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.
Primary Language | English |
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Journal Section | Articles |
Authors | |
Publication Date | January 1, 2019 |
Published in Issue | Year 2019 Volume: 8 Issue: 1 |