Professor of IPB: MycoSilvi was Able to Increase the Plant Growth Ten Times on the Land of Used Mine
Forests and degraded land needed to be restored. However, this was not easy, because the degraded land had the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil that did not support for the tree growth. Such as the low organic matter content, the acid pH, the high aluminum content, and the high weight metal content.
“In the process of restoration of the used mining land, we must minimize the use of the materials that can pollute the environment, such as the inorganic fertilizers, the fungicides and the pesticides, and preferably using the natural ingredients. The example of the biological fertilizer such as the mycorrhiza and others,” said Professor of Faculty of Forestry (Fahutan), Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Prof.Dr.Ir Sri Wilarso Budi R, MS in the press conference of the pre-oration scientific in Campus of IPB Dramaga, Bogor (3/8).
The mycorrhiza was the symbiotic relationship of the mutualism between the fungi and the plant roots. In the ecosystem, the mycorrhiza had many roles. For example, the biological fertilizer, the mycorrhiza could get food and water from the soil, when the roots of the plants were no longer able to take it. This phenomenon usually occurred in the plants on marginal or used mine land.
The mycorrhiza could also be a land aggregation agent or be able to re-attach the grains of the loose soil (due to mining) through the hyphae and its mycelium that produced the glomalin adhesives. The mycorrhiza also was able to become a regulatory agent of plant, i.e. producing the hormones such as IAA, gibberellins and vitamins that were needed in the plant physiological processes. The mycorrhiza as the plant protection agent capable of enveloping the roots with the hypha and the mycelium as well as producing the antibiotics that could resist the arrival of the disease in the plant roots. Finally, the mycorrhiza could be a phytoremediation agent that could localize the heavy metals.
Because of the importance of the mycorrhiza in the plant growth as the biological fertilizer, there was now a technology of multiplying the mycorrhizal mass. But the way of propagation was still using the open pot method and took a long time approximately 2-4 months.
“During the process of the mycorrhizal production, there is a chance of the disease seed to enter, so it will harm the plant to be given the mycorrhiza. The solution is to utilize the Mycorrhizal Helper Bacterias (MHBs) for the production of the Mycorrhizal inoculum, so that the quality is better. We call the product of the mycorrhizal inoculum utilizing MHNs as MycoSilvi,” he said.
MycoSilvi was already tested on the plant of Acacia Decurrens Wild that was planted on the ultiso soil. The addition of MycoSilvi was able to increase the plant height growth by more than doubling or 100 percent. In the plants of Anthocephalus Cadamba (Roxb) Miq, Calliandra Colothyrsus Meisn, Albizia Chinensi (Osbeck) Merr on the silica mine used ground which results were even higher, were reaching ten times or 1000 percent more than the control. (Zul)
