GROWTH AND PRODUCTION OF TREE LEGUM Indigofera zollingeriana AS A STRATEGIC FORAGE IN LOMBOK ISLAND

Abstrak

The study was aimed to determine the growth and production of Indigofera with different cutting intervals
cultivated in Lombok Island.
The
study was
designed
with Completely Randomized
Block Design with
3
blocks
of cutting intervals i.e. of
30, 45
and 60 days
after forced cut. The forced cut was applied at
50
cm
above ground at 11 weeks
after planting.
The result showed
that
the
growth
of
Indigofera
30, 45
and
60
days after cutting were
89.2,
120.0
and
161.0 cm
concecutively. Meanwhile
the
growth
rate
of the plants

were

7.96, 10.47 and 13.89 cm/week. The branching formation in first week were 5.0 branches/tree and
growing significantly to 25.0 branches/tree after 4 weeks. The branches formation achieved 40 branches at
60 days after forced cut. This condition showed that the plant keep growing fastly and rigourisly although
the plants were cut. The highest production of Indigofera was obtained at the cutting interval of 60 days
(864.40 gram/tree; P<0.05) followed by increasing dry and organic matter, but the protein content dec-
reased significantly (P<0.05). It is concluded that Indigofera is potential plant that could be develop and
used as reliable cattle feed sources in Lombok Island.

Keywords: forage production, Indigofera zollingeriana, cutting interval, growth