Penggunaan Benzil Amino Purin Dan Boron Untuk Meningkatkan Produksi Dan Mutu Benih True Shallots Seed Bawang Merah (Allium Cepa Var. Ascalonicum) Di Dataran Tinggi

. Rosliani, R, Palupi, ER, and Hilman, Y 2012. Benzyl Amino Purine and Boron Application for Improving Production and Quality of True Shallots Seed (Allium cepa var. ascalonicum) in Highlands. The use of bulb for propagation material of shallots has several problems including unavailability of quality seeds, low productivity, and expensive. One of the potential alternative technologies to be developed as seed is using true shallots seed (TSS). The aimed of research was to produce TSS in the highlands through increased flowering and pollen viability by using benzyl amino purine (BAP) and boron. The study was conducted at the Experimental Field, Indonesian Vegetable Research Institute (IVEGRI) in Lembang, West Java (altitude 1,250 m asl.), from August 2011 to February 2012. The factorial experiment was arranged in a randomized block design with three replications. The treatments consists of two factors, namely the application of BAP 0, 50, 100, 150, and 200 ppm and boron (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 kg/ha). Benzyl amino purine application was given three times at 1, 3, and 5 weeks after planting (WAP), and boron at 3, 5, and 7 WAP. The results showed that application of BAP improved flowering, pollen viability, and seed production of TSS but did not improve seed quality, while boron application effectively increased all variables including the seed quality of TSS. The efficient concentration of BAP to improve TSS seed weight per plot was 37.5 ppm, while the optimum concentration of boron to improve TSS seed production with the good seed quality (according to the certification standards of seed quality) was 2.88 kg/ha. The yield obtained in the treatment of boron gave an increase of 165.69% compared to the control. The results provide information about TSS production techniques that can be developed to produce the high seed quality of TSS