The Chemical Properties of Burnt Peat Soil in Teluk Bakung Village, West Kalimantan

Abstract

Peatland is one of Indonesia’s unique ecosystems and has various functions in maintaining environmental stability. The increasing demand for land in various sectors has led to activities in peat areas. Land conversion and sub-optimal management of peatland can affect the properties of the peat. This study aims to analyze the chemical properties of peat soil on four land management areas in Teluk Bakung Village, West Kalimantan. The areas were rubber stand, burnt land, taro plantation with non-burning land management, and taro plantation with burnt land management. The method used was purposive sampling with a set of five points as soil sampling within the plot measuring 20 m x 100 m. Soil samples were taken at a depth of 0 – 10 cm at each site. Then, the soil samples were evenly composited for further analysis in the laboratory. The results of the study showed that the parameters of the chemical properties at each site had various values. Burnt land had higher N, P, K, Na, and CEC values. Meanwhile, the highest pH, Ca, and Mg values were in taro plantations with non-burning land management. Then, the highest ash content values were in taro plantation with burnt land management. For the value of C-organic, rubber stand had the highest percentage compared to the other land conditions.

Peat-Based Organo-Mineral Fertilizer Improves Nitrogen Use Efficiency, Soil Quality, and Yield of Baby Corn (Zea mays L.)

“…Usually, baby corn takes up very lower amounts of mineral N during the early growth stage, whereas a large amount of urea N becomes available during this time. In comparison with urea, PSU has the capacity to decrease fertilizer N releases because of the prolonged retention of urea or mineral N in a large surface area, porous microsites, the favorable surface charge of peat, and the cation exchange (peat soil CEC = 100-300 cmol kg −1 ) of ammonium N with excessive functional groups and the active carbon fraction of peat [35,53,54]. As a result, a higher amount of fertilizer N might be available at the later growth stage, facilitating more N uptake by baby corn.…”

“…Furthermore, PS contains a higher organic carbon percentage (24.2-69.3%) [31,32] and a natural void ratio [33], resulting in lower bulk density, [34] a high water-holding capacity, and permeability [28]. Moreover, the high cation exchange capacity (CEC) (100-300 cmol kg −1 ) and porosity of PS are responsible for higher nutrient retention and adsorption capacity in soil [35]. In addition, peat is naturally formed humified organic matter, easily available and very cheap in the southern part of Bangladesh.…”