Application of Compost APT01 on Apple Crop (10.0-10.5 years)

The land of apple plantation centers used to produce crops usually have a much greater erosion of land with natural vegetation. Increasing of erosion causes by the replacement of the structure of forest plant roots which bind the soil strongly with a weaker root structure of agricultural crops [1]. This is reinforced by the application of farming system that uses high fertilizers and chemical pesticides and likely increases from year to year, both in quality and quantity, which in turn exceeds the carrying capacity of the land. As a result, the land is being damaged and production declines [2]. Such these conditions force us to constantly seek new breakthroughs for land use that can meet the needs of the community while helping to conserve resources and minimize the impact of external land. One form of such breakthrough was the addition of organic fertilizer such as compost given twice a year. Some of the literature mentioned that the content of organic matter in Java agricultural land is less than 1% which is ideally should be more than 2% [3]. The carbon organic deficiency is an indicator in the excess of chemical fertilizer.

Based on the test results, the number of organic fertilizer needed by the apple plant which have 0.79% organic content in soil is 30 – 50 kg per tree [4]. The organic fertilizer can be derived from agriculture waste and manure, household waste or even from the sugarcane industry known as mud cake. Mud cake waste generated by the sugar mills are dirty, brownish watery and smelled which disturb the surrounding community, therefore need to be composted to become organic fertilizer. Basic principles of composting procedures has been widely discussed in the literature [5]. Aerobic composting of organic material is a humification process of unstable organic matter (C/N ratio >25) to become stable, characterized by the release of heat and gas from composted substrates. Composting duration varies from 2 to 7 weeks, depending on the type of decomposers and composting techniques used [6]. Level of maturity and stability in compost determine compost quality shown by the various changes in the physical, chemical and biological compost substrate.

The interest of public to improve soil fertility is by applying compost as an organic filler. Farming communities are encouraged to convert agricultural waste such as cornstalks and grasses used as raw material to make compost. Quality of compost produced depends on the raw materials and the treatment of the composting process [7]. Previous research [8] showed that raw materials which have a C/N ratio > 60:1 will produce poor quality compost. Therefore, organic material with high carbon content is required to be mixed with low-carbon organic material, in addition to high levels of nitrogen. The mud cake containing cellulose about 3.8% of milled cane. Organic matter content in the mud cake about 75-80% which is mainly in the form of cellulose. The mud cake waste is largely taken by farmers for ground fill or dumped in open fields which can cause air pollution and unpleasant smell around the area [9].

Processing of organic material into compost can be considered as a sustainable technology because it is in accordance with conservation of environment. In addition, the use of compost (organic fertilizer) can reduce chemical fertilizers application [10].

Results of previous studies on chemical analysis tests showed that the average content of the soil organic matter in Bumiaji Batu is less than 1%. Ideally, organic matter contained in the soil should be more than 3%. The process of composting organic materials can be accelerated by the addition of Trichoderma viride APT01 as biocatalyst that can decrease the C:N and total organic carbon which was originally 26.8 and 37.6% to 14.6 and 22.7% [11].