Morphology of Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Seedlings Under Drought Stress with Oil Palm Shell Ash and Aspergillus niger treatment

Climate change is a limiting factor that contributes to weather anomalies such as varying rainfall intensity. Weather abnormalities impact plantation crops, such as oil palm, which are very sensitive to water deficits, and inhibition of growth in the nursery phase reduces seed quality. In an effort to increase the resistance of oil palm seedlings to drought stress, palm shell ash is given because it contains high silicon (Si) ranging from 43% to 63%. Furthermore, the fungus Aspergillus niger is known to decompose and release insoluble silicon into orthosilicic acid into the soil solution, which can be absorbed by plants, This study used randomized block design with two factors drought stress factor with four level field capacity (FC) of 80%, 60%, 40% dan 20%; factor palm oil shell and Aspergillus niger 0, 10, 20, 30 g + 5 ml/polybag. The results showed that the parameter number of Aspergillus niger colonies before and after the drought stress treatment decreased, drought stress was also a significant difference in the parameters of plant height and number of leaves, while the treatment of oil palm shell ash with the addition of Aspergillus niger had no significant effect on plant height parameters and number of leaves of oil palm seedlings.