes, inadequate technical cultivation practices, poor transportation management, and suboptimal agronomic techniques also contribute to the decline in production.
Sugarcane production and productivity do not only depend on genotypic factors .
and crop cultivation management practices, but also relate to biotic and abiotic environments that can be affected by climate change .
Climate change affects global food production and agricultural productivity, both directly and indirectly .
Climate change triggers various abiotic and biotic stresses that ultimately threaten agricultural production and global food security .
This issue is important to note because food security is one of the strategic issues in achieving sustainable development .
Climate change can increase the incidence of drought, water deficits, desertification, and evapotranspiration, ultimately reducing crop yield potential and cultivable land area for agriculture .
The use of superior seed canes is essential to enhance productivity as part of efforts to achieve national sugar selfsufficiency.
Continuous improvement in the quality of seed canes is necessary to improve production performance.
The determination of fertilizer dosage, either inorganic or organic, should ideally be based on soil analysis results, followed by leaf analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the applied fertilizer.
Currently, fertilizer recommendations for sugarcane cultivated for 12 months after planting (MAP) are generally determined based on soil and leaf analysis of the field to be planted.
Fertilizer is a substance applied to ensure the availability of nutrients for sugarcane plants, which is essential to support vegetative growth, as well as to increase production quantity and sugar yield quality .
Balanced fertilization is critical for farmers because its application is closely related to both cost efficiency and the effectiveness of fertilizers in supporting plant growth and yield.
The current fertilizer recommendations are primarily designed for sugarcane cultivated for milling .
with a growth period of 12 months.
In contrast, detailed studies on fertilizer requirements for seed sugarcane have not yet been conducted.
Therefore, to determine more precisely the fertilizer requirements for seed sugarcane cultivation, this study was carried out to examine the effects of fertilizer dosage on the growth performance of seed sugarcane plants.
Sugarcane requires sufficient nutrients in adequate amounts to grow and develop optimally .
The research problem in this study is to determine which combination of single fertilizers, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), produces the highest growth performance in seed sugarcane plants, and to evaluate how different combinations of these single fertilizers affect the growth of seed sugarcane .
This challenge is particularly acute in Indonesian seed production systems, where imbalanced single nutrient applications often result in suboptimal vegetative development, such as reduced tiller formation and stem elongation in bud chip seedlings, due to varying soil nutrient baselines in nursery sites .
Material and Methods Location and Time This research was conducted at the Sukosari Experimental Station of the Sugar Research Center (Puslit Sukosar.
, located within the Jatiroto Sugar Estate (HGU PG.
Jatirot.
Sukosari Plantation Block 3, from March 2023 to September 2023 .
duration of six month.
The experimental area covered 046 hectares, with a row length of 8 meters and a row factor of 1,042 rows per hectare.
The experimental layout and field design were arranged as illustrated in the following figure:
Figure 1.
Plotting and Experimental Layout in the Field Materials and Tools The materials used in this study included:
ue Two-budded sugarcane setts .
eed cutting.
of the VMC 7616 variety.
ue Single fertilizers consisting of ammonium sulfate (ZA), superphosphate (SP-.
, and potassium chloride (KC.
, each applied at different dosage levels according to the treatment combinations.
Table 1.
Fertilizer Dosage per Treatment
Fertilizer Dose Per No Treatment
SP36 KCL
ue Herbicides with active ingredients 2,4-D and Ametryn, applied at dosages of 1.
L/ha and 2.
0 L/ha, respectively.
Results and Discussion Germination Phase The germination phase in sugarcane begins when the previously dormant buds on the seed setts start to grow into young shoots equipped with leaves, stems, and roots.
This stage is strongly influenced by internal factors of the seed cane, such as variety, seed age, number of buds, length of cuttings, seed placement orientation, pest and disease infection, and nutrient availability.
It is referred to as the tillering phase because, during this period, sugarcane exhibits vigorous horizontal growth characterized by the gradual formation of new shoots, starting from primary to tertiary At this stage, lateral growth continues until the maximum number of shoots is reached, typically around three months after planting.
Although the emergence of new shoots dominates the tillering process, the growth pattern is also physically represented by the formation of leaves, roots, and stems.
Table 2 presents the average number of sugarcane shoots (Saccharum officinarum L.
) and the percentage of germination at 1.
5 months after planting (MAP) based on field observations.
Table 2.
Average number of sugarcane shoots (Saccharum officinarum L.
) and percentage of germination 5 months after planting (MAP) based on field observation Number Number of Shoots .
er h.
of Buds Germination No Treatment Planted (%) Rep.
Rep.
Rep.
Mean .
er h.
Note: Numbers followed by the same letter in the same row or column group are not significantly different according to the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at the 5% significance level.
Treatment A (ZA 640 kg/ha.
SP-36 48.
1 kg/ha.
KCl 255 kg/h.
Treatment B (ZA 531 kg/ha.
SP-36 40.
0 kg/ha.
KCl 213 kg/h.
Treatment C (ZA 427.
5 kg/ha.
SP-36 31.
9 kg/ha.
KCl 171 kg/h.
and Treatment D (ZA 3 kg/ha.
SP-36 23.
9 kg/ha.
KCl 129 kg/h.
Based on the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 95% confidence level, the treatments showed no significant effect on the number of sugarcane shoots at 1.
5 months after planting (MAP).
This was indicated by the P-value of 0.
233 (> 0.
in the ANOVA table.
The highest average number of shoots per hectare at 1.
5 MAP was observed in treatment D, which produced 35.
311 shoots per hectare with a germination percentage of 65%.
A study by Supandji et al.
found that the application of various doses of ZA fertilizer did not show a significant effect on the percentage of sugarcane bud germination at the initial observation.
Tillering, as part of the vegetative growth process, is strongly influenced by various intrinsic factors within the sugarcane plant, including genetic characteristics and the hormonal balance that regulates bud environmental factors such as sunlight intensity, water availability, nutrient supply, and temperature also play a crucial role in determining the success and vigor of shoot When environmental temperatures rise, the rate of evaporation from the soil surface and transpiration from leaves increases, thereby accelerating the loss of water reserves that are essential for plants .
Vegetative Growth Lateral growth, characterized by the emergence of new shoots, ceased at around three months after planting (MAP).
In other words, the number of shoots reached its maximum at approximately three months of At this stage, sugarcane plants began to enter the stem elongation phase, which became the dominant growth process during this period.
This condition is heavily influenced by the complex interaction between the plant's intrinsic genetic potential .
and the extrinsic environmental conditions (E), often studied as a Genotype x Environment (GxE) interaction .
The following table presents the average number of sugarcane stalks observed at three months after planting .
MAP).
Table 3.
Average number of stalks and stalk height of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.
) at three months after planting .
MAP) Number of Stalks .
er h.
Stalk Height .
Treatment Rep.
Rep.
Rep.
Mean Rep.
1 Rep.
2 Rep.
Mean
55 ab
22 ab
Mean
BNT 5%
Note: Numbers followed by the same letter in the same row or column group are not significantly different according to the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at the 5% significance level.
Treatment A (ZA 640 kg/ha.
SP-36 48.
1 kg/ha.
KCl 255 kg/h.
Treatment B (ZA 531 kg/ha.
SP-36 40.
0 kg/ha.
KCl 213 kg/h.
Treatment C (ZA 427.
5 kg/ha.
SP-36 31.
9 kg/ha.
KCl 171 kg/h.
and Treatment D (ZA 3 kg/ha.
SP-36 23.
9 kg/ha.
KCl 129 kg/h.
Based on the results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) at a 95% confidence level, the treatments showed no significant effect on the average number of sugarcane stalks at three months after planting .
MAP).
This was indicated by the P-value of 0.
656 (> 0.
in the ANOVA table.
The highest average number of stalks at 3 MAP was observed in treatment B 061 stalks per hectare, followed by treatment C .
736 stalks/h.
, treatment A .
548 stalks/h.
, and treatment D .
stalks/h.
Similarly, for the parameter of average stalk height, the ANOVA results at the 95% confidence level also indicated no significant effect among treatments at 3 MAP.
The highest average stalk height was recorded in treatment B, reaching 57.
66 cm, which was greater than that observed in the other The process of stalk elongation essentially represents a growth phase supported by the development of several plant components, including leaf canopy expansion, root development, and stem elongation itself.
Two dominant factors influence the stalk elongation phase: differentiation and internode elongation, both of which are strongly influenced by limiting environmental factors such as sunlight intensity, water availability, and nutrients .
specially nitroge.
, as well as the plant's internal physiological factors .
The results of observations on vegetative growth parameters, including the number of stalks, stalk height, and stalk diameter at six months after planting .
MAP), are presented in Table 4 Table 4.
Vegetative Growth Performance of Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.
) at 6 Months After Planting and Stem Borer Infestation Level Average Number of Stem borer
Stalk
Stalk
number of Stalk
Treatment
Stalks per internodes per Hectare (%) 675 ab 172
3 ab
912 ab 169
7 ab
Mean
BNT 5%
Note: Numbers followed by the same letter in the same row or column group are not significantly different according to the Least Significant Difference (LSD) test at the 5% significance level.
Treatment A (ZA 640 kg/ha.
SP-36 48.
1 kg/ha.
KCl 255 kg/h.
Treatment B (ZA 531 kg/ha.
SP-36 40.
0 kg/ha.
KCl 213 kg/h.
Treatment C (ZA 427.
5 kg/ha.
SP-36 31.
9 kg/ha.
KCl 171 kg/h.
and Treatment D (ZA 3 kg/ha.
SP-36 23.
9 kg/ha.
KCl 129 kg/h.
The analysis of variance results for the parameters of stalk number, stalk height, stalk diameter, average number of internodes, stalk weight, and borer infestation at 6 months after planting .
MAP) showed that the fertilizer dosage treatments, as presented in Table 6 above, had no significant effect on any of these Similarly, in field trials with inorganic fertilizer applications, higher doses beyond a certain threshold failed to produce notable differences in stalk height, diameter, and weight per stalk compared to moderate doses, indicating a plateau in vegetative responses .
The highest average number of stalks per hectare was found in treatment B .
842 stalks/h.
, followed by treatment C .
912 stalks/h.
, treatment A .
stalks/h.
, and treatment D .
,023 stalks/h.
The average stalk height from the highest to the lowest was 173 cm .
reatment B), 172 cm .
reatment A), 170 cm .
reatment D), and 169 cm .
reatment C).
The highest average stalk diameter was observed in treatment B .
, followed by treatment C .
63 c.
, treatment A .
59 c.
, and treatment D .
These three parameters, stalk number, stalk height, and stalk diameter, showed no positive correlation, meaning that increasing the combined doses of N.
P, and K fertilizers did not result in higher values for each parameter, and vice versa.
This pattern aligns with findings from trials on new sugarcane varieties under standard NPK applications, where fertilizer doses beyond moderate levels .
, 400 kg/ha Phonsk.
exhibited no significant linear increases in stalk metrics, attributed to plateauing nutrient uptake efficiency in tropical soils .
The number of stalks per hectare, stalk height, and stalk diameter are components that are directly proportional in supporting the total stalk weight per hectare.
The average stalk weight .
uintals/h.
, or in other words, the productivity per hectare as shown in the table above, indicates that Treatment B produced the highest productivity of 521.
9 quintals/ha, followed by Treatment C .
7 quintals/h.
Treatment A .
3 quintals/h.
, and Treatment D .
4 quintals/h.
Regarding the parameter of stem borer infestation in sugarcane at 6 months after planting (MAP), the table above shows that the highest infestation level of 34.
occurred in Treatment A, while Treatment B showed only 12.
2% infestation.
Treatments C and D experienced infestation levels of 16.
4%, respectively.
Conclusions The results of this study indicate that increasing fertilizer dosage does not lead to a proportional increase in sugarcane seedling The highest productivity was achieved under Treatment B, with fertilizer application rates of ZA 531 kg ha.
SP 36 40 kg ha, and KCl 213 kg ha.
In contrast, the lowest productivity was observed under Treatment D, which applied ZA 321.
3 kg ha.
SP 36 23.
9 kg ha, and KCl 129 kg ha.
Optimal seedling growth, as reflected by the number of stalks, plant height, stem diameter, and seed weight per hectare, was also obtained with the fertilizer combination used in Treatment B.
Considering both cost efficiency and fertilization effectiveness during the vegetative growth phase of sugarcane seedlings, it is recommended that seed nurseries apply either complete fertilization at the rates used in Treatment B or nitrogen fertilization alone in the form of ZA at a dosage of 531 kg ha.
References