Pengembangan dan Pengujian Inokulum Untuk Pengomposan Limbah Tandan Kosong Kelapa Sawit

Limbah tandan kosong kelapa sawit (TKKS) yang jumlahnya mencapai 23% dari tandan buah segar, mengandung unsur hara makro dan mikro yang penting bagi pertumbuhan tanaman. Pada saat ini limbah tersebut belum dimanfaatkan secara optimal. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengembangkan dan menguji inokulum yang dapat digunakan untuk pembuatan kompos dari limbah tandan kosong kelapa sawit. Inokulum merupakan campuran bakteri dan jamur yang diisolasi dari limbah tandan kosong kelapa sawit. Isolat kemudian ditumbuhkan pada media pertumbuhan tertentu dan difermentasikan. Pengujian inokulum dilakukan pada skala laboratorium dengan cara sebagai berikut: dua kilogram tandan kosong kelapa sawit yang telah dicacah sepanjang 2 cm dimasukkan ke dalam wadah, kemudian diinokulasi dengan inokulum pada dosis 500 dan 1000 ml/ton. Percobaan diulang hingga tiga kali. Selama percobaan kelembaban relatif dijaga tetap 60% dan suhu diamati hingga proses pengomposan selesai. Kompos yang dihasilkan dianalisis kadar air, karbon, nitrogen, fosfor, kalium, dan magnesium. Pada penelitian ini telah berhasil dikembangkan inokulum yang terdiri atas campuran bakteri dan jamur dinamakan ”Indigenous Microbial Consortium” dan dapat dipergunakan untuk membuat kompos dengan kualitas yang memenuhi standar. Kata kunci: kompos, limbah tandan kosong kelapa sawit, inokulum, konsorsium mikroba. Empty palm oil bunch waste is about 23% of the fresh bunches which is rich with important macro and micro nutrients for plant growth. However, those have not been optimally utilized. The objective of this experiment was to develop and to evaluate the inoculums which could be used to make compost from empty palm oil bunch wastes. The inoculums consisted of fungies and bacteria isolated from the empty palm oil bunches. The isolates were then grown and fermented on to a particular media. The inoculums were then evaluated at laboratory scale according to the following methods. About 2 kg of 2 cm long crushed empty palm oil bunches were put in particular places and were then inoculated by the inoculums at a dosage of 500 and 1000 ml/ton of wastes. The experiment was done at triplicates and the relative humidity during the experiment was kept constant at 60%, and temperature was recorded until the end of the experiment. Water, carbon, nitrogen, phosphor, potassium, and magnesium contents of the composts were analysed. The inoculums that consisted of fungies and bacteria were successfully developed and it was called “Indigenous Microbial Consortium”. The inoculums could be used to make good quality of composts. Keywords: compost, empty palm oil bunches, inoculums, microbial consortium