Evaluation of soil fertility status for rice, corn, soybean on suboptimal land in West Java Indonesia

Abstract

Rice, corn and soybeans are the main food commodities in Indonesia. The expansion of agricultural land in suboptimal areas has been carried out to increase the production of these commodities. However, with the limited suboptimal land conditions, the fit fertilizer engineering should be found. The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the soil fertility status on suboptimal land in West Java, Indonesia. The research method used qualitative, descriptive, comparative and survey methods. The sampling area was carried out in each unit of land with determined by transect based on the results of environmental observations. It is sufficiently representative to represent the land in the area. The result from this experiment was there there are four districts as a centre of rice, corn and soybean in West Java, Indonesia, such as Majalengka, Kuningan, Cirebon and Subang. In general, soil characteristics (N, P, K, pH, CEC, BS, cations and textures) for rice, corn and soybean centre in West Java are low, medium until high criteria based on analysis of nutrient content of soil samples. The characteristics of farmers (economic and social activities) in rice, corn and soybean centre in West Java, have good competence in the farming system, productive age of farmers and excellent organizational structure.