PENGARUH LAMA PERENDAMAN DAN KONSENTRASI KNO3 TERHADAP PERKECAMBAHAN BENIH SERTA TANAMAN JAGUNG (Zea mays L.)

Corn (Zea mays L.) corn is an important food because it is the third source of carbohydrates in the world after wheat and rice, while in Central and South America is the main source of carbohydrates. Some residents in the Indonesian region also use corn as the main food. Corn is also grown for animal feed and industrial raw materials (Rahayu et al. 2016). Maize production in Indonesia in 2013, 2014 and 2015 was 18.51, 19.01 and 19.61 million tons with productivity of 4.84, 4.95 and 5.18 tons per hectare, and harvested area of 3.82 , 3.84 and 3.79 million ha (BPS, 2016). This research was conducted at the Laboratory and the Pendem Land Owned by the University of Muhammadiyah Malang, which was held from February to June 2019. The experimental design used in this study was Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and Randomized Block Design (RBD) with 3 replications. There are factors that are examined, namely the concentration of KNO3 (K), consisting of four levels, namely: K0= 0 gram, K1= 0,1 gram, K2= 0,2 gram, K3= 0,3 gram and the long-immersion factor (P) consists of three levels, namely: P1= 3 hours, P2= 6 hours, P3= 9 hours. Observations were carried out in 2 places namely laboratory and field, laboratory observations: DB, KcT, IV and KsT, while for fields: Plant height, Number of leaves, Leaf area, Fruit diameter, Number of rows of fruit, Fruit weight, Cob weight. The germination phase was carried out in the laboratory to find out the quality of the seeds with the parameters of PTM, DB, KcT, IV and KsT. The growth phase is carried out in the field with parameters of number of leaves, plant height, and leaf area. Harvesting phase with parameters of fruit weight, ear weight, number of rows and fruit diameter. The relatively better viability test is K1P2 (0,1 gram KNO3 concentration and 6-hour immersion time). The immersion time significantly affected the viability test and did not significantly affect the field test. The relatively better soaking time is 6 hours. KNO3 significantly affected the viability test and did not significantly affect the field test. A better concentration is 0.1 gram