Influence of variety, beneficial fungi, and application on the growth and production of shallot (Allium ascalonicum L.)

One effort to increase shallot production is the use of beneficial fungi. This research aims to determine the interaction between variety, type of fungus, and application dose on the growth and yield of shallot plants. The experimental design was a split-split-plot design consisting of 3 treatment factors. The main plot of varieties consists of Maserati, Sanren F1, Lokananta, and Tuk-Tuk. The subplots are types of fungi consisting of Trichoderma asperellum, Beauveria bassiana, Metarhizium anisopliae, and Glomus sp. The sub-subplots, namely fungus application doses, consist of 0 g, 7 g, and 14 g. The interaction between the three treatment factors variety, fungus type, and application dose is only significant in the chlorophyll index parameter. This significant interaction was observed in the combination of the Maserati variety with the application of Metarhizium anisopliae at a dose of 7 g. Growth characteristics such as plant height and number of leaves were individually affected by the variety and the type of fungus used. Likewise, regarding production parameters, bulb diameter was only influenced by the interaction between the variety and the type of fungus and the variety and the application dose. Observations of the stomata opening area were only influenced individually by the variety. In contrast, the density of the stomata was influenced by the interaction between the variety and the type of fungus. Overall, the influence of varieties is highly dominant, so cultivar selection is an important aspect to consider in shallot cultivation.