Judul: Comparison of nitrogen absorption by corn (Zea mays L.) from four urea fertilizers
Abstrak: Jagung merupakan salah satu komoditas pangan utama di Indonesia. Peningkatan produktivitas jagung umumnya menggunakan pupuk urea untuk memenuhi kebutuhan nitrogennya. Masalah utama terkait penggunaan urea yaitu tingginya jumlah nitrogen tercuci. Salah satu upaya mencegah pencucian N yaitu dengan mengubah senyawa urea menjadi senyawa urea lambat tersedia (slow release), diantaranya dengan mengubah sebagian senyawa urea menjadi urea-formaldehida yang bersifat lambat tersedia. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mempelajari pengaruh empat jenis pupuk urea terhadap bobot biomassa kering, serapan nitrogen, dan efisiensi serapan nitrogen. Penelitian menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap satu perlakuan dengan empat ulangan. Penelitian dilaksanakan di rumah kaca dengan media tanah seberat 15 kg (Bobot Kering Mutlak) dengan polybag. Perlakuan terdiri atas perlakuan tanpa pemupukan N (kontrol), pemupukan urea konvensional yang terdiri dari urea kujang dan urea pusri dan urea slow-release berupa urea urea granul (0,5% formaldehida) dan urea prill (0,1% formaldehida). Biomassa bagian atas tanaman untuk keperluan analisis dipanen tiap minggu selama 10 minggu dari satuan percobaan yang terpisah. Analisis kadar N jaringan jagung dilakukan setiap minggu panen dengan metode mikro Kjehdahl. Hasil percobaan menunjukkan pemberian urea slow-release, khususnya urea granul, meningkatkan bobot biomassa jagung dibandingkan dengan penggunaan urea konvensional. Selain itu, penggunaan urea slow-release memiliki tingkat efisiensi lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan urea konvensional. Faktor yang menyebabkan urea granul memiliki serapan dan efisiensi yang lebih tinggi adalah pelapisan butir dengan senyawa urea-formaldehid pada urea slow-release., Corn is one of the main foods commodities in Indonesia. To increase corn productivity, urea fertilizer is commonly used to supply its nitrogen (N) needs. The main problem related to the use of urea fertilizer is the high amount of nitrogen leached. One way to prevent nitrogen leaching is by forming a urea compound to a slow-release compound, one of them is changing part of the urea compound to urea-formaldehyde. This research was aimed to study the effect of four different urea fertilizers on corn’s biomass production, nitrogen absorption, and nitrogen absorption efficiency. This research used a completely randomized design of one factor with four repetitions. The research was carried out in a greenhouse with 15 kg soil as plant’s media in a polybag. The treatments consisted of treatment without N fertilization (control), conventional urea fertilizers (kujang urea and pusri urea), and slow-release ureas which is granule urea (0.5% formaldehyde) and prill urea (0.1% formaldehyde). Upper plant biomass for analysis was harvested every week for 10 weeks from separated experimental uni. Total N analysis was determined by mikro Kjeldahl method. The result showed that the application of slow-release urea, especially granulated urea, increased nitrogen absorption and biomass weight compared to the application of conventional urea fertilizers. Factors that cause the granule slow-release urea has higher absorption and efficiency is the coating of the grain with urea-formaldehyde
Keyword: conventional urea, granulated urea, nitrogen efficiency, slow-release, urea-formaldehyde

Judul: Formulasi Pupuk Nitrogen Lambat Tersedia dari Bahan Urea, Zeolit, dan Asam Humat serta Pengaruhnya terhadap Pertumbuhan Jagung
Abstrak: The quality of agricultural land in Indonesia was declining progressively and it affect to the decrease of crop production. It is well known that N fertilizer is inefficient due to evaporation into atmosphere and leached into the grown water. The objectives of this research were to study the formulation of slow release N-fertilizer made from urea, zeolite, humic acid, and polymer; to study the pattern of nitrogen release from this modified slow release fertilizer; and to evaluate the effect of modified slow release fertilizer on corn growth. The ratio of urea and zeolite used in this experiment was prepared with the ratio of urea (U) and zeolite (Z) 7:3 and 8: 2, humic acid (HA) of 2 and 2.5% and arabic gum as the binding material. The modified fertilizers were put into the percolation column. The volume and concentration of ammonium-N and nitrate-N were collected and measured during one month percolation with Kjeldahl methode. The modified fertilizers then used to evaluate the effect of the fertilizers on growth of corn in greenhouse experiment. The results showed that the composition of the six N fertilizer were prepared by coating with zeolite, humic substance, and gum arabic characterized as a slow release fertilizer. Zeolite, humic substance, and gum arabic or combinations there of as coating agent is able to reduce the peak release of N-NH4+ and N-NO3- and change the pattern of release to be still available until the end of the test period. Based on the data of corn’s growth, slow release fertilizer forms obtained did not match the corn crop N requirement in accordance with the physiological growth so that the best growth is obtained only by urea which has a high solubility. Humic substance influential in terms of the physiological properties of corn compared to its role as an encapsulation on slow release fertilizer.
Keyword: ammonium-N, humic acid, nitrate-N, slow release fertilizer, zeolite

Judul: Posisi Filogenetik Kura-Kura Carettochelys Insculpta  (Reptillia: Testudinata)
Abstrak: Carettochelys insculpta is an endemic freshwater turtle of southern Papua and northern Australia. Phylogenetic position of this turtle is remain unresolved until now. Most of the research conducted show close relationships of C. insculpta and members of Trionychidae family. However, some of the research show distance between C. insculpta and members of Trionychidae family. This research is conducted to analyze phylogenetic relationship between C. insculpta and other members of Testudinata using 12S rRNA, 16S rRNA, and both gene as markers. DNA samples were obtained from three different organisms of C. insculpta. Two species used as outgroups were Alligator mississippiensis and Iguana iguana. Phylogenetic analysis was carried out using Neighbor-Joining method with Felsenstein 1981 (F81) modeltest. A polytomy tree of Testudinata was produced by using 12S rRNA gene. However, analysis using 16S rRNA and both genes as markers confirmed that C. insculpta was located between the Chelonidae and the Trionychidae family.
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