The effect of rice straw mulch and cow urine on growth, yield, quality on sweet corn and pest population density

Organic matter such as paddy straw mulch and cow urine could be used to improve the soil structure. The study aims to determine the effect of rice straw mulch and cow urine application on growth, yield, quality, and population of sweet corn pests. This study used a 2 x 4 factorial randomized block design with three replications. The first factor is rice straw mulch consisting of 2 levels, namely, with mulch and without mulch, and the second factor is the concentration of cattle urine composed of 4 levels, namely 2.5 ml L-1, 5.0 ml L-1, 7,5 ml L-1, 10.0 ml L-1. The results showed that rice straw mulch and cow urine increased sweet corn’s growth, yield, and quality. The maximum yield of 17.87 t ha-1 was achieved in the treatment of straw mulch accompanied by cattle urine 10.0 ml L -1. In comparison, the results of 15.33 t ha-1 were achieved in the treatment without rice straw mulch accompanied by 10.0 ml L -1 cow urine. The intensity of corn planthopper pests (Delphacidae family) ranged from 40-40.4% in 7 WAP and between 44.5 – 51.1% in 8 WAP and was not consistently affected by mulch treatment or the level of concentration of cattle urine.