Effect of vermicompost application on growth performance of ginger [Zinbiger officinale] / Nur Fitrah Hamidon

Ginger, (Zingiber officinale), herb plant of the Zingiberaceae family, native to Southeast Asia. It is used as spice, flavoring, food and medical supplies. One of the problems that farmers faced was ginger production was poor because of infertile soil and lack of awareness of farmers on the use of fertilizer. Despite that, this study was conducted to determine the effect of different rate of vermicompost on growth performance of ginger variety Bentong and to identify the best rate of vermicompost on the growth performance of ginger variety Bentong. There were five treatment with eight replicates. In treatment 1, the burnt paddy husk without vermicompost application as a control; treatment 2 which was burnt paddy husk with 32.5 grams of vermicompost; treatment 3 contain burnt paddy husk with 65 grams of vermicompost; treatment 4 which was burnt paddy husk with 130 grams of vermicompost; while treatment 5 which was burnt paddy husk with 195 grams of vermicompost. The study observed plant height, number of tillers, number of leaves, weight of fresh rhizome, fresh shoot and fresh root. At the end of the study, the most suitable rate applied was T4 that applied 130 g of vermicompost on ginger plant. However, future study is required to explore and observe the nutrient and microbial content in vermicompost as well as to see the effect of nutrients and microbes that work when applying vermicompost to plant growth.