<![CDATA[Makadamia merupakan tanaman tahunan penghasil biji berkadar lemak lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengankacang-kacangan yang banyak dibudidayakan di Indonesia. Produk makadamia berupa kacang yang bernilaiekonomi tinggi di pasaran internasional dan menjadi bahan baku industri yang dapat diolah menjadi berbagaibentuk makanan dan telah dipasarkan di beberapa kota besar di Indonesia. Penelitian bertujuan untukmengetahui ukuran benih makadamia yang tepat untuk dijadikan bibit. Penelitian dilaksanakan di BalaiPenelitian Tanaman Rempah dan Aneka Tanaman Industri (Balittri) Pakuwon, Parungkuda, Sukabumi, JawaBarat pada bulan April 2006 sampai April 2007. Penelitian menggunakan Rancangan Acak Kelompok dengan3 perlakuan dan 9 ulangan, adapun perlakuannya sebagai berikut : A (benih besar: berat biji 6-7 g, diameter biji2,1-2,3 cm), B (benih sedang : berat biji 5-6 g, diameter biji 1,8-2,0 cm) dan C (benih kecil : berat biji 4-5 g,diameter biji 1,5-1,7 cm). Jumlah pohon contoh yang diamati tiap perlakuan terdiri atas 45 pohon, sehinggaseluruhnya menjadi 135 pohon. Variabel yang diamati meliputi : tinggi tanaman, diameter batang, jumlahcabang, jumlah daun, panjang daun dan lebar daun. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa ukuran benih sedangdan besar, pertumbuhannya lebih baik bila dibandingkan dengan benih kecil tetapi ukuran benih sedang danbesar pada semua parameter tidak menunjukkan perbedaan yang nyata dan hasil pengamatan, tinggi tanaman26,63 cm, diameter batang 0,50 cm, jumlah cabang 0,50 cabang, jumlah daun 19,70 helai, panjang daun17,68 cm dan lebar daun 2,72 cm yang terbaik diperoleh pada benih ukuran sedang.Kata kunci: makadamia, Macadamia integrifolia, ukuran, benih, bibit, pertumbuhanABSTRACTMacadamia is a perennial plant which produce seed contains higher fat rather than other legumesin Indonesia. Macadamia has high economic value in International market and becomes raw material for industrythat could be processed onto many variety of food and have been sold in several big cities in Indonesia. Theobjectives of research were to know the appropriate Macadamia’s seed size for seedling. This research was heldat The Research Institute of Spices and Industrial Crop (Balittri) in Pakuwon, Parungkuda, Sukabumi, West Javaon April 2006 until April 2007. the experimental design of research was using randomized block design with 3treatment and 9 replications. The treatment were: A (large seed: seed weigh was 6-7 g, seed diameter was 2.1-2.3cm), B (middle seed: seed weigh was 5-6 g, seed diameter was 1.8-2.0 cm), C (small seed: seed weigh was 4-5g, seed diameter was 1.5-1.7 cm). The amount of tree sample for every treatment were 45 tree, so for whole therewere 135 tree. Variable consist height, stem diameters, number of branch’s and leaves , length and width ofleaves. Result of research showed that seed size for medium and large have better growth than smaller seed, thusseed size for medium and large for all variable did not show significant difference, i.e. plant weight was 26.63cm, stem diameter was 0.50 cm, amount of branch was 0.50 branch, lenght of leaves was 17.68 cm and width ofleaves was 2.72 cmKey Words: macadamia, Macadamia integrifolia, size, seed, growth ]]>
