Abundance and biomass of earthworm as affected by long-term different types of soil tillage and fertilization on mungbean plantation at Ultisols soil
Ainin Niswati, Liyana, Dedy Prasetyo, Jamalam Lumbanraja

Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Lampung, Jl. Prof. Sumantri Brojonegoro No.1, Bandar Lampung 351 45, Lampung, Indonesia 35145

Abstract

Long-term tillage and fertilization system have a strong impact on the abundance and biomass of earthworms in agriculture soils, however, enumerating their influence on mungbean plantation remains little studied. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of long-term tillage and fertilization and their interaction on the abundance and biomass of earthworms under mungbean plantations. Two factors of treatments consisted of tillage system (minimum tillage and intensive tillage) and fertilization (without fertilization and fertilization by NPK (15:15:15) + chicken manure) what has been done since the first (2017) to sixth planting season (2020). The hand sorting method was conducted and observed 3 times throughout the planting of mung beans. The results show that the abundance and biomass of earthworms are significantly higher in minimum tillage compared to intensive tillage as well as fertilization compare to without fertilization. The greatest abundance and biomass of earthworms were found in the maximum vegetative of mungbean. The interaction effect occurred at the maximum vegetative observation, namely in intensive tillage, there was no effect of fertilization, on the contrary, at minimum tillage, fertilization increased the abundance and biomass of earthworms. As a consequence, our results indicate that minimum tillage and fertilization significantly improve soil biological quality.

Keywords: Minimum tillage, earthworms, compound fertilization, chicken manure

Topic: Agricultural Environment, Ecology and Resources