Response of Tuber Seed Size to Fertilizer on Yam Plant (Dioscorea alata L.)

The Dioscorea family is a carbohydrate-producing plant suitable for growing in Indonesia and the potential to be developed to support the diversification of food and energy. The Yam (Dioscorea alata L. ) are accessible to growth and have broad adaptability in terms of altitude and latitude boundaries. In Indonesia, where the main food ingredients are rice, corn, and cassava, making the yam will not competitive with rice and cassava. The research aims to obtain optimal cultivation techniques through efficient use of seeds and fertilizing, to provide sufficient carbohydrates for bioethanol raw materials from yam. The study was carried out in the Station Research of the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Merdeka Madiun, done in the rainy season of November 2018 until July 2019. Three tuber seed sizes and four levels of fertilizer combination tested by RCBD and analysis by F-test and DMRT. No interaction between fertilizer and size of tuber seed. A combination of organic compost and NPK inorganic fertilizers showed a significant response to the increase in tuber weight and dry matter. While the size of seed tubers, the difference in size does not significantly affect the tuber yield, although there is a tendency to increase with increasing tuber weight.