Identification of Morphological Characters and Relationships of Ginger Plants (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) in Simalungun Regency

Abstract

Ginger plants were grown in large areas in Indonesia through inter cropping and diversecroped. Simalungun was one of the largest ginger producer centers in North Sumatra. The aim of the study was to identify the morphological characters and relationship of ginger in Simalungun Regency. This research was conducted in three districts ; Purba District, Dolok Masagal District and Raya District from September to November 2021. The  UPOV (International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants) descriptor was used with purposive sampling technique. Parameters observed were plant habitus, plant height, number of stems, type of top growth, number of leaves on main stem, stem lenght, leaf width, intensity of green color on stems,leaf lenght, leaf width, intensity of green color on leaves, rhizome total weight, rhizome shape, rhizome skin color, rhizome surface texture, number of rhizomes, rhizome size, rhizome colour, time of sprouting (after planting), time of harvest maturity. The result of this study showed there were wide and narrow diversity on the observed  characters and the closest value of the relationship is 2.019 in samples B1J4 and F1J5, while the farthest value of the relationship is 35.903 in samples A1J1 and A1J2.