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Weeds is one of the limiting factors in crop production that has significant effects, both economically and ecologically. Continuous use of herbicides increased the resistance of weeds to herbicides and causes chemical and biological soil degradation. The use of cover crops can be an alternative to environmentally friendly weed management. The objective of this research was to study the effectiveness of Arachis pintoi as biomulch in suppressing the growth and development of weeds. This experiment used nested-randomized block design with the first factor was the slope of land with 2 levels (flat and sloping lands) and the second factor was the types of mulch with 5 levels (without mulch without weeding, without mulch with weeding, plastic mulch, straw mulch and A. pintoi biomulch). The types of mulch factor nested on the slope of the land factor. The results showed that the use of A. pintoi biomulch suppressed the growth of weed more than 58% compared to the without mulch without weeding treatment. The study also showed that A. pintoi was effective in suppressing broadleaf and sedge weeds but not effective to suppress grass weeds. The use of A. pintoi biomulch by allowing the coverage of the entire soil surface suppressed the growth and yield of maize compared to the without mulch with weeding and straw mulch treatments.

Cover crops is widely used as biomulch because of its advantages for land conservation, weed control and increasing soil nutrients, especially in upland agriculture. The objective of the research was to study the growth and development of Arachis pintoi as biomulch in upland agriculture. The experiment was carried out at IPB Experimental Field from February until May 2014. Observation was done everyweek up to 12 weeks with 10 plants were used for each observation. One stolon of A. pintoi with 4 internodes was planted in each 0.25 m2 plot. The results showed that root initiation of A. pintoi was occured at 3 weeks after planting (wap) and produced 42.4 roots with average root length of 17.10 cm on 12 wap.A. pintoi had nett assimilation rate of 0.0023 g cm-2 per day and relative growth rate of 0.052 g per day. With this growth rate, A. pintoi covered 58% of 0.25 m2 plot and produced biomass 10.08 g per plant within 12 wap. A. pintoi produced flowers on 4 wap and pods on 7 wap. A. pintoi produced root nodules through mutualism symbiosis with local Rhizobium. The equation for rate of coverage is Coverage (%) = 5.273 Time (wap)-16.512; 100% land coverage can be reached on 22 wap. Based on the results of this study, A. pintoi is potential to be used as biomulch; however, a denser spacing must be applied for faster land coverage.Keywords: land coverage, mulch, Rhizobium, stolon

The potential of upland for agriculture in Indonesia is very high which is about 76.2 million hectares. Upland consists of flat land ( 3%). Most of the upland is sloping land i.e. range 77% while only 23% of the land is flat. The total upland area on the slopes of Java Island and Sumatra Island is 10.8 million and 33.7 million hectares respectively. The potential danger of erosion and land degradation is high on the area since the average rainfall is more than 2000 mm year−1. For sustainable farming, great efforts on land conservations need to be reduced and prevented the danger of erosion and land degradation. One of the technologies that can be used as a sloping upland conservation is the use of legume cover crop (LCC). Arachis pintoi is legume plant that propagated by stem, creeping growth, does not twist the main plant, and able to cover the ground or soil surface perfectly. Basic research on the bio-ecology and agronomic characters, particularly related to its use as a biomulch. Include analysis of growth and development, the time needed to covering soil surface, their effectiveness in suppressing erosion, suppress weeds and improve the soil fertility as well as the nature of their interaction towards plant cultivation has not much reported. A series of studies have been carried out to study the characteristics of the growth and development of plants of A.pintoi, effectiveness in suppressing the rate of soil erosion, weed growth emphasis, improvement of physical and chemical properties of soil and its application as biomulch on the minimum tillage system. The results showed that A.pintoi has slow growth at the beginning, but cover the soil surface perfectly at 10 weeks after planting (WAP) so effectively suppress erosion, reduce evaporation from the soil, maintaining the availability of groundwater, soil organic matter, provides increased availability of nutrient N and P as well as suppressing the growth of weeds. The combination of minimum tillage and biomulch A. pintoi can be used as a method to be applied to different types of cultivation in tropical upland.