Adaptation of Home Garden-Grown Garut to Light and Organic Fertilizer: Home Garden Initiatives and Practices for Local Food Sustainability

Abstract Indonesia seeks to increase local food resilience and sustainability in times of uncertainty and crisis such as in pandemics, when there is growing desire to produce food locally escalates. As such, the government has accelerated home garden initiatives and diversification for carbohydrate food sources beyond rice and wheat flour. Garut ( Maranta arundinacea L.) is an underutilized carbohydrate source grown mostly grown wild in rural home gardens. Currently, the adaptation of Garut for proper home garden practices is not well understood. In this study, Garut was assessed for light intensity and enrichment with organic fertilizer integration in home garden conditions. Selected plants with uniform growth were treated with variations of light intensities and three variations of organic fertilizer from mixtures of husk, charcoal, rice straw, and cow dung in varying doses. It was found that light intensity had an effect on the total leaf area as well as the dose of fertilizer. In stem diameter growth, light intensity between (37.39±14.73) lux to (13523.036±1184) lux and a fertilizer dose of 150 grams gave optimal results. It is summarized that home garden-grown Garut is adaptable to a variety of light intensities while plant growth was further enhanced with organic fertilizer integration. In addition, the potential of Garut for home garden initiatives and practices is also highlighted in terms of food sustainability.