Global warming will affect the pattern of precipitation, evaporation, water run-off, soil moisture, and climate variations so that it can threaten food production. High evaporation and unpredictable precipitation will cause drought. Sandy soils have low water holding capacity, high infiltration, and high runoff. The application of soil amendments able to improve the soil’s physical properties through increasing the water holding capacity to increase crop productivity. The research aimed to determine the effect of the application of soil amendments to water holding capacity in sandy soils. The method used was a randomized complete design with one single factor, the type of soil amendments consisting of 7 treatments: P0 (control/without amendment), P1 (cow dung 60 tons ha-1), P2 (rice husk biochar 10 tons ha-1), P3 (clay-soils 10 tons ha-1), P4 (cow dung 60 tons ha-1+ rice husk biochar 10 tons ha-1), P5 (cow dung 60 tons ha-1+ clay-soils 10 tons ha-1), P6 (rice husk biochar 10 tons ha-1+ clay-soils 10 tons ha-1). The results showed that the interaction of rice husk biochar 10 tons ha-1+ clay-soils 10 tons ha-1 significant to increase soil moisture and decrease soil permeability. Combination of cow dung 60 tons ha-1 rice husk biochar 10 tons ha-1 more increase soil aggregate stability index up to 1.87 times than control.
Although conventional inorganic fertilizers increased plant growth and productivity, their excessive use leads to wastage, run-offs and environmental pollution. In order to promote nutrient recycling and zero emission strategy in the palm oil industry, compost was produced from oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) and palm oil mill effluent (POME) anaerobic sludge. The main objective of this study is to determine the effect of compost in the mixed media on the growth and inorganic fertilizer requirement in the oil palm nursery. 100% soil as media with 100% inorganic fertilizer as control was compared with mixed media containing 50% compost in soil with inorganic fertilizer at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% compositions and tested for plant growth and root structure. The results showed that the treatments with compost addition improved plant growth, compared to the control with 100% inorganic fertilizer which did not contain compost in the mixed medium. The improved plant growth corresponded directly to the enhanced secondary root structure, which probably resulted in more efficient absorption and uptake of nutrients by the plants. Furthermore, the plant growth and the secondary root structure in the mixed media with 50% inorganic fertilizer composition was not significantly different to the media with 75% and 100% inorganic fertilizer. Therefore it is suggested that the application of 50% compost in the mixed media enhanced the secondary root structure, resulting in reduced inorganic fertilizer requirement in the oil palm main nursery, without affecting the plant growth.
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