EFFECTS OF SEED COATING USING PLANT-BENEFICIAL MICROBES ON THE GERMINATION OF Centrosema pubescens SEEDS

Indri Handayani (Research Center for Applied Microbiology, National Research and Innovation Agency)
Farida Rosana Mira (Directorate of Laboratory Management, Research Facilities, and Science and Technology Area. Deputy for Infrastructure Research and Innovation, National Research and Innovation Agency)
Zhafira Amila Haqqa (Research Center for Applied Microbiology, National Research and Innovation Agency)
Nia Asiani (Research Center for Applied Microbiology, National Research and Innovation Agency)
Abdul Wahid (Research Center for Applied Microbiology, National Research and Innovation Agency)
Mahmud Sugianto (Directorate of Laboratory Management, Research Facilities, and Science and Technology Area. Deputy for Infrastructure Research and Innovation, National Research and Innovation Agency)
R Bambang Sukmadi (Research Center for Applied Microbiology, National Research and Innovation Agency)
Bedah Rupaedah (Research Center for Applied Microbiology, National Research and Innovation Agency)

Jurnal Bioteknologi & Biosains Indonesia (JBBI)
Vol. 9 No. 2 (2022): December 2022

ABSTRACT Centrosema pubescens is a legume plant that is commonly used as animal feed, cover crop, and one of the plants used to reclaim critical land. This study was conducted to increase the germination of C. pubescens seeds by coating the seeds using a coating material enriched with a consortium of microbes consisting of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, phytohormones-producing bacteria, phosphate-solubilizing bacteria, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Germination test on control, seed coating, and microbial seed coating was carried out using the top of the sand method for 28 days. Observational data were tested using ANOVA statistics and LSD tests. Results of the research showed the moisture content of the seeds was 12.45%, the purity of the seeds was 95.11% and the weight of 1000 seeds was 23.74 g. The germination test denoted that the number of normal germinated seeds in seed coating and microbial seed coating was significantly different from the control. In addition, dead seeds in microbial seed coating treatment had the lowest value and were significantly different from other treatments. These results indicate that microbial seed coating can increase seed germination and considerably reduce seed death due to seed-borne pathogens.   ABSTRAK Centrosema pubescens adalah tanaman kacang-kacangan yang dimanfaatkan sebagai pakan ternak, penutup tanah dan salah satu tanaman yang digunakan di lahan kritis. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk meningkatkan perkecambahan benih C. pubescens dengan melakukan pelapisan benih yang diperkaya dengan bakteri penambat nitrogen, bakteri penghasil fitohormon, bakteri pelarut fosfat dan cendawan mikoriza arbuskular.  Uji Daya berkecambah dilakukan pada benih kontrol, benih berlapis dan benih berlapis mikroba menggunakan metode penanaman benih di atas pasir selama 28 hari. Data pengamatan dianalisis menggunakan ANOVA dan uji lanjut LSD. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan kadar air benih C. pubescens 12,45%, kemurnian benih 95,11% dan bobot 1000 benih 23,74 g. Daya berkecambah benih menunjukkan perlakuan benih berlapis mikroba berbeda signifikan dengan kontrol. Persentase benih mati pada perlakuan benih berlapis mikroba memiliki nilai paling kecil dan berbeda nyata terhadap perlakuan lainnya. Hal ini mengindikasikan bahwa pelapisan benih menggunakan mikroba dapat meningkatkan persentase perkecambahan benih dan mengurangi jumlah benih mati akibat patogen bawaan benih.