Increasing Rice Production of High Elevation Irrigated Rice with Several Location-Specific Technology Packages

Abstract

Abstract Humbang Hasundutan District is the 9th rice producer in North Sumatra and has the opportunity to increase rice productivity from the 2019 harvest area of 16.3 thousand hectares, which can contribute to 68.2 thousand tons. This potential can still be increased if there is a significant change in attitude and technology adoption. Based on the results of interviews with several farmers who have ≥ 10 years of experience in rice farming in the Humbang Hasundutan District, the problems of rice farmers are still using local varieties that are not qualified and certified; productivity is still low (4.17 t/ha), conventional technique, low human resource capacity, and unavailability of professional farmer institutions. The technology packages introduced in this activity were 7 packages, 3 packages using the Inpari 28 (T1 = NPK, T2 = NPK + Org, T3 = NPK-low P), and 4 packages of local varieties (T4 = NPK, T5 = NPK + Org, T6 = NPK-low P, T7 = farmer) with 4 replications. The study aims to obtain an effective and efficient technology package for increasing rice production in high-elevation irrigated rice. The results showed that the recommendations are packages Inpari 28 with application NPK with low P (T3) and NPK (T4) can increase rice production by 273% and 215% with B/C ratio of 1.72 and 1.23, respectively, compared to the farmers. To support the results, farmers should return 100% of the straw after harvest, plant population> 200,000, young seedlings <20 days after seedling (DAS), proper pest control, and market orientation.