Back H. A. H. Sharifuddin, M. F. Shahbuddin and A. R. Zaharah
University of Agriculture, Serdang, Malaysia
Full Paper (PDF File: 313KB)
Abstract
The use of organic amendments as nutrient sources compared with chemical fertilizer was studied. Three trials, one pot and two field experiments, were conducted to evaluate the effects of organic amendments, chicken manure and palm oil mill effluent (POME), on the yields of Chinese cabbage (Brassica chinensis L.) and sweet corn (Zea mays L.). The organic amendments were applied at a rate of 20 tons ha-1 with and without application of Effective Microorganisms (EM 4). An objective was to test the ability of EM 4 to accelerate the mineralization of organic materials and also to evaluate its effect on fertilizer use efficiency. Soils used in these studies were Typic Paleudults.
Results showed that chicken manure improved the yield of Chinese cabbage in the pot study. The yield was further improved when EM 4 was applied under field conditions. However, yields of cabbage grown on the Tebok and Serdang soils and amended with POME (with and without EM 4) were lower than for the chemical fertilizer and chicken manure treatments.
In field experiments, the yield of sweet corn was highest with the chicken manure plus EM 4 treatment, However, the differences between the EM 4 treatments were not significant. Similarly, there were no significant yield differences between chemical fertilizer and POME with and without EM 4, This suggests that in a longer growing period corn would benefit from the mineralization of POME, thus, making it as effective as chemical fertilizer for crop production.