Growth, yield and respiration rate of Cymbopogon nardus L. at different shade levels

Abstract

Essential oils are widely used for various fields ranging from medicine, pharmacy and aromatherapy. One of the raw materials used comes from Citronella oil obtained from Cymbopogon nardus. With the limites availability of land, it becomes a challenge to be able to cultivate C. nardus to obtain economic benefits. The development of lemongrass can be done with an agroforestry system to utilize the available land. The limiting factor in agroforestry systems is limited light due to shade. Low light causes the physiological processes of plants to be disturbed which then affects the production results. Therefore, it is necessary to know the percentage of shade that can be tolerated by C. nardus so that they can be developed in agroforestry systems. This study tested three varieties of citronella, namely Seraiwangi1, Sitrona 1 Agribun and Sitrona 2 Agribun . Each verieties planted under a different percentage of shade levels, namely 0% (no shade), 25, 50% and 75% shade percentage levels. Parameters observed included plant length, number of tillers, plant moisture content, fresh weight and transpiration rate. The results showed that increasing the percentage of shade decreased the growth of C. nardus. C. nardus can be used as an intercrop in agroforestry systems with 25% shade. Based on observations of several parameters, the Seraiwangi 1 variety has better growth than the Sitrona 1 Agribun and Sitrona 2 Agribun varieties.On the growth parameters, yield and transpiration rate of C. nardus have poor yields when cultivated in denser shade. Increased 50% and 75% shade reduced severe C. nardus growth. Tolerable shade 25% shade. Keywords:Agroforestry, Cymbopogon, growth, shade, varieties Essential oils are widely used for various fields ranging from medicine, pharmacy and aromatherapy. One of the raw materials used comes from Citronella oil obtained from Cymbopogon nardus. With the limites availability of land, it becomes a challenge to be able to cultivate C. nardus to obtain economic benefits. The development of lemongrass can be done with an agroforestry system to utilize the available land. The limiting factor in agroforestry systems is limited light due to shade. Low light causes the physiological processes of plants to be disturbed which then affects the production results. Therefore, it is necessary to know the percentage of shade that can be tolerated by C. nardus so that they can be developed in agroforestry systems. This study tested three varieties of citronella, namely Seraiwangi1, Sitrona 1 Agribun and Sitrona 2 Agribun . Each verieties planted under a different percentage of shade levels, namely 0% (no shade), 25, 50% and 75%shade percentage levels. Parameters observed included plant length, number of tillers, plant moisture content, fresh weight and transpiration rate. The results showed that increasing the percentage of shade decreased the growth of C. nardus. C. nardus can be used as an intercrop in agroforestry systems with 25% shade. Based on observations of several parameters, the Seraiwangi 1 variety has better growth than the Sitrona 1 Agribun and Sitrona 2 Agribun varieties.On the growth parameters, yield and transpiration rate of C. nardus have poor yields when cultivated in denser shade.Increased 50% and 75% shade reduced severe C. nardus growth. Tolerable shade 25% shade.

Keywords:   Agroforestry, Cymbopogon, growth, shade, varieties