Increase in cost of chemical fertilizers encourages the use of soil amendments such as biochar and zeolites to improve soil fertility. In this study, biochar produced from empty fruit bunch-palm oil mill effluent (EFB-POME) and clinoptilolite zeolite were used as soil amendments to improve soil fertility. The field experiment was carried out for two planting cycles to determine the effects of different rates of EFB POME biochar (0, 10, and 20 t ha-1), clinoptilolite zeolite (0, 1.25, and 2.5 t ha-1), and urea (60 and 120 kg ha-1) on selected soil chemical properties of Tanjung Lipat (Typic Paleudults). Biochar produced from EFB-POME increase soil total N, P, K, Ca, and Mg. The higher soil total N, P, K, Ca, and Mg could be related to the increase in soil pH, cation exchange capacity, and total organic carbon in soil with EFB-POME biochar but not with clinoptilolite zeolite. Thus, EFB-POME biochar was more suitable to be used in a tropical soil (Typic Paleudults) compared to clinoptilolite zeolite for improving the selected soil pH, CEC, TOC and available P, K, Ca and Mg.
Honey is a natural product of bees, and its chemical composition depends on the nectar sources of the surrounding flora as well as environmental factors. However, keeping hives in areas polluted with heavy metals can affect the quality of bee products such as honey. To date, there have been very few studies on the health risks of consuming honey at various locations in the Malaysian state of Sabah, Borneo, in relation to food standards and heavy metal contamination of honey from the stingless bee, Heterotrigona itama in association with pollutant sources. A total of 63 samples of raw and unprocessed honey were collected directly from beekeepers producing honey at five sites in the industrial areas. All selected heavy metals were measured using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrophotometer (ICP-OES). Overall, the most frequently detected element was Zn (0.090 mg/kg), followed by Pb (0.012 mg/kg), As (0.004 mg/kg), and Cr (0.003 mg/kg), while Cd (0.001 mg/kg) was the lowest element in honey from all areas. With the exception of Cr and Zn, a significant correlation was found between PCA factor score 1 and heavy metal concentration in honey for Pb, Cd, and As, suggesting that the source of pollution for these metal elements was from hives closer to major roads, cities/town, petrochemical hub, and power plants. Although the heavy metal concentrations in the honey samples did not exceed the food standard limits and therefore do not pose a health risk, the observed increase in heavy metal concentrations in honey in industrial areas could pose a potential risk in the future due to the growing interest in rearing of stingless bees for honey production in these areas of Sabah.
Growth and yield performances of Thai Super Sweet (TSS) corn cultivar treated with various drought stress levels (25%, 50% and 100% Field Capacity, FC) at various growth stages (vegetative, pre-flowering and flowering) were investigated in an insect-proof net-house of Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Sandakan Campus. Drought treatments were applied at vegetative (14 to 34 days after sowing (DAS)), pre-flowering (35 to 55 DAS) and flowering (48 to 68 DAS) stages. Parameters measured and statistically analysed were growth, chlorophyll content, proline content and yield. The experiment was conducted as 3 x 3 factorial arrangements of treatments with a completely randomised design with four replications for each treatment. Length of first cob and fresh weight of the first cob showed interaction effects among the drought and growth stage treatments while chlorophyll content, number of cobs, cob girth, number of grains, 100 grains weight and proline content showed significant effects among drought levels treatments and cob girth showed significant effect among growth stages. Shorter flowering time (tasseling at 42 DAS) was found on drought treatment of 25% FC at the pre-flowering stage. It can be concluded that vegetative and flowering stages were sensitive to drought compared to the pre-flowering stage, where the yield components of vegetative and flowering stages were lower compared to the pre-flowering stage. During the pre-flowering drought period, TSS expressed tolerance response through the higher levels of chlorophyll and proline contents and hence able to perform the best overall yield components.
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