Variety assemblings for higher yield capacity of upland rice which tolerant to drought stress and highly adaptable to climate change has been needed to support the effort to increase both rice yield and the upland rice field extensification. This research aims to screen and identify an agronomic character of upland rice lines as the result of recurrent selection to a seedling stage on the drought stress. Materials were 180 rice lines as the result of recurrent selections from two local varieties Sriwijaya and Bugis with other two drought tolerant lines IR7858-1 and N148+. Twenty seeds each genotype were seeding in seed pods adjusted with stripe check such Situbagendit and Inpari 6 as tolerant and susceptible lines respectively. Drought stress treatment had conducted in a week, began at two weeks seedling age with a scoring value 0-9 (SES IRRI), at the same time were taken sample soil to measure the soil water content was done at a depth of 20 cm. Then, the crops were watered again to observe the recovery capacity of the crops, with the scoring 1-9 (SES IRRI). Anatomically stomatal proximation was observed for both susceptible and tolerant rice lines. The selected lines would transplant in the field to record the yield capacity and other agronomic characters. The SES screening resulted in 53 tolerant lines, 99 moderate tolerant, and 28 susceptible to the drought stress which had the soil water content ranged from 11.9 to 12.7 percent. Anatomic stomatal observation showed that the stomatal structure and density of susceptible lines were closer and more than tolerant lines. The highest percentage of filled grains showed by the intercross line Sriwijaya/IR7858-1 about 77.4 to 85.1 percent with averagely 80.7 percent, which was a high category with the scale of 3 SES IRRI. The selected drought stress lines with better agronomic character would continuously test to know the yield capacity in the environmentally specific location.

Recurrent selection (RS) is a method of selection by crossing selected plants from systematic population to develop new superior population. The recurrent selection had been implemented in local varieties to produce drought tolerance and blast resistance of rice lines. This research was conducted at

Shallot plants have variations in morphological and flowering characters.  Flowering ability can be induced by the treatment of gibberellic acid (GA3) and exposing to cold temperature (vernalization). The objectives of the research were to determine the effect of GA3 and vernalization on the morphological and flowering characters of 5 shallot varieties. Field study was organized in a completely randomized block design with three replications to evaluate the responses of 5 varieties of shallots (Bauji, Bima Brebes, Super Philip, Tajuk, and Thailand) to GA3 with the concentrations ranged from zero to 150 mg L-1. Plants were maintained for 65 days until harvesting. The second study was organized in a completely randomized design with 3 replications to evaluate the responses of the five varieties of shallot to vernalization.  The vernalization of shallot bulbs were done at 8 o C for 6 weeks. The results indicated that a Super Phillip variety showed the highest response to GA3 observed in the number of leaves and bulbs.  At 100 mg L-1 of GA3 increased the plant height up to 45.74 cm.  The results from the second study showed that vernalization was effective to increase flowering only on the Ilokos variety. But the other varieties were not sensitive to vernalization.  Based on morphological and flowering characters, 5 varieties of shallots were clustered into 3 groups, namely: sensitive flowering included Bentanis, Bma Brebes and Tajuk variety, medium sensitive flowering included Ilokos variety, and non-sensitive flowering included Sumenep variety.

No abstract

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is a horticultural plant that is beneficial for health. Efforts are being made to expand the plant area. One of them is by utilizing marginal land such as peatlands.  Peatlands in Indonesia are the most extensive soils in various tropical countries in the world that have low soil fertility and high acidity so that they are not optimal for lettuce growth. The provision of organic material can increase soil fertility by improving physical, chemical, and biological soil properties so that it can support lettuce growth. This study aims to determine the dose of cow manure and the dosage of oil palm empty fruit bunch fertilizer and the optimal dose interaction for growth and yield of lettuce. This research was conducted from June 2019 to August 2019 in Bengkulu City. This study uses a Completely Randomized Design consisting of two factors, which are repeated three times. The first factor is the dose of cow manure with three levels, namely: 0 tons ha-1, 15 tons ha-1, and 30 tons ha-1. The second factor is the dose of oil palm empty fruit bunch fertilizer, which consists of four levels, namely 0 tons ha-1, 5 tons ha-1, 10 tons ha-1, and 15 tons ha-1. The results showed that the dosage of cow manure 15 tons ha-1 and without the application of empty fruit bunches fertilizer gave the best results in leaf length of 18.674 cm. The best dose of cow manure for growth and yield of lettuce is 15 ha-1. The application of OPEFB fertilizer has not been shown to affect the growth and yield of lettuce.

Acclimatization is a process of an environmental adaptation from heterotrophic conditions to autotrophic conditions. In order to be successful in acclimatization, it requires proper planting media and enough nutrition supply. The objective of this experiment were to determine the best planting media and the best spraying frequency of leaf fertilizer on Pencil orchid growth during acclimatization period.  The experimental design used was Randomized Complete Block Design, arranged in factorial (2 factors, 3 replications). The first factor was type of planting media: Coconut Coil, Rockwool, Wood Shavings, and Fern Roots. The second factor tested was fertilizing frequencies: every 2 days, every 3 days, and every 4 days. The results showed that the best media for acclimatization of Pencil orchid was fern root fertilized every four days, the best media for growing Pencil orchid was fern root and Wood Shavings, and the best fertilizing frequency to promote Pencil orchid growth were every 3 days or every 4 days.Keywords: Pencil orchid, acclimatization, planting media, fertilization

The community empowerment in the area of Ar-Rahmah pesantren, Air Meles Atas Village, Rejang Lebong Regency, Bengkulu was intended to increase the income of pesantren to finance poor students, and at the same time to enhance the ability of pesantren in carrying out educational and teaching activities. Community service activities carried out in the form of assistance activities in shallot cultivation in the yard of the Ar-Rahmah Pesantren. The assistance program is carried out for 4 months, with such stage of activities as: the preparation stage for managers, teachers, students and farmers around the pesantren, seed selection, land preparation, planting, maintenance, harvesting, and post-harvest. The evaluation result showed that the community participation and involvement in the shallot cultivation assisting program were considered high. The highest participation rates were during the selection of seed activity (73%) and planting activity (100%). Meanwhile, the lowest participation rate was during maintenance activities (27%). The evaluation results showed the level of participants’ satisfaction is high (90‒100%) on the implementation of assistance activities. The harvested shallots could increase the income of the boarding school which can be used to help the education cost and education progress of the boarding school. The participation of the entire community would be encouraged so that the success of empowerment program could be felt by the entire community. The community empowerment program need to be carried out continuously, so it would enhance the welfare of and self-sufficiency of the community.

Rimau Gerga Lebong (RGL) variety is one of the main orange fruit commodities in Lebong Regency of Bengkulu Province, which has a competitive advantage and has good market potential. However, high number of seed characteristic makes this orange fruit becomes less popular.  Triploid genotype formation through endosperm culture in vitro is an alternative solution to develop seedless orange fruit.  The objective of this study was to determine the best composition medium for callus induction of endosperm of RGL orange seeds as the foremost step of in vitro triploid plant development. The research was conducted from August  2017  until  December  2018 at the Plant  Tissue Culture Laboratory, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu.  The  experiment  was  arranged  in  a  completely randomized design, with eight treatment combinations i.e. G1 (MT + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D), G2 (MT + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D + 500 ppm CH), G3 (MT + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D + 500 ppm + 0.5 ppm Kinetin), G4 (MT + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D + 500 ppm CH + 0.5 ppm to 500 ppm Kinetin + ME) , G5 (MS + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D), G6 (MS + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D + 500 ppm CH), G7 (MS + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4- D + 500 ppm CH + 0.5 ppm Kinetin), G8 (MS + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D + 500 ppm CH + 0.5 ppm to 500 ppm Kinetin + ME), with three replications. The experimental unit was five culture bottles containing three explants per bottle.  Observations were conducted on days to callus formation, rate of callus formation, callus weight, callus diameter, callus color and texture.  The results showed that media of MS + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D + 500 ppm CH was the best media for callus induction, and MT + 5 ppm BAP + 2 ppm 2,4-D + 500 ppm CH was the best media for callus development.Keyword: RGL citrus, calli, endosperm, kinetin, BAP