Morphological Characteristics and Biomass Yield of Three Elephant Grass Varieties on Ultisol Soils in Bangka Belitung

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the morphological and yield performance of three elephant grass varieties (Biovitas, Biograss, and Bionutris) on Ultisol soil uniformly treated with soil amendments at the Provincial Agricultural Seed Center (UPTD) of the Bangka Belitung Islands Province. The experimental method used a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) consisting of 3 variety treatments and 5 replications. The observed parameters included morphological growth characteristics (plant height, stem diameter, leaf length, leaf width, number of tillers, and stem-to-leaf ratio) as well as plant productivity (fresh biomass and dry matter biomass). All observation data were statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA. The complete analysis results showed that there were no significant differences (P > 0.05) among the three varieties for all measured morphological parameters. Fresh and dry matter biomass production also yielded comparable results (P > 0.05) for the Biovitas (2.22 ± 0.51 kg/clump; 0.38 ± 0.11 kg/clump), Biograss (2.15 ± 0.32 kg/clump; 0.40 ± 0.08 kg/clump), and Bionutris (2.16 ± 0.48 kg/clump; 0.42 ± 0.08 kg/clump). These similar results are likely due to the close genetic relationship among these cultivars in utilizing the soil environmental conditions that had been uniformlyimproved through soil amelioration. It is concluded that these three elephant grass varieties have equivalent adaptive potential and production efficiency and can be recommended as forage crops on ameliorated Ultisol soils in Bangka Belitung.