Financial benefits of using soil test kit of PUTS for determining dosage of lowland rice fertilizer

Abstract

Determination of a balanced fertilizer dosage on lowland rice can be done as quickly as possible using a paddy soil test kit (PUTS) which has been developed by Indonesian Soil Research Institute (ISRI), Agency for Agricultural Research and Development. This study aims to convince farmers on the financial benefits of using PUTS in determining balanced fertilizer dosage for lowland rice. The study was conducted in dry season 2018 in technical irrigation paddy fields in collaboration with farmers' group members of Cibentar and Mulya Sanepa, Buahdua Sub-district, Sumedang Regency, West Java. The results showed that fertilizer dosage applied by farmers was higher than PUTS dosage, especially for NPK Phonska 15:15:15 fertilizer. On the other hand, the productivity of Inpari 33 rice with PUTS fertilizer dosage was higher than the farmers'dosage. Additional net benefits of using PUTS to determine fertilizer dosage of lowland rice was IDR 4,028,888 ha-1 in Mulya Sanepa and IDR 2,160,506 ha-1 in Cibentar farmers' group, respectively. Similar study still needs to be conducted on various paddy field ecosystems to further convince farmers. However, it is recommended that the use of PUTS needs to be more promoted nationally to increase fertilizer use efficiency, rice productivity and farmer's income.