NITROGEN UPTAKE EFFICIENCY AND NITRATE REDUCTASE ACTIVITY ON ELEPHANT GRASS AND KOLONJ ON O GRASSES WITH DIFFERENT COMPOSITION OF UREA AND ORGANIC FERTILIZER IN SALINE SOIL

Abstract

Experiment was aimed to investigate the effect of different compositions of urea and organic fertilizer on the nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUE) and nitrate reductase activity (NRA) of Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) and Kolonjono grass (Panicum muticum) in saline soil. It was conducted in the saline soil of Jerakah, Semarang city from June to September 2005. Chemical analysis was carried out in the Forage Crop Science Laboratory, Faculty of Animal Agriculture, Diponegoro
University, Semarang. Elephant and Kolonjono grasses, urea and organic fertilizer, and saline soil were used throughout the experiment. Completely randomized design in series experiment (4 x 2), with 3 replications was used to arrange the experiment. The first factor consisted of fertilizer (control/ no added fertilizer, T0; added urea 30 kg N ha, T1; added urea 60 kg N ha”, T2; added organic fertilizer equally to 1.21 C0;-game T3). The second factors were Elephant grass, R1 and Kolonjono grass, R2. There were significantly differences of the two parameters (NUE and NRA) between Elephant and Kolonjono grasses in the saline soil. The organic fertilizer increased both the NUE and NRA on Elephant and Kolonjono grasses compared to that of urea fertilizer.