ABSTRACT
Healthy living patterns that pay more attention to environmental sustainability has become a new trend of the Indonesian people to abandon the old lifestyle that uses non-natural ingredients such as addition chemical fertilizers and pesticides in agricultural production. Organic paddy field that is needed large quantities of nutrients that supplied from organic manure, animal manure, compost, and local microorganisms from around the farmer’s environment. Manure, compost and green manure are “voluminous” and require transportation costs and longtime decomposition (3 months). Another alternative as an indispensable source of organic matter for organic rice cultivation is utilizing the Azolla pinnata plant (water fern) that live on the surface of rice fields. This water fern is symbiotic with cyanobacteria (Annabaena azollae) to fix N2 and convert it to ammonium (NH4+) beneficial to the host plant Azolla. Azolla planting is conditioned to save space because they can cultivate in paddy fields before rice seed is planted. Azolla quickly decomposes into nitrogen-rich nutrients for rice crops. By utilizing Azolla water fern as nitrogen-rich (3-5% N) organic fertilizers will benefit the farmers that use Azolla as a source of N which is a vital nutrient for the growth and production of organic rice crops. The contribution of azolla-based organic farming packages for organic farmers is to reduce dependence on the limited availability of manure in the cropping season. The advantages of this technology package can produce organic fertilizer better than compost of rice straw and manure made by farmers. Organic fertilizer base on Azolla mixture 7.5 ton ha-1 plus solid biofertilizer 10 kg ha-1 can produce 1.136 kg m-2 or 6.58 ton ha-1 dry harvested grain that higher than compost farmers treatment (control). The application of organic fertilizer base on azolla and solid biofertilizers give the prospect of increasing the yield of organic rice in organic rice center, Cisayong, Tasikmalaya regency West Java.
Keywords: Azolla pinnata, Low land rice, Biofertilizer, Organic farming