Pedosphere 24(6): 827--835, 2014
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2014 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Bio-fertilizer, ground magnesium limestone and basalt applications may improve chemical properties of Malaysian acid sulfate soils and rice growth |
Q. A. PANHWAR1, U. A. NAHER2,3, O. RADZIAH1,2, J. SHAMSHUDDIN1,2 and I. MOHD RAZI2 |
1Department of Land Management, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400 (Malaysia)
2Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang 43400 (Malaysia)
3Soil Science Division, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur 1701 (Bangladesh) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Acid sulfate soils are normally not suitable for crop production unless they are appropriately ameliorated. An experiment was conducted in a glasshouse to enhance the growth of rice, variety MR219, planted on an acid sulfate soil using various soil amendments. The soil was collected from Semerak, Kelantan, Malaysia. Ground magnesium limestone (GML), bio-fertilizer, and basalt (each 4 t ha-1) were added either alone or in combinations into the soil in pots 15 d before transplanting. Nitrogen, P and potash were applied at 150, 30, and 60 kg ha-1, respectively. Three seven-day-old rice seedlings were transplanted into each pot. The soil had a pH of 3.8 and contained organic C of 21 g kg-1, N of 1.2 g kg-1, available P of 192 mg kg-1, exchangeable K of 0.05 cmolc kg-1, and exchangeable Al of 4.30 cmolc kg-1, with low amounts of exchangeable Ca and Mg (0.60 and 0.70 cmolc kg-1). Bio-fertilizer treatment in combination with GML resulted in the highest pH of 5.4. The presence of high Al or Fe concentrations in the control soil without amendment severely affected the growth of rice. At 60 d of growth, higher plant heights, tiller numbers and leaf chlorophyll contents were obtained when the bio-fertilizer was applied individually or in combination with GML compared to the control. The presence of beneficial bacteria in bio-fertilizer might produce phytohormones and organic acids that could enhance plant growth and subsequently increase nutrient uptake by rice. Hence, it can be concluded that addition of bio-fertilizer and GML improved rice growth by increasing soil pH which consequently eliminated Al and/or Fe toxicity prevalent in the acid sulfate soil. |
| Key Words: Al toxicity,amendments,beneficial bacteria,Fe toxicity,indoleacetic acid,organic acids |
| Citation: Panhwar, Q. A., Naher, U. A., Radziah, O., Shamshuddin, J. and Mohd, R. 2014. Bio-fertilizer, ground magnesium limestone and basalt applications may improve chemical properties of Malaysian acid sulfate soils and rice growth. Pedosphere. 24(6): 827-835. |
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