Abstract
AbstractPhosphorus (P) fixation is very common in Malaysian acid soils due to the fixation of soluble inorganic P by Al and Fe under acidic soil pH conditions. Farmers tend to perform lots of liming and apply excess amount of P fertilizers in order to saturate the Al and Fe in the soil so that the plants are able to absorb the remaining P. Excessive liming and application of P fertilizers are not only not economical but also not environmentally friendly. Compost with a large surface area and pool of negative charges could be used to reduce P fixation in acidic soil. Hence, this study was carried out to assess the effect of amending Christmas Island rock phosphate (CIRP) with rice straw (RS) compost in improving soil P availability, nutrient uptake, and dry matter production of maize cultivated on a Malaysian tropical acid soil. A pot experiment was carried out in this study with the use of maize (FI hybrid sweet corn 801) as a test crop. The chemical properties of soils applied with RS compost were significantly improved (P≤ 0.05) compared to treatments without RS compost. As the soil pH increased, there was significant reduction in exchangeable acidity, Al and Fe in soil due to exchangeable Al and Fe were fixed with negatively charged functional groups of RS compost’s surfaces, thus increased the P availability and exchangeable cations in the soil applied with RS compost. There was also significantly higher N, P, and K uptake in leaf, stem, and root of maize in the treatments applied with RS compost. Application of CIRP with RS compost was found to increase the soil P availability, maize nutrient uptake, and dry matter production at the end of the pot experiment. An application rate of 15–20 t ha−1of RS compost together with 130 kg ha−1urea, 200 kg ha−1CIRP, and 67 kg ha−1muriate of potash is recommended to improve the soil NPK contents and growth ofZea maysin acidic soil.
Highlights
Phosphorus (P) is a vital soil nutrient for optimum plant growth and development (Kahura et al 2018)
An application rate of 15–20 t ha−1 of rice straw (RS) compost together with 130 kg ha−1 urea, 200 kg ha−1 Christmas Island rock phosphate (CIRP), and 67 kg ha−1 muriate of potash is recommended to improve the soil NPK contents and growth of Zea mays in acidic soil
At 60 days after sowing (DAS), the soil pH of the treatments applied with RS compost (RST2, RST3, RST4, and RST5) was significantly increased compared to treatments without RS compost (T0 and T1) (Table 4)
Summary
Phosphorus (P) is a vital soil nutrient for optimum plant growth and development (Kahura et al 2018). The most common methods used by the farmers are application of large amount of lime in order to raise the soil pH and application of large quantities of inorganic P fertilizers such as triple superphosphate (TSP) in order to saturate the Al and Fe ions to overcome P deficiency in the soils (Rahman et al 2014; Ch’ng et al 2015) These practices are not economical and not environmentally friendly because over liming leads to precipitation of P ions with calcium (Ca) as calcium phosphate, which is not available for plant uptake (Ch’ng et al 2019). Excessive or unbalanced application of P fertilizer is not economical too and will cause water pollution such as eutrophication (Ayoola and Makinde 2009; Petrus et al 2010)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
