<![CDATA[ The objective of this study was to determine the response of oil palm seedling to the application of arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) subjected to water stress. The treatment design used was a factorial design 2 x 5 arranged in completely randomized design. The first factor was application of AMF i.e. without AMF (control) and inoculation with AMF (mixture of Glomus sp., Entropospora sp., and Gigaspora sp.). The second factor was water stress i.e. no watering for 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days at the end of experiment. Data obtained were subjected to Bartlett test to examine the treatment variance, and Tukey tests to examine additiveness of the data, and continued by analysis of variance. The results showed that application of AMF increased oil palm seedling growth through the increase in seedling height, number of leave, shoot fresh and dry weight, and percent of root infection. Duration of water stress significantly affected oil palm seedling growth by decreasing plant height, number of leave, shot and root fresh weight, root dry weight. However, at any level of water stress, the AMF inoculated seedling had better growth compared to those control palms.[Key words: oil palm seedling, arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF), water stress] AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh pemberian fungi mikoriza arbuskular (FMA) terhadap respons pertumbuhan bibit kelapa sawit yang mengalami cekaman air. Perlakuan disusun secara faktorial 2x5 dalam rancangan kelompok teracak sempurna (RKTS) dengan lima ulangan. Faktor pertama adalah aplikasi FMA, yaitu kontrol (tanpa FMA) dan diberi FMA (campuran Glomus sp., Entropospora sp., dan Gigaspora sp.). Faktor kedua adalah lamanya cekaman air, yaitu 0, 7, 14, 21, dan 28 hari tanpa disiram sebelum penelitian dihentikan. Data yang diperoleh diuji kesamaan ragam antar perlakuannya dengan Uji Bartlett dan kemenambahan modelnya dengan Uji Tukey. Jika asumsi terpenuhi, ragam homogen dan data bersifat menambah, maka data dianalisis ragam. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa aplikasi FMA meningkatkan pertumbuhan bibit kelapa sawit melalui peningkatan tinggi tanaman, jumlah daun, bobot basah tajuk, bobot kering tajuk, dan persen infeksi akar. Lamanya cekaman air menurunkan pertumbuhan bibit kelapa sawit melalui penurunan tinggi tanaman, jumlah daun, jumlah akar primer, bobot basah tajuk, bobot basah akar, bobot kering tajuk, dan bobot kering akar, akan tetapi pada setiap taraf cekaman air, pertumbuhan bibit yang ber-FMA lebih tinggi dibandingkan dengan tanpa FMA.[Kata kunci: bibit kelapa sawit, fungi mikoriza arbuskular (FMA), cekaman air]]]>
