Materials and Methods Karimuna

85 He found that in 6-yr-old secondary vegetation produced biomass amounting to 53 t ha -1 . Similarly, reported that in 4-5-yr-old fallow vegetation the total biomass produced 28 t ha -1 . Table 1. Total nutrient stocks of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium of above-ground biomass kg ha -1 in different ages. Fallow age Biomass t ha -1 Nutrient stocks kg ha -1 N P K Ca Mg 2 11 123 9.4 113 94,8 38,8 3 22.7 209 21.9 217 198,0 53,1 4 34.2 216 26.1 319 318,1 69,9 6 68.5 422 33.5 435 488,0 159,9 8 108 640 53.6 763 778,0 160,5 10 151 758 68.1 939 1054 209,7 Source: [2]. From the above results, if we consider the potential of plant biomass providing nutrients to the soil, it shows that maize, upland rice and other common crops can be sufficiently supplied with nutrients. Theoretically, when calculating the nitrogen, potassium, calcium, and magnesium content derived from the above-ground biomass of fallow vegetation, it is enough to supply the demand of upland rice and maize growth for 4 years of fallow. Therefore, biomass of fallow vegetation plays important role on the recuperation of soil fertility by changing preparation from slash and burn to slash and mulch integrated with the application of EM4 as a source of biofertilizer technology. 3.2. Field tests Biomass of secondary vegetation, applied with EM4 to produce bokashi as biofertlizers, was used in all field test researches. Maize was planted in the two different mulch conditions. The vegetal matter in 3-and 7-yr old fallow was manually cut into smaller pieces and used as organic mulch spread out in the six 3 x 5 m 2 plots of agricultural land. N, P and K fertilizer was applied to supply the demand of initial growth of maize plant. The results of test plant showed that the early growth of maize in 3-yr old fallow was better compared to that of 7-yr old fallow, but the further stages of maize development in 7-yr old fallow was surpassed. This indicates that organic mulch of natural vegetation which is decomposed to release nutrients can support a good growth of maize in tested field. This finding is comparable to the study by [10] for maize and cassava yield. Therefore, there is a 86 possibility to utilize organic material of the spontaneous vegetation as source of mulch of the region. However, this application could only be adopted if the land was managed by free-land preparation. The effects of biofertilizer and mulch on the yield of intercropped maize and peanut in Ultisols had been conducted. Effects of various doses of mulch and bokashi fertilizer on the yield of intercropped maize and peanut were amazing that had been reported by [11], as shown in Table 2. Table 2. The yield of maize and peanut in intercropping system treated by various doses of mulch and bokashi fertilizer in Ultisols Treatment Maize Peanut Seed weight of 100 grains g Seed dry weight t ha -1 Seed weight of 100 grains g Seed dry weight t ha -1 Mulch t ha -1 17.36 b 6.27 26.95 1.84 b 4 19.15 ab 7.08 27.26 2.12 ab 8 21.95 a 8.49 30.87 2.31 a Bokashi fertilizer t ha -1 18.45 6.74 b 27.68 1.854 b 5 20.49 7.98 ab 28.94 2.153 ab 10 21.56 8.32 a 31.74 2.377 a Note: Values followed by different letter at the same column a-c were significant differences at DMRT of 95 confidence level, as reported by [11]. The result showed that the higher, the level of mulch and bokashi fertilizer applied, the more the variables of maize and peanut produced. Table 2 showed that the highest levels of mulch treatment 8 t ha -1 and bokashi fertilizer 10 t ha -1 gave the best response for maize and peanut yield, while the application of mulch had non significant difference on seed grain weight of maize, and the treatment of bokashi fertilizer gave non significant different on seed weight of 100 grains of maize. Average production of seed dry weight of maize achieved was 8.07 t ha -1 , while there was a trend of good yield of maize obtained at the mulch treatment of 8 t ha -1 8.49 t ha -1 and 10 t ha -1 of bokashi fertilizer 8.32 t ha -1 that was higher compared to the potential yield of maize. The applications of mulch and bokashi fertilizer have an effect partially or interactively on the growth and yield of maize and peanut in intercropping system. In this research work, there was an interaction effect between mulch and bokashi fertilizer on variables recorded Table 2. The higher the level of mulch and bokashi fertilizer applied, the more the seed weight of 100