The Effect of Biofertilizer and Salinity Stress on Amaranthus tricolor L. Growth and Total Leaf Chlorophyll Content

Amaranth is one of the most consumed vegetables in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the productions of plants are affected by productivity and environmental factors such as abiotic stresses. One of these is salinity, which affects plant growth and becomes an issue in the agricultural sector. Moreover, biofertilizer contains microbial elements that are necessary for plant growth and play an important role in the nutrient cycle of the soil. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the effect of biofertilizer combined with NaCl on Amaranthus tricolor L. growth. The biofertilizer doses used were 10 L/ha, 20 L/ha, and 30 L/ha, each combined with manure fertilizer and 2500 ppm, 5000 ppm, 7500 ppm, and 10.000 ppm of NaCl. The parameters were measured using quantitative methods while a UV-vis spectrophotometer was used for the chlorophyll content. Meanwhile, the results were analyzed using the one-way ANOVA method at a 95 of confidence level. This analysis showed that the highest amaranth growth was found in 0 l/ha of biofertilizer combined with 7500 ppm NaCl treatment, a number of leaves in 10 l/ha biofertilizer, and 2500 ppm NaCl, and chlorophyll content in 30 l/ha biofertilizer. Based on the results, biofertilizer had an insignificant effect on plant growth while fertilizer had, while the most appropriate biofertilizer dose for chlorophyll content was 30 l/ha. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences.