Growth and yield performance of Pegaga (Centella asiatica) to different types of organic fertilizer and levels of planting media / Nur Masriyah Hamzah

The demand for herbal medicines has increased tremendously in recent years. Many Malaysian plants which
have been traditionally used to treat certain ailments are now being processed using modern technology for
the production of functional foods and tonics including Centella asiatica (pegaga). Recently, the adverse
effect of modern agriculture causes several problems in environment and one of the solutions is by turning to
organic agriculture. The objective of this study was to determine the best combination of three different types
of organic fertilizer (chicken manure (FI), goat manure (F2), and vermicompost (F3) and four different
levels of planting media (clay soil-control (M1), clay soil + rice husk ash (M2), clay soil + sawdust (M3),
and clay soil + rice husk ash + sawdust (M4)) to the growth and yield performance of pegaga. This
experiment was conducted on clay soil under open rainshelter structure at Makmal Luaran Program
Teknologi dan Pengurusan Perladangan, (AS220), Universiti Teknologi MARA Shah Alam. A Randomized
Complete Block Design (RCBD) with twelve (12) treatments and three (3) replications has been employed in
this study. The first data collection was conducted on the 12th January 2009 and was continued to collect
data at weekly basis until 60 days. Then the data was analyzed by using the Microsoft Excel and Minitab
software. At the end of this experiment, the result showed that the best combination treatment was obtained
when plants grown with chicken manure combine with clay soil and rice husk ash (FIM2) pegaga.