research article growth performance and nutrient uptake of...
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Research ArticleGrowth Performance and Nutrient Uptake ofOil Palm Seedling in Prenursery Stage as Influenced byOil Palm Waste Compost in Growing Media
A B Rosenani R Rovica P M Cheah and C T Lim
Department of Land Management Faculty of Agriculture Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) 43400 Serdang Selangor Malaysia
Correspondence should be addressed to A B Rosenani rosenaniabubakargmailcom
Received 5 November 2015 Accepted 14 January 2016
Academic Editor Iskender Tiryaki
Copyright copy 2016 A B Rosenani et al This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licensewhich permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited
The use of composted oil palm wastes in the oil palm nursery as an organic component of growing medium for oil palm seedlingsseems promising in sustainable oil palm seedling productionThis studywas conducted to investigate the effects of six oil palmwastecompost rates (0 20 40 60 80 and 100) on the growth performance of oil palm seedling and nutrient uptake in the prenurserystage (0ndash3 months) The addition of oil palm compost reduced the soil bulk density (132 to 053 g cmminus3) and increased soil pH(47 to 51) of growth media Oil palm waste compost treatment produced positive growth performance up to 70 A regressionanalysis indicated in 72 of compost and topsoil mixture as a polybag growth medium was optimum in producing best growthperformance of oil palm seedling in the prenursery stage Foliar analysis implied highest nutrients uptake (N P K Mg Ca Fe Znand Cu) for seedlings grown in 60 to 100 compost media
1 Introduction
Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) was first introduced to Malaysiain 1870 as an ornamental plant However the cultivation ofoil palm dates back to 1917 and only in the last 50 yearswas the rubber industry replaced by oil palm cultivation asthe main commercial crop in the agriculture sector [1] Thetotal planted area had then rapidly increased from 15 millionhectares in 1985 to 539million hectares in 2014 [2] CurrentlyMalaysia is the second largest palm oil producer (39) andexporter (44) in the world [2] This industry is a significantcontributor toward economic growth but it also contributestoward environmental pollution due to the large amount ofby-product produced during the oil extraction process It isestimated that 53million tonnes of oil palmwaste residue wasgenerated every year with a 5 increment annually [3]Theseoil palm wastes are rich in nutrients and present potentialagronomic values For instance oil palm waste is suitable asrawmaterial for composting to reduce the volume and recyclethe nutrients Currently the oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB)is applied in raw or unprocessed form to newly transplantedpalms as mulch and nutrient source
Topsoil has been conventionally used as the growingmedium for oil palm seedling during nursery stage Howeverit is not practical for long term due to the increasing nutrientdemand of oil palm seedling and depletion of fertile soilsThe production of high quality seedlings is dependent ongood growing media The physicochemical and biologicalproperties of a growing medium will affect plant growth anddirectly influence roots growth Furthermore the plantingmediummust be porous andwell drained to permit free rootspenetration secure anchorage and have sufficient nutrientsto support crop growth [4]
Amendment materials such as dry effluent and coir dust[5] organic-based substrate [6] and oil palm waste compost[7 8] in soil growing media for oil palm seedling have beenreported prior to this study The positive effects of compostin raising seedlings include changes in the soil physicalproperties exchange and buffering capacities and being adirect source of nutrients for plants Study by Aisueni andOmoti [9] in Nigeria found that application of compostedEFB with POME at rate of 150 g per polybag increasedseedling dry matter weight up to 71 at the main nurserystage Previous study by Siregar et al [10] conducted in Riau
Hindawi Publishing CorporationInternational Journal of AgronomyVolume 2016 Article ID 6930735 8 pageshttpdxdoiorg10115520166930735
2 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 1 Selected physical and chemical characteristics of growing media
Treatments Bulk density pH C N C N P K Ca Mg Mn Zn Cu(g cmminus3) (H
2
O) Ratio () mg kgminus1
C0 132a 468e 2389d 275f 012f 024e 056a 011d 009d 1825c 2225d 1175cb
C20 124b 485d 2605cd 572e 022e 031d 056a 015cd 013d 2200ab 2925cb 1300b
C40 111b 508c 2823bc 1065d 038d 035d 057a 018c 015d 2425a 2550cd 1200cb
C60 095bc 513a 3133b 1847c 059c 049c 053a 022b 022c 1950bc 2375d 975c
C80 075cd 515a 2978b 2832b 095b 083b 056a 026a 028b 2175ab 3225b 1375b
C100 056d 510b 6151a 7319a 119a 124a 055a 026a 035a 2150ab 4625a 2300a
Note means with the same letter within row are not significantly different at 119901 lt 005 according to LSD test C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 and C100 represent 020 40 60 80 and 100 of compost respectively
Indonesia reported that mixing 75 kg EFB compost togetherwith topsoil could replace the standard mineral fertilizationin main nursery stage as the 12-month-old seedling grows asgood as seedlings under normal fertilization practices Ovieet al [11] reported that under water stress condition theuse of 300 g of EFB and poultry manure compost (4 1 ratio)in oil palm seedlings planting media resulted in significantimprovement of plant vegetative growth and soil chemicalproperties when compared to seedling practices underconventional main nursery establishment
Earlier reports of oil palm waste application on oil palmseedling were mainly on raw EFB during the main nurserystage In this study a different type of oil palm wastethe oil palm mesocarp was utilized and focused on theprenursery stage (rather than the main nursery stage) toproduce high quality seedlings Thus the aims of this studywere to investigate the effects of oil palm waste compostwhich consisted of pressed oil palm fruit mesocarp and palmoil mill effluent (POME) as a component of polybag mediumon growth performance of oil palm seedlings and nutrientsuptake during the prenursery stage (0ndash3 months) in thedouble stage nursery system
2 Materials and Methods
This study was conducted under shelter in Universiti PutraMalaysia (2∘59101584059N 101∘42101584025E) with air temperature of 24ndash33∘C Oil palm waste of pressed oil palm fruit mesocarpand POME were obtained from Golden Hope PlantationBerhad and composted in Universiti Putra Malaysia Oilpalm seeds GH500 a cross-breed product between Elite DeliDura and second generation of Pesifera BM119 were used inthis study Polybag media were prepared by mixing compostwith the Serdang series topsoil (Ultisol Tipik Lutualemkuts)at the ratio of 0 (C0) 20 (C20) 40 (C40) 60 (C60) 80(C80) and 100 (C100) The characteristics of the topsoiland oil palm waste compost were similar to C0 (topsoil onlywithout compost) and C100 (solely compost) respectivelyThe experiment was carried out in a randomized completeblock design (RCBD) with six replications
Planting distance between each of the poly bags in theblock was 30 cm and was 50 cm between each of the blocksOne germinated oil palm seed (GH500) was sown in eachpolybag of 15 cm times 23 cm with equal volume of media
The seedlingswerewatered twice a day andweedingwas donemanually A compound fertilizer N-P-K-Mg (14 7 9 25)was applied weekly (10 g per polybag) from week 7 to week12 after sowing
Plant height was recorded during the 12 weeks of prenurs-ery period at weeks 1 2 4 6 8 10 and 12 All seedlingswere left to grow until the 12th week (Figure 4) At the 12thweek chlorophyll content was recorded using a chlorophyllmeter (SPAD 502 Plus Chlorophyll Meters) The seedlingswere harvested 2 cm above ground for the shoot weightwhile the roots were carefully removed from the polybag torecord root weight Fresh weight was recorded and the plantsamples were oven-dried at 55∘C until constant weight wasachieved Then seedling (excluded root) was ground usinga tissue grinder (IKA Labortechnik MF10 Basic) for macro-and micronutrients analysis Total N and selected nutrientswere determined using Kjeldahl method [12] and dry ashingmethod [13] respectively Concentrations of N P and Kwere measured by Auto-Analyzer (LACHAT InstrumentQuikChem FIA+ 8000 series) while Ca Mg Fe Cu Zn Mnand Fe were measured via Atomic Adsorption Spectrometer(AAS PerkinElmer Analyst 400) respectively
Each medium treatment was analyzed for bulk densitypH (1 4 soil water) andmacro- andmicronutrient contentsas shown in Table 1 Bulk density was measured according tothe core method [14] Total N was determined using Kjeldahlmethod [12] total organic carbon (TOC) was determinedwith Walkey and Black [15] available P was determinedaccording to Bray and Kurtz [16] and selected nutrients (KMg Ca Fe Cu Zn and Mn) were determined with dryashing method [13] N and P concentrations were measuredby Auto-Analyzer (LACHAT Instrument QuikChem FIA+8000 series) Other elements (KMg Ca Fe Cu Zn andMn)were determined by Atomic Adsorption Spectrometer (AASPerkinElmer Analyst 400)
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for allparameters with the statistical analysis system SAS version92 (SAS Institute Inc Cary NC USA) Differences betweentreatments were analysed using LSD at 119901 lt 005 Regressionanalyses (withANOVA)were performedwith SigmaPlot ver-sion 110 (Systat Software San Jose CA) to determine the rela-tionships between oil palm waste compost and the chemicalcharacteristics of the media and the growth parameters andnutrient contents of oil palm seedling Initial characteristicsof the treated growing media characteristic were analysed
International Journal of Agronomy 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13Component
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Eige
nval
ue (
)
(a)
C0
C0
C0
C20C20 C20
C40
C40
C40
C40
C60C60
C60
C60
C80
C80
C80
C80
C100
C100
C100
C100
Component 1
Com
pone
nt 2 16
32
48
64
minus16
minus32
minus48
minus64
10 20 30 40 50 60minus10minus20minus30
(b)
Figure 1 (a) Scree plot of eigenvalue (b) Principal components analysis (PCA) of initial physicochemical properties of growing media (ndashsdotndashbroken stick C0 C20 C40 C60 C60 C80 and C100 represent 0 20 40 60 80 and 100 of compost resp)
with PCA (PASTversion 307 PAST Paleontological StatisticsSoftware Paleontological Association) to determine themostprominent factor induced by compost addition on the overallalteration of the growing media
3 Results
31 Physicochemical Characteristics of Growing Media ThepH value of growing media significantly increased from468 in C0 and peaked at 515 in C80 Thus the pH valuefor mixture of compost and topsoil of C60 and C80 wassignificantly higher than pure compost (C100) Mixing thecompost with topsoil reduced the bulk density by up to 43from the original topsoil (C0) and there was no significantdifference between C80 and C100 (Table 1) In general theoptimum bulk density of potting growing media is about040 g cmminus3 [17]TheCcontent of growingmedia significantlyincreased with 100 compost (7319) as compared tocontrol treatment C0 with only 275 C (Table 1) Further-more N content of the treatments increased significantlywith increasing amount of compost incorporated The CNratio of C100 (6151) was significantly higher than the othertreatments (23ndash31) due to higher presence of C associatedwith increasing amount of compost However C100 was notsuitable as potting media due to the high CN ratio as theideal range was recommended to be between 20 and 40 [18]There was no significant difference between C40 and C80(Table 1) Correspondingly P Ca and Mg contents of soil-compost mixtures increased significantly when compared toC0 (Table 1) However K content was not affected by theaddition of compost and this could be attributed to leachingcommonly reported for K loss [19 20] In general micronu-trients (Mn Zn and Cu) concentrations were increased withthe addition of compost to the soil (Table 1) which might becontributed by the compost itself (C100)
Table 2 Factor pattern eigenvalues and percentages of the varianceexplained by each factor obtained from the first PCA performed onthe physicochemical properties of growing media
PC 1 PC 2 PC 3Soil pH 0003 minus0010 minus0028
Bulk density (g cmminus3) minus0008 0008 0033
C N ratio 0444 minus0213 0829
C 0840 minus0230 minus0474
N 0012 minus0006 minus0055
P 0012 0001 minus0031
K 0000 0002 minus0002
Ca 0001 minus0002 minus0010
Mg 0003 minus0001 minus0011
Cu (mgkg) 0140 0376 0171
Zn (mgkg) 0270 0834 minus0025
Mn (mgkg) 0010 0221 minus0026
Na (mgkg) 0061 0127 0228
Eigenvalue 841176 15539 9631
variance 95845 17705 10974
PCAof the chemical properties of growthmedia was gen-erated (Table 2) The physicochemical properties of growingmedia (soil pH bulk density and total C N P K Ca Mg ZnCu Mn and Na) were regarded as independent factor andPCA was conducted using variance-covariance matrix Theeigenvalue scree plot (Figure 1(a)) showed one factor analysisBesides PC 1 explained 9585 of the total variance and wasprimary associated with C content (Table 2) The PCA scoreplot revealed that the growing media properties were catego-rized according to the volume of compost content as C100was clearly separated from other treatments (Figure 1(b))This was attributed to the high C content in C100 (7317)
4 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 3 Effect of compost addition in growing media on nutrients uptake by oil palm seedlings
Treatments N P K Ca Mg Cu Zn Mn Femg plantminus1 120583g plantminus1
C0 1260b 839c 1143d 300b 283b 2586b 5335b 11012a 50979b
C20 1680b 1178bc 1352cd 309b 445b 2842b 4967b 11063a 37319c
C40 1930b 1453b 1566c 342b 428b 2810b 5763b 12183a 43694bc
C60 2966a 2572a 1970b 512a 644a 4448a 8673a 14256a 73940a
C80 3368a 2421a 2401a 571a 653a 5250a 9200a 13535a 67538a
C100 3248a 2776a 2138ab 489a 644a 4391a 8515a 10574a 75278a
Note means with the same letter within row are not significantly different at 119901 lt 005 according to LSD test C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 and C100 represent 020 40 60 80 and 100 of compost respectively
Therefore C content largely affected the physicochemicalproperties in growth media
32 Macro- and Micronutrients Uptake by Oil Palm SeedlingsThenutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings is shown inTable 3In general there was no significant difference between topsoil(C0) and topsoil-compost mixtures up to 40 (C20ndash40)However the macronutrients uptake increased significantlyat C60 and there was no further significant rise subsequentlyLikewise Cu Zn and Fe uptakes imitated the pattern ofmacronutrients uptake no significant differencewas detectedat low compost rate (C0ndash40) but it increased significantly atC60 and remained stagnant successively (C60ndash100)
33 Oil Palm Seedlings Growth Based on the regressionstudies the shoot dry weight root dry weight plant heightand SPAD reading of oil palm seedlings were related to theamount of compost added (Figure 2) Hence the shoot dryweight was best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 0001) with compost (R2 = 0725) It peaked at C80and declined afterwards Meanwhile the root dry weightwas also best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 001) with compost (R2 = 0496) and the highestroot dry weight was detected at C100 The plant height wasdirectly proportional or positive linearly related (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0534) Meanwhile the SPAD was bestfitted into a positive quadratic relationship (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0717) and peaked at C80 Addition ofcompost up to 72 in growing media resulted in progressiveseedlings growth but shoot dry weight started to decreasewhen more than 72 of compost was added (Figure 2(a))SPAD value also showed a strong correlation (119901 = 001) tothe seedlings nitrogen uptake (Figure 3)
4 Discussion
41 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on the Character-istics of Growth Media Addition of oil palm waste com-post decreased the bulk density of topsoil-compost growingmediumThis could be attributed to the dilution effect [21] asbulk density of compost was significantly lower than topsoiland higher amount of compost Thus compost additionimproved soil aeration and pore space Bronick and Lal[22] had shown that organic amendments such as compost
have a dilution effect in lowering bulk density Organicapplications (eg compost) increased soil C content and alsoimproved soil aggregation and macroporosity and loweredthe penetration resistance contributing to better crop growth[23 24] This further highlighted the importance of compostin growing medium to alleviate soil C content and improvedsoil physical properties
Adding compost also improved the chemical propertiesof the growing medium as shown by various studies whichreported the ability of compost to reduce soil acidity [25ndash27] This could be attributed to the presence of complexhumic acid in compost [28] which provided binding sites forexchangeable bases and decreased the availability of polyca-tions like Fe2+ and Al3+ [29] Thus addition of compost-Crich in negative functionalities could affect the pHvalue of thegrowth media Besides the high content of alkaline elements(excess cations) Ca andMgwas concomitantwith increasingcompost which could react with the free H+ This explainedthe liming effect of compost and decarboxylation of organicanions during decomposition improving the pH of growingmedia [30]
Furthermore compost could also supply the seedlingswith additional N P Ca Mg and Zn functioning as asource of nutrients beside applied fertilizers Another plau-sible mechanism was compost retaining the nutrients in thegrowing media by surface adsorption and increased nutrientrecovery [31] Vegetal compost was shown to be effective inremoving Zn via sorption process [32] Potassiumwasmostlyleached away as it existed in ionic form (K+) and can be easilydissolved
42 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on Seedling Growthand Nutrients Uptake The oil palm seedling growth andphysiology improved with the application of compost Thiswas majorly attributed to the alteration of physicochemicalproperties of the growing medium Multiple regression studyshowed that root and shoot growth and macronutrientsuptake were highly significantly related to the pH of thegrowing media (Table 4) Previous studies also reportedplants specifically lettuce and ornamental plant showingsimilar response when the growing medium improved fromacidic to slightly acidic [33 34] This highlighted the effectof pH on the nutrient availability as macronutrients likeP were heavily affected by the pH value and subsequently
International Journal of Agronomy 5
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shoo
t dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus00003x2 + 0043x + 1235
0725lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(a)
00
05
10
15
20
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Root
dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus35E minus 05x2 + 0010x + 0532
0496lowastlowastR2 =
(b)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Plan
t hei
ght (
cm)
Compost ()
y = 0046x + 2036
0534lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(c)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 20 40 60 80 100
SPA
D re
adin
g
Compost ()
y = minus0002x2 + 0404x + 4566
0717lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(d)
Figure 2 Effect of compost application rates on (a) shoot dry weight (b) root dry weight (c) plant height and (d) chlorophyll meter readings(SPAD value) of oil palm seedlings Note lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 and 00001 probability level respectively
the nutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings At low pH soilP reacted with Al and Fe oxides forming insoluble Al orFe phosphate through ligand bridging and anionic repulsionrendering P unavailable [35] According to Budianta et al[36] available P concentrations increased to 7382 whenoil palm waste derived compost was applied to soil whilethe soil exchangeable Al decreased This could be due to thepresence of the negative surface functional groups (phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol) on compost immobilizingAl or Fe and releasing P back to the soil
Furthermore the seedling root growth was clearly asso-ciated with the bulk density reflected by the increasing pore
space and soil aeration Addition of composted agriculturalwaste had been reported to significantly improve root growth[37 38] The nutrients uptake increased with root growth asshown by the correlation matrix (Table 5) Thus lower bulkdensity and alleviated pH due to compost addition were idealto promote root growth and increased nutrients uptake andbiomass
Apart from promoting nutrient uptake compost addi-tion also influenced nutrient availability and retention inthe growing medium The surface of organic matter likecompost is rich in negative functionalities such as phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol which serve as exchange
6 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 4 Relationship between shoot and root dry weight nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) andmagnesium (Mg)uptake and soil pH as affected by compost addition in growing media
Interaction between soil pH and Equation R2
Shoot dry weight gminus1 119910 = 42331199092
minus 3799119909 + 8642 086lowastlowastlowast
Root dry weight gminus1 119910 = 61631199092
minus 5937119909 + 1435 078lowastlowastlowast
N uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 10981199092
minus 1039119909 + 246986 084lowastlowastlowast
P uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 94631199092
minus 8946119909 + 21236 084lowastlowastlowast
K uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 71151199092
minus 6774119909 + 16236 085lowastlowastlowast
Ca uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 24581199092
minus 2366119909 + 5723 085lowastlowastlowast
Mg uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 20681199092
minus 1952119909 + 4636 088lowastlowastlowast
Note lowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 00001 probability level
Table 5 Correlation matrix between dry shoot and root nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)in soil and plant nutrient uptake as affected by compost addition in growing media
Parameter Root Shoot N P K Ca Mg N P K Ca MgDry weight (g) Uptake (mg plantminus1) Soil before treatment ()
Root Dry weight (g) 100 057lowastlowast 081lowastlowastlowast 068lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 078lowastlowastlowast 040lowast 068lowastlowast 058lowastlowast minus022ns 079lowastlowastlowast 063lowastlowastlowast
Shoot 080lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 086lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast 070lowastlowastlowast 061lowastlowast minus027ns 073lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast
N
Uptake (mg plantminus1)
087lowastlowastlowast 092lowastlowastlowast 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 083lowastlowastlowast 075lowastlowastlowast minus031ns 086lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast
P 082lowastlowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 057lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast minus038ns 083lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast
K 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 072lowastlowastlowast minus017ns 086lowastlowastlowast 080lowastlowastlowast
Ca 061lowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 064lowastlowast minus027ns 077lowastlowastlowast 071lowastlowastlowast
Mg 050lowast 044lowast minus031ns 054lowastlowast 045lowast
Notes lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 005 001 and 00001 probability level respectively ns not significant at 119901 lt 005
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
40 45 50 55 60 65 70SPAD reading
N u
ptak
e (m
g pl
antminus
1)
y = 0947x minus 2962
0696lowastlowastR =
Figure 3 Relationship between SPAD value and plant nitrogen (N)uptake Note lowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 probability level
sites that ultimately increased the CEC of growth media [39]Subsequently it also increased dry matter production andenabled efficient nutrients usage [39ndash43] This finding wasconsistent with Palanivell et al [39] which reported that theapplication of saw dust based compost as growing mediaincreased N P K Ca Mg and Na uptake by maize whencompared to conventional fertilizer
C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 C100
Figure 4 Growth of seedlings at the 12th week in prenursery stage
However growth of oil palm seedling is negativelyaffected by compost application solely due to the highC N ratio causing N immobilization However C N valuewould decrease gradually when microorganisms start break-ing down the compost and slowly release plant availablenutrients to the soil throughout the seedlings growth periodSimilar results have been reported by [33] whereby additionof composted greenwaste ofmore than 70 caused reductionin plant growth and root morphology probably due to thepresence of phytotoxic substance and negative changes inchemical and physical properties of growth media
5 Conclusions
Prenursery polybag medium amended with oil palm wastecompost up to 70 increased oil palm seedling growth
International Journal of Agronomy 7
Meanwhile 72 of the compost mixed with topsoil couldproduce the best planting material with respect to the highDMW production oil palm seedlings growth and devel-opment as well as greater nutrient uptake Further studyis required to investigate whether the amount of chemicalfertilizer employed during nursery stage could be reducedthus cutting operational cost by making use of oil palm wastecompost as polybag growth medium
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysiafor providing the facilities and Golden Hope Plantation BhdBanting for the oil palm waste that was used to produce thecompost
References
[1] Y Basiron ldquoPalm oil production through sustainable planta-tionsrdquo European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology vol109 no 4 pp 289ndash295 2007
[2] MPOB ldquoOil palm planted area by state as at December 2014rdquo2014 httpbepimpobgovmyimagesarea2014Area summ-arypdf
[3] M A AMohammed A SalmiatonW A K GWanAzlinaMS Mohammad Amran A FakhrursquoL-Razi and Y H Taufiq-YapldquoHydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass as a potential sourceof renewable energy in Malaysiardquo Renewable and SustainableEnergy Reviews vol 15 no 2 pp 1258ndash1270 2011
[4] M M Khan M A Khan M Abbas M J Jaskani M A Aliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[5] M THashim KH Yeow andY C Poon ldquoRecent developmentin nursery practicemdashpotting mediardquo in Proceedings of the Inter-national Oil PalmPalm Oil Conferences Progress amp ProspectsConference 1 Agriculture A H B Hassan Ed pp 369ndash371Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and IncorporatedSociety of Planters Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 1987
[6] M Khairil A A Kamarozaman I Arifin A Ramadzan andN Nasir ldquoEvaluation of several planting media for oil palm(ElaiesGuineensis) seedlings in main nurseryrdquo in Proceedings ofthe Soil Science Conference of Malaysia Kota Bharu MalaysiaApril 2012
[7] O O Adeoluwa and G O Adeoye ldquoPotential of oil palm emptyfruit bunch (EFB) as fertilizer in oil palm (Elaeis guineensisL Jacq) nurseriesrdquo in Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM OrganicWorld Congress Modena Italy June 2008 httporgprintsorgviewprojectsconferencehtml
[8] E G Uwumarongie-Ilori B B Sulaiman-Ilobu O Ederion etal ldquoVegetative growth performance of oil palm (Elaeis guineen-sis) seedlings in response to inorganic and organic fertilizersrdquoGreener Journal of Agricultural Science vol 2 pp 26ndash30 2012
[9] NO Aisueni andUOmoti ldquoThe role of compost in sustainableoil palm productionrdquo inCutting-Edge Technologies for Sustained
Competitiveness Proceedings of the 2001 PIPOC InternationalPalm Oil Congress Agriculture Conference Kuala LumpurMalaysia 20ndash22 August 2001 Nigerian Institute for Oil PalmEd pp 536ndash541 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2001
[10] F A Siregar S Salates J P Caliman and Z Liwang ldquoEnhanc-ing oil palm industry development through environmentallyfriendly technologyrdquo in Proceedings of the Chemistry amp Tech-nology Conference Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute(IOPRI) Ed Empty Fruit Bunch Compost Processing andUtilities pp 225ndash234 Nusa Dua Indonesia July 2002
[11] S Ovie M O Ekabafe A Nkechika and O N UdegbunamldquoInfluence of composted oil palm bunch waste on soil pHnitrogen organicmatter status and growth of oil palm seedlingsunder water stress conditionrdquoContinental Journal of Agronomyvol 1 pp 1ndash15 2014
[12] J M Bremner and C S Mulvaney ldquoNitrogen-totalrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analyses Part 2 Chemical and Mineralogical PropertiesA L Page R H Miller and D R Keeney Madison Edspp 610ndash615 American Society of Agronomy and Soil ScienceSociety of America 1982
[13] D E Baker G W Gorslinc C G Smith W I Thomas W EGrube and J L Ragland ldquoTechniques for rapid analysis of cornleaves for eleven elementsrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 56 pp 133ndash136 1964
[14] M De Boodt and O Verdonck ldquoThe physical properties of thesubstrates in horticulturerdquoActa Horticulturae vol 26 no 5 pp37ndash44 1972
[15] DW Nelson and L E Sommers ldquoMethods of soil analysis Part2 Chemical and microbiological propertiesrdquo in Total CarbonOrganic Carbon and Organic Matter A L Page R M MillerandD R Keeney Eds vol 9 ofAgronomyMonograph pp 542ndash560 ASA and SSSA Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1982
[16] R H Bray and L T Kurtz ldquoDetermination of total organic andavailable forms of phosphorus in soilsrdquo Soil Science vol 59 no1 pp 39ndash46 1945
[17] M Abad P Noguera and S Bures ldquoNational inventory oforganic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental pottedplant production case study in Spainrdquo Bioresource Technologyvol 77 no 2 pp 197ndash200 2001
[18] M Abad P FMartınezM DMartınez and JMartınez ldquoAgro-nomic evaluation of growing mediardquo Actas de Horticultura vol11 pp 141ndash154 1993
[19] B Ulen ldquoLeaching of plant nutrients and heavy metals duringthe composting of household wastes and chemical characteri-zation of the final productrdquo Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica BSoil amp Plant Science vol 47 no 3 pp 142ndash148 1997
[20] S G Sommer ldquoEffect of composting on nutrient loss andnitrogen availability of cattle deep litterrdquo European Journal ofAgronomy vol 14 no 2 pp 123ndash133 2001
[21] S C Gupta R H Dowdy and W E Larson ldquoHydraulic andthermal properties of a sandy soil as influenced by incorpora-tion of sewage sludgerdquo Soil Science Society of America Journalvol 41 no 3 pp 601ndash605 1977
[22] C J Bronick and R Lal ldquoSoil structure and management areviewrdquo Geoderma vol 124 no 1-2 pp 3ndash22 2005
[23] A Rivenshield andN L Bassuk ldquoUsing organic amendments todecrease bulk density and increasemacroporosity in compactedsoilsrdquoArboricultureampUrban Forestry vol 33 no 2 pp 140ndash1462007
[24] I Celik H Gunal M Budak and C Akpinar ldquoEffects oflong-term organic and mineral fertilizers on bulk density
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
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The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
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Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
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2 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 1 Selected physical and chemical characteristics of growing media
Treatments Bulk density pH C N C N P K Ca Mg Mn Zn Cu(g cmminus3) (H
2
O) Ratio () mg kgminus1
C0 132a 468e 2389d 275f 012f 024e 056a 011d 009d 1825c 2225d 1175cb
C20 124b 485d 2605cd 572e 022e 031d 056a 015cd 013d 2200ab 2925cb 1300b
C40 111b 508c 2823bc 1065d 038d 035d 057a 018c 015d 2425a 2550cd 1200cb
C60 095bc 513a 3133b 1847c 059c 049c 053a 022b 022c 1950bc 2375d 975c
C80 075cd 515a 2978b 2832b 095b 083b 056a 026a 028b 2175ab 3225b 1375b
C100 056d 510b 6151a 7319a 119a 124a 055a 026a 035a 2150ab 4625a 2300a
Note means with the same letter within row are not significantly different at 119901 lt 005 according to LSD test C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 and C100 represent 020 40 60 80 and 100 of compost respectively
Indonesia reported that mixing 75 kg EFB compost togetherwith topsoil could replace the standard mineral fertilizationin main nursery stage as the 12-month-old seedling grows asgood as seedlings under normal fertilization practices Ovieet al [11] reported that under water stress condition theuse of 300 g of EFB and poultry manure compost (4 1 ratio)in oil palm seedlings planting media resulted in significantimprovement of plant vegetative growth and soil chemicalproperties when compared to seedling practices underconventional main nursery establishment
Earlier reports of oil palm waste application on oil palmseedling were mainly on raw EFB during the main nurserystage In this study a different type of oil palm wastethe oil palm mesocarp was utilized and focused on theprenursery stage (rather than the main nursery stage) toproduce high quality seedlings Thus the aims of this studywere to investigate the effects of oil palm waste compostwhich consisted of pressed oil palm fruit mesocarp and palmoil mill effluent (POME) as a component of polybag mediumon growth performance of oil palm seedlings and nutrientsuptake during the prenursery stage (0ndash3 months) in thedouble stage nursery system
2 Materials and Methods
This study was conducted under shelter in Universiti PutraMalaysia (2∘59101584059N 101∘42101584025E) with air temperature of 24ndash33∘C Oil palm waste of pressed oil palm fruit mesocarpand POME were obtained from Golden Hope PlantationBerhad and composted in Universiti Putra Malaysia Oilpalm seeds GH500 a cross-breed product between Elite DeliDura and second generation of Pesifera BM119 were used inthis study Polybag media were prepared by mixing compostwith the Serdang series topsoil (Ultisol Tipik Lutualemkuts)at the ratio of 0 (C0) 20 (C20) 40 (C40) 60 (C60) 80(C80) and 100 (C100) The characteristics of the topsoiland oil palm waste compost were similar to C0 (topsoil onlywithout compost) and C100 (solely compost) respectivelyThe experiment was carried out in a randomized completeblock design (RCBD) with six replications
Planting distance between each of the poly bags in theblock was 30 cm and was 50 cm between each of the blocksOne germinated oil palm seed (GH500) was sown in eachpolybag of 15 cm times 23 cm with equal volume of media
The seedlingswerewatered twice a day andweedingwas donemanually A compound fertilizer N-P-K-Mg (14 7 9 25)was applied weekly (10 g per polybag) from week 7 to week12 after sowing
Plant height was recorded during the 12 weeks of prenurs-ery period at weeks 1 2 4 6 8 10 and 12 All seedlingswere left to grow until the 12th week (Figure 4) At the 12thweek chlorophyll content was recorded using a chlorophyllmeter (SPAD 502 Plus Chlorophyll Meters) The seedlingswere harvested 2 cm above ground for the shoot weightwhile the roots were carefully removed from the polybag torecord root weight Fresh weight was recorded and the plantsamples were oven-dried at 55∘C until constant weight wasachieved Then seedling (excluded root) was ground usinga tissue grinder (IKA Labortechnik MF10 Basic) for macro-and micronutrients analysis Total N and selected nutrientswere determined using Kjeldahl method [12] and dry ashingmethod [13] respectively Concentrations of N P and Kwere measured by Auto-Analyzer (LACHAT InstrumentQuikChem FIA+ 8000 series) while Ca Mg Fe Cu Zn Mnand Fe were measured via Atomic Adsorption Spectrometer(AAS PerkinElmer Analyst 400) respectively
Each medium treatment was analyzed for bulk densitypH (1 4 soil water) andmacro- andmicronutrient contentsas shown in Table 1 Bulk density was measured according tothe core method [14] Total N was determined using Kjeldahlmethod [12] total organic carbon (TOC) was determinedwith Walkey and Black [15] available P was determinedaccording to Bray and Kurtz [16] and selected nutrients (KMg Ca Fe Cu Zn and Mn) were determined with dryashing method [13] N and P concentrations were measuredby Auto-Analyzer (LACHAT Instrument QuikChem FIA+8000 series) Other elements (KMg Ca Fe Cu Zn andMn)were determined by Atomic Adsorption Spectrometer (AASPerkinElmer Analyst 400)
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for allparameters with the statistical analysis system SAS version92 (SAS Institute Inc Cary NC USA) Differences betweentreatments were analysed using LSD at 119901 lt 005 Regressionanalyses (withANOVA)were performedwith SigmaPlot ver-sion 110 (Systat Software San Jose CA) to determine the rela-tionships between oil palm waste compost and the chemicalcharacteristics of the media and the growth parameters andnutrient contents of oil palm seedling Initial characteristicsof the treated growing media characteristic were analysed
International Journal of Agronomy 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13Component
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Eige
nval
ue (
)
(a)
C0
C0
C0
C20C20 C20
C40
C40
C40
C40
C60C60
C60
C60
C80
C80
C80
C80
C100
C100
C100
C100
Component 1
Com
pone
nt 2 16
32
48
64
minus16
minus32
minus48
minus64
10 20 30 40 50 60minus10minus20minus30
(b)
Figure 1 (a) Scree plot of eigenvalue (b) Principal components analysis (PCA) of initial physicochemical properties of growing media (ndashsdotndashbroken stick C0 C20 C40 C60 C60 C80 and C100 represent 0 20 40 60 80 and 100 of compost resp)
with PCA (PASTversion 307 PAST Paleontological StatisticsSoftware Paleontological Association) to determine themostprominent factor induced by compost addition on the overallalteration of the growing media
3 Results
31 Physicochemical Characteristics of Growing Media ThepH value of growing media significantly increased from468 in C0 and peaked at 515 in C80 Thus the pH valuefor mixture of compost and topsoil of C60 and C80 wassignificantly higher than pure compost (C100) Mixing thecompost with topsoil reduced the bulk density by up to 43from the original topsoil (C0) and there was no significantdifference between C80 and C100 (Table 1) In general theoptimum bulk density of potting growing media is about040 g cmminus3 [17]TheCcontent of growingmedia significantlyincreased with 100 compost (7319) as compared tocontrol treatment C0 with only 275 C (Table 1) Further-more N content of the treatments increased significantlywith increasing amount of compost incorporated The CNratio of C100 (6151) was significantly higher than the othertreatments (23ndash31) due to higher presence of C associatedwith increasing amount of compost However C100 was notsuitable as potting media due to the high CN ratio as theideal range was recommended to be between 20 and 40 [18]There was no significant difference between C40 and C80(Table 1) Correspondingly P Ca and Mg contents of soil-compost mixtures increased significantly when compared toC0 (Table 1) However K content was not affected by theaddition of compost and this could be attributed to leachingcommonly reported for K loss [19 20] In general micronu-trients (Mn Zn and Cu) concentrations were increased withthe addition of compost to the soil (Table 1) which might becontributed by the compost itself (C100)
Table 2 Factor pattern eigenvalues and percentages of the varianceexplained by each factor obtained from the first PCA performed onthe physicochemical properties of growing media
PC 1 PC 2 PC 3Soil pH 0003 minus0010 minus0028
Bulk density (g cmminus3) minus0008 0008 0033
C N ratio 0444 minus0213 0829
C 0840 minus0230 minus0474
N 0012 minus0006 minus0055
P 0012 0001 minus0031
K 0000 0002 minus0002
Ca 0001 minus0002 minus0010
Mg 0003 minus0001 minus0011
Cu (mgkg) 0140 0376 0171
Zn (mgkg) 0270 0834 minus0025
Mn (mgkg) 0010 0221 minus0026
Na (mgkg) 0061 0127 0228
Eigenvalue 841176 15539 9631
variance 95845 17705 10974
PCAof the chemical properties of growthmedia was gen-erated (Table 2) The physicochemical properties of growingmedia (soil pH bulk density and total C N P K Ca Mg ZnCu Mn and Na) were regarded as independent factor andPCA was conducted using variance-covariance matrix Theeigenvalue scree plot (Figure 1(a)) showed one factor analysisBesides PC 1 explained 9585 of the total variance and wasprimary associated with C content (Table 2) The PCA scoreplot revealed that the growing media properties were catego-rized according to the volume of compost content as C100was clearly separated from other treatments (Figure 1(b))This was attributed to the high C content in C100 (7317)
4 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 3 Effect of compost addition in growing media on nutrients uptake by oil palm seedlings
Treatments N P K Ca Mg Cu Zn Mn Femg plantminus1 120583g plantminus1
C0 1260b 839c 1143d 300b 283b 2586b 5335b 11012a 50979b
C20 1680b 1178bc 1352cd 309b 445b 2842b 4967b 11063a 37319c
C40 1930b 1453b 1566c 342b 428b 2810b 5763b 12183a 43694bc
C60 2966a 2572a 1970b 512a 644a 4448a 8673a 14256a 73940a
C80 3368a 2421a 2401a 571a 653a 5250a 9200a 13535a 67538a
C100 3248a 2776a 2138ab 489a 644a 4391a 8515a 10574a 75278a
Note means with the same letter within row are not significantly different at 119901 lt 005 according to LSD test C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 and C100 represent 020 40 60 80 and 100 of compost respectively
Therefore C content largely affected the physicochemicalproperties in growth media
32 Macro- and Micronutrients Uptake by Oil Palm SeedlingsThenutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings is shown inTable 3In general there was no significant difference between topsoil(C0) and topsoil-compost mixtures up to 40 (C20ndash40)However the macronutrients uptake increased significantlyat C60 and there was no further significant rise subsequentlyLikewise Cu Zn and Fe uptakes imitated the pattern ofmacronutrients uptake no significant differencewas detectedat low compost rate (C0ndash40) but it increased significantly atC60 and remained stagnant successively (C60ndash100)
33 Oil Palm Seedlings Growth Based on the regressionstudies the shoot dry weight root dry weight plant heightand SPAD reading of oil palm seedlings were related to theamount of compost added (Figure 2) Hence the shoot dryweight was best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 0001) with compost (R2 = 0725) It peaked at C80and declined afterwards Meanwhile the root dry weightwas also best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 001) with compost (R2 = 0496) and the highestroot dry weight was detected at C100 The plant height wasdirectly proportional or positive linearly related (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0534) Meanwhile the SPAD was bestfitted into a positive quadratic relationship (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0717) and peaked at C80 Addition ofcompost up to 72 in growing media resulted in progressiveseedlings growth but shoot dry weight started to decreasewhen more than 72 of compost was added (Figure 2(a))SPAD value also showed a strong correlation (119901 = 001) tothe seedlings nitrogen uptake (Figure 3)
4 Discussion
41 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on the Character-istics of Growth Media Addition of oil palm waste com-post decreased the bulk density of topsoil-compost growingmediumThis could be attributed to the dilution effect [21] asbulk density of compost was significantly lower than topsoiland higher amount of compost Thus compost additionimproved soil aeration and pore space Bronick and Lal[22] had shown that organic amendments such as compost
have a dilution effect in lowering bulk density Organicapplications (eg compost) increased soil C content and alsoimproved soil aggregation and macroporosity and loweredthe penetration resistance contributing to better crop growth[23 24] This further highlighted the importance of compostin growing medium to alleviate soil C content and improvedsoil physical properties
Adding compost also improved the chemical propertiesof the growing medium as shown by various studies whichreported the ability of compost to reduce soil acidity [25ndash27] This could be attributed to the presence of complexhumic acid in compost [28] which provided binding sites forexchangeable bases and decreased the availability of polyca-tions like Fe2+ and Al3+ [29] Thus addition of compost-Crich in negative functionalities could affect the pHvalue of thegrowth media Besides the high content of alkaline elements(excess cations) Ca andMgwas concomitantwith increasingcompost which could react with the free H+ This explainedthe liming effect of compost and decarboxylation of organicanions during decomposition improving the pH of growingmedia [30]
Furthermore compost could also supply the seedlingswith additional N P Ca Mg and Zn functioning as asource of nutrients beside applied fertilizers Another plau-sible mechanism was compost retaining the nutrients in thegrowing media by surface adsorption and increased nutrientrecovery [31] Vegetal compost was shown to be effective inremoving Zn via sorption process [32] Potassiumwasmostlyleached away as it existed in ionic form (K+) and can be easilydissolved
42 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on Seedling Growthand Nutrients Uptake The oil palm seedling growth andphysiology improved with the application of compost Thiswas majorly attributed to the alteration of physicochemicalproperties of the growing medium Multiple regression studyshowed that root and shoot growth and macronutrientsuptake were highly significantly related to the pH of thegrowing media (Table 4) Previous studies also reportedplants specifically lettuce and ornamental plant showingsimilar response when the growing medium improved fromacidic to slightly acidic [33 34] This highlighted the effectof pH on the nutrient availability as macronutrients likeP were heavily affected by the pH value and subsequently
International Journal of Agronomy 5
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shoo
t dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus00003x2 + 0043x + 1235
0725lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(a)
00
05
10
15
20
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Root
dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus35E minus 05x2 + 0010x + 0532
0496lowastlowastR2 =
(b)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Plan
t hei
ght (
cm)
Compost ()
y = 0046x + 2036
0534lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(c)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 20 40 60 80 100
SPA
D re
adin
g
Compost ()
y = minus0002x2 + 0404x + 4566
0717lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(d)
Figure 2 Effect of compost application rates on (a) shoot dry weight (b) root dry weight (c) plant height and (d) chlorophyll meter readings(SPAD value) of oil palm seedlings Note lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 and 00001 probability level respectively
the nutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings At low pH soilP reacted with Al and Fe oxides forming insoluble Al orFe phosphate through ligand bridging and anionic repulsionrendering P unavailable [35] According to Budianta et al[36] available P concentrations increased to 7382 whenoil palm waste derived compost was applied to soil whilethe soil exchangeable Al decreased This could be due to thepresence of the negative surface functional groups (phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol) on compost immobilizingAl or Fe and releasing P back to the soil
Furthermore the seedling root growth was clearly asso-ciated with the bulk density reflected by the increasing pore
space and soil aeration Addition of composted agriculturalwaste had been reported to significantly improve root growth[37 38] The nutrients uptake increased with root growth asshown by the correlation matrix (Table 5) Thus lower bulkdensity and alleviated pH due to compost addition were idealto promote root growth and increased nutrients uptake andbiomass
Apart from promoting nutrient uptake compost addi-tion also influenced nutrient availability and retention inthe growing medium The surface of organic matter likecompost is rich in negative functionalities such as phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol which serve as exchange
6 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 4 Relationship between shoot and root dry weight nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) andmagnesium (Mg)uptake and soil pH as affected by compost addition in growing media
Interaction between soil pH and Equation R2
Shoot dry weight gminus1 119910 = 42331199092
minus 3799119909 + 8642 086lowastlowastlowast
Root dry weight gminus1 119910 = 61631199092
minus 5937119909 + 1435 078lowastlowastlowast
N uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 10981199092
minus 1039119909 + 246986 084lowastlowastlowast
P uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 94631199092
minus 8946119909 + 21236 084lowastlowastlowast
K uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 71151199092
minus 6774119909 + 16236 085lowastlowastlowast
Ca uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 24581199092
minus 2366119909 + 5723 085lowastlowastlowast
Mg uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 20681199092
minus 1952119909 + 4636 088lowastlowastlowast
Note lowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 00001 probability level
Table 5 Correlation matrix between dry shoot and root nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)in soil and plant nutrient uptake as affected by compost addition in growing media
Parameter Root Shoot N P K Ca Mg N P K Ca MgDry weight (g) Uptake (mg plantminus1) Soil before treatment ()
Root Dry weight (g) 100 057lowastlowast 081lowastlowastlowast 068lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 078lowastlowastlowast 040lowast 068lowastlowast 058lowastlowast minus022ns 079lowastlowastlowast 063lowastlowastlowast
Shoot 080lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 086lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast 070lowastlowastlowast 061lowastlowast minus027ns 073lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast
N
Uptake (mg plantminus1)
087lowastlowastlowast 092lowastlowastlowast 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 083lowastlowastlowast 075lowastlowastlowast minus031ns 086lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast
P 082lowastlowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 057lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast minus038ns 083lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast
K 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 072lowastlowastlowast minus017ns 086lowastlowastlowast 080lowastlowastlowast
Ca 061lowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 064lowastlowast minus027ns 077lowastlowastlowast 071lowastlowastlowast
Mg 050lowast 044lowast minus031ns 054lowastlowast 045lowast
Notes lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 005 001 and 00001 probability level respectively ns not significant at 119901 lt 005
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
40 45 50 55 60 65 70SPAD reading
N u
ptak
e (m
g pl
antminus
1)
y = 0947x minus 2962
0696lowastlowastR =
Figure 3 Relationship between SPAD value and plant nitrogen (N)uptake Note lowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 probability level
sites that ultimately increased the CEC of growth media [39]Subsequently it also increased dry matter production andenabled efficient nutrients usage [39ndash43] This finding wasconsistent with Palanivell et al [39] which reported that theapplication of saw dust based compost as growing mediaincreased N P K Ca Mg and Na uptake by maize whencompared to conventional fertilizer
C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 C100
Figure 4 Growth of seedlings at the 12th week in prenursery stage
However growth of oil palm seedling is negativelyaffected by compost application solely due to the highC N ratio causing N immobilization However C N valuewould decrease gradually when microorganisms start break-ing down the compost and slowly release plant availablenutrients to the soil throughout the seedlings growth periodSimilar results have been reported by [33] whereby additionof composted greenwaste ofmore than 70 caused reductionin plant growth and root morphology probably due to thepresence of phytotoxic substance and negative changes inchemical and physical properties of growth media
5 Conclusions
Prenursery polybag medium amended with oil palm wastecompost up to 70 increased oil palm seedling growth
International Journal of Agronomy 7
Meanwhile 72 of the compost mixed with topsoil couldproduce the best planting material with respect to the highDMW production oil palm seedlings growth and devel-opment as well as greater nutrient uptake Further studyis required to investigate whether the amount of chemicalfertilizer employed during nursery stage could be reducedthus cutting operational cost by making use of oil palm wastecompost as polybag growth medium
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysiafor providing the facilities and Golden Hope Plantation BhdBanting for the oil palm waste that was used to produce thecompost
References
[1] Y Basiron ldquoPalm oil production through sustainable planta-tionsrdquo European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology vol109 no 4 pp 289ndash295 2007
[2] MPOB ldquoOil palm planted area by state as at December 2014rdquo2014 httpbepimpobgovmyimagesarea2014Area summ-arypdf
[3] M A AMohammed A SalmiatonW A K GWanAzlinaMS Mohammad Amran A FakhrursquoL-Razi and Y H Taufiq-YapldquoHydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass as a potential sourceof renewable energy in Malaysiardquo Renewable and SustainableEnergy Reviews vol 15 no 2 pp 1258ndash1270 2011
[4] M M Khan M A Khan M Abbas M J Jaskani M A Aliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[5] M THashim KH Yeow andY C Poon ldquoRecent developmentin nursery practicemdashpotting mediardquo in Proceedings of the Inter-national Oil PalmPalm Oil Conferences Progress amp ProspectsConference 1 Agriculture A H B Hassan Ed pp 369ndash371Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and IncorporatedSociety of Planters Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 1987
[6] M Khairil A A Kamarozaman I Arifin A Ramadzan andN Nasir ldquoEvaluation of several planting media for oil palm(ElaiesGuineensis) seedlings in main nurseryrdquo in Proceedings ofthe Soil Science Conference of Malaysia Kota Bharu MalaysiaApril 2012
[7] O O Adeoluwa and G O Adeoye ldquoPotential of oil palm emptyfruit bunch (EFB) as fertilizer in oil palm (Elaeis guineensisL Jacq) nurseriesrdquo in Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM OrganicWorld Congress Modena Italy June 2008 httporgprintsorgviewprojectsconferencehtml
[8] E G Uwumarongie-Ilori B B Sulaiman-Ilobu O Ederion etal ldquoVegetative growth performance of oil palm (Elaeis guineen-sis) seedlings in response to inorganic and organic fertilizersrdquoGreener Journal of Agricultural Science vol 2 pp 26ndash30 2012
[9] NO Aisueni andUOmoti ldquoThe role of compost in sustainableoil palm productionrdquo inCutting-Edge Technologies for Sustained
Competitiveness Proceedings of the 2001 PIPOC InternationalPalm Oil Congress Agriculture Conference Kuala LumpurMalaysia 20ndash22 August 2001 Nigerian Institute for Oil PalmEd pp 536ndash541 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2001
[10] F A Siregar S Salates J P Caliman and Z Liwang ldquoEnhanc-ing oil palm industry development through environmentallyfriendly technologyrdquo in Proceedings of the Chemistry amp Tech-nology Conference Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute(IOPRI) Ed Empty Fruit Bunch Compost Processing andUtilities pp 225ndash234 Nusa Dua Indonesia July 2002
[11] S Ovie M O Ekabafe A Nkechika and O N UdegbunamldquoInfluence of composted oil palm bunch waste on soil pHnitrogen organicmatter status and growth of oil palm seedlingsunder water stress conditionrdquoContinental Journal of Agronomyvol 1 pp 1ndash15 2014
[12] J M Bremner and C S Mulvaney ldquoNitrogen-totalrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analyses Part 2 Chemical and Mineralogical PropertiesA L Page R H Miller and D R Keeney Madison Edspp 610ndash615 American Society of Agronomy and Soil ScienceSociety of America 1982
[13] D E Baker G W Gorslinc C G Smith W I Thomas W EGrube and J L Ragland ldquoTechniques for rapid analysis of cornleaves for eleven elementsrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 56 pp 133ndash136 1964
[14] M De Boodt and O Verdonck ldquoThe physical properties of thesubstrates in horticulturerdquoActa Horticulturae vol 26 no 5 pp37ndash44 1972
[15] DW Nelson and L E Sommers ldquoMethods of soil analysis Part2 Chemical and microbiological propertiesrdquo in Total CarbonOrganic Carbon and Organic Matter A L Page R M MillerandD R Keeney Eds vol 9 ofAgronomyMonograph pp 542ndash560 ASA and SSSA Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1982
[16] R H Bray and L T Kurtz ldquoDetermination of total organic andavailable forms of phosphorus in soilsrdquo Soil Science vol 59 no1 pp 39ndash46 1945
[17] M Abad P Noguera and S Bures ldquoNational inventory oforganic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental pottedplant production case study in Spainrdquo Bioresource Technologyvol 77 no 2 pp 197ndash200 2001
[18] M Abad P FMartınezM DMartınez and JMartınez ldquoAgro-nomic evaluation of growing mediardquo Actas de Horticultura vol11 pp 141ndash154 1993
[19] B Ulen ldquoLeaching of plant nutrients and heavy metals duringthe composting of household wastes and chemical characteri-zation of the final productrdquo Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica BSoil amp Plant Science vol 47 no 3 pp 142ndash148 1997
[20] S G Sommer ldquoEffect of composting on nutrient loss andnitrogen availability of cattle deep litterrdquo European Journal ofAgronomy vol 14 no 2 pp 123ndash133 2001
[21] S C Gupta R H Dowdy and W E Larson ldquoHydraulic andthermal properties of a sandy soil as influenced by incorpora-tion of sewage sludgerdquo Soil Science Society of America Journalvol 41 no 3 pp 601ndash605 1977
[22] C J Bronick and R Lal ldquoSoil structure and management areviewrdquo Geoderma vol 124 no 1-2 pp 3ndash22 2005
[23] A Rivenshield andN L Bassuk ldquoUsing organic amendments todecrease bulk density and increasemacroporosity in compactedsoilsrdquoArboricultureampUrban Forestry vol 33 no 2 pp 140ndash1462007
[24] I Celik H Gunal M Budak and C Akpinar ldquoEffects oflong-term organic and mineral fertilizers on bulk density
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
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Veterinary Medicine International
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Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
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Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
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International Journal of Agronomy 3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13Component
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Eige
nval
ue (
)
(a)
C0
C0
C0
C20C20 C20
C40
C40
C40
C40
C60C60
C60
C60
C80
C80
C80
C80
C100
C100
C100
C100
Component 1
Com
pone
nt 2 16
32
48
64
minus16
minus32
minus48
minus64
10 20 30 40 50 60minus10minus20minus30
(b)
Figure 1 (a) Scree plot of eigenvalue (b) Principal components analysis (PCA) of initial physicochemical properties of growing media (ndashsdotndashbroken stick C0 C20 C40 C60 C60 C80 and C100 represent 0 20 40 60 80 and 100 of compost resp)
with PCA (PASTversion 307 PAST Paleontological StatisticsSoftware Paleontological Association) to determine themostprominent factor induced by compost addition on the overallalteration of the growing media
3 Results
31 Physicochemical Characteristics of Growing Media ThepH value of growing media significantly increased from468 in C0 and peaked at 515 in C80 Thus the pH valuefor mixture of compost and topsoil of C60 and C80 wassignificantly higher than pure compost (C100) Mixing thecompost with topsoil reduced the bulk density by up to 43from the original topsoil (C0) and there was no significantdifference between C80 and C100 (Table 1) In general theoptimum bulk density of potting growing media is about040 g cmminus3 [17]TheCcontent of growingmedia significantlyincreased with 100 compost (7319) as compared tocontrol treatment C0 with only 275 C (Table 1) Further-more N content of the treatments increased significantlywith increasing amount of compost incorporated The CNratio of C100 (6151) was significantly higher than the othertreatments (23ndash31) due to higher presence of C associatedwith increasing amount of compost However C100 was notsuitable as potting media due to the high CN ratio as theideal range was recommended to be between 20 and 40 [18]There was no significant difference between C40 and C80(Table 1) Correspondingly P Ca and Mg contents of soil-compost mixtures increased significantly when compared toC0 (Table 1) However K content was not affected by theaddition of compost and this could be attributed to leachingcommonly reported for K loss [19 20] In general micronu-trients (Mn Zn and Cu) concentrations were increased withthe addition of compost to the soil (Table 1) which might becontributed by the compost itself (C100)
Table 2 Factor pattern eigenvalues and percentages of the varianceexplained by each factor obtained from the first PCA performed onthe physicochemical properties of growing media
PC 1 PC 2 PC 3Soil pH 0003 minus0010 minus0028
Bulk density (g cmminus3) minus0008 0008 0033
C N ratio 0444 minus0213 0829
C 0840 minus0230 minus0474
N 0012 minus0006 minus0055
P 0012 0001 minus0031
K 0000 0002 minus0002
Ca 0001 minus0002 minus0010
Mg 0003 minus0001 minus0011
Cu (mgkg) 0140 0376 0171
Zn (mgkg) 0270 0834 minus0025
Mn (mgkg) 0010 0221 minus0026
Na (mgkg) 0061 0127 0228
Eigenvalue 841176 15539 9631
variance 95845 17705 10974
PCAof the chemical properties of growthmedia was gen-erated (Table 2) The physicochemical properties of growingmedia (soil pH bulk density and total C N P K Ca Mg ZnCu Mn and Na) were regarded as independent factor andPCA was conducted using variance-covariance matrix Theeigenvalue scree plot (Figure 1(a)) showed one factor analysisBesides PC 1 explained 9585 of the total variance and wasprimary associated with C content (Table 2) The PCA scoreplot revealed that the growing media properties were catego-rized according to the volume of compost content as C100was clearly separated from other treatments (Figure 1(b))This was attributed to the high C content in C100 (7317)
4 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 3 Effect of compost addition in growing media on nutrients uptake by oil palm seedlings
Treatments N P K Ca Mg Cu Zn Mn Femg plantminus1 120583g plantminus1
C0 1260b 839c 1143d 300b 283b 2586b 5335b 11012a 50979b
C20 1680b 1178bc 1352cd 309b 445b 2842b 4967b 11063a 37319c
C40 1930b 1453b 1566c 342b 428b 2810b 5763b 12183a 43694bc
C60 2966a 2572a 1970b 512a 644a 4448a 8673a 14256a 73940a
C80 3368a 2421a 2401a 571a 653a 5250a 9200a 13535a 67538a
C100 3248a 2776a 2138ab 489a 644a 4391a 8515a 10574a 75278a
Note means with the same letter within row are not significantly different at 119901 lt 005 according to LSD test C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 and C100 represent 020 40 60 80 and 100 of compost respectively
Therefore C content largely affected the physicochemicalproperties in growth media
32 Macro- and Micronutrients Uptake by Oil Palm SeedlingsThenutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings is shown inTable 3In general there was no significant difference between topsoil(C0) and topsoil-compost mixtures up to 40 (C20ndash40)However the macronutrients uptake increased significantlyat C60 and there was no further significant rise subsequentlyLikewise Cu Zn and Fe uptakes imitated the pattern ofmacronutrients uptake no significant differencewas detectedat low compost rate (C0ndash40) but it increased significantly atC60 and remained stagnant successively (C60ndash100)
33 Oil Palm Seedlings Growth Based on the regressionstudies the shoot dry weight root dry weight plant heightand SPAD reading of oil palm seedlings were related to theamount of compost added (Figure 2) Hence the shoot dryweight was best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 0001) with compost (R2 = 0725) It peaked at C80and declined afterwards Meanwhile the root dry weightwas also best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 001) with compost (R2 = 0496) and the highestroot dry weight was detected at C100 The plant height wasdirectly proportional or positive linearly related (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0534) Meanwhile the SPAD was bestfitted into a positive quadratic relationship (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0717) and peaked at C80 Addition ofcompost up to 72 in growing media resulted in progressiveseedlings growth but shoot dry weight started to decreasewhen more than 72 of compost was added (Figure 2(a))SPAD value also showed a strong correlation (119901 = 001) tothe seedlings nitrogen uptake (Figure 3)
4 Discussion
41 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on the Character-istics of Growth Media Addition of oil palm waste com-post decreased the bulk density of topsoil-compost growingmediumThis could be attributed to the dilution effect [21] asbulk density of compost was significantly lower than topsoiland higher amount of compost Thus compost additionimproved soil aeration and pore space Bronick and Lal[22] had shown that organic amendments such as compost
have a dilution effect in lowering bulk density Organicapplications (eg compost) increased soil C content and alsoimproved soil aggregation and macroporosity and loweredthe penetration resistance contributing to better crop growth[23 24] This further highlighted the importance of compostin growing medium to alleviate soil C content and improvedsoil physical properties
Adding compost also improved the chemical propertiesof the growing medium as shown by various studies whichreported the ability of compost to reduce soil acidity [25ndash27] This could be attributed to the presence of complexhumic acid in compost [28] which provided binding sites forexchangeable bases and decreased the availability of polyca-tions like Fe2+ and Al3+ [29] Thus addition of compost-Crich in negative functionalities could affect the pHvalue of thegrowth media Besides the high content of alkaline elements(excess cations) Ca andMgwas concomitantwith increasingcompost which could react with the free H+ This explainedthe liming effect of compost and decarboxylation of organicanions during decomposition improving the pH of growingmedia [30]
Furthermore compost could also supply the seedlingswith additional N P Ca Mg and Zn functioning as asource of nutrients beside applied fertilizers Another plau-sible mechanism was compost retaining the nutrients in thegrowing media by surface adsorption and increased nutrientrecovery [31] Vegetal compost was shown to be effective inremoving Zn via sorption process [32] Potassiumwasmostlyleached away as it existed in ionic form (K+) and can be easilydissolved
42 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on Seedling Growthand Nutrients Uptake The oil palm seedling growth andphysiology improved with the application of compost Thiswas majorly attributed to the alteration of physicochemicalproperties of the growing medium Multiple regression studyshowed that root and shoot growth and macronutrientsuptake were highly significantly related to the pH of thegrowing media (Table 4) Previous studies also reportedplants specifically lettuce and ornamental plant showingsimilar response when the growing medium improved fromacidic to slightly acidic [33 34] This highlighted the effectof pH on the nutrient availability as macronutrients likeP were heavily affected by the pH value and subsequently
International Journal of Agronomy 5
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shoo
t dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus00003x2 + 0043x + 1235
0725lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(a)
00
05
10
15
20
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Root
dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus35E minus 05x2 + 0010x + 0532
0496lowastlowastR2 =
(b)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Plan
t hei
ght (
cm)
Compost ()
y = 0046x + 2036
0534lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(c)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 20 40 60 80 100
SPA
D re
adin
g
Compost ()
y = minus0002x2 + 0404x + 4566
0717lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(d)
Figure 2 Effect of compost application rates on (a) shoot dry weight (b) root dry weight (c) plant height and (d) chlorophyll meter readings(SPAD value) of oil palm seedlings Note lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 and 00001 probability level respectively
the nutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings At low pH soilP reacted with Al and Fe oxides forming insoluble Al orFe phosphate through ligand bridging and anionic repulsionrendering P unavailable [35] According to Budianta et al[36] available P concentrations increased to 7382 whenoil palm waste derived compost was applied to soil whilethe soil exchangeable Al decreased This could be due to thepresence of the negative surface functional groups (phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol) on compost immobilizingAl or Fe and releasing P back to the soil
Furthermore the seedling root growth was clearly asso-ciated with the bulk density reflected by the increasing pore
space and soil aeration Addition of composted agriculturalwaste had been reported to significantly improve root growth[37 38] The nutrients uptake increased with root growth asshown by the correlation matrix (Table 5) Thus lower bulkdensity and alleviated pH due to compost addition were idealto promote root growth and increased nutrients uptake andbiomass
Apart from promoting nutrient uptake compost addi-tion also influenced nutrient availability and retention inthe growing medium The surface of organic matter likecompost is rich in negative functionalities such as phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol which serve as exchange
6 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 4 Relationship between shoot and root dry weight nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) andmagnesium (Mg)uptake and soil pH as affected by compost addition in growing media
Interaction between soil pH and Equation R2
Shoot dry weight gminus1 119910 = 42331199092
minus 3799119909 + 8642 086lowastlowastlowast
Root dry weight gminus1 119910 = 61631199092
minus 5937119909 + 1435 078lowastlowastlowast
N uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 10981199092
minus 1039119909 + 246986 084lowastlowastlowast
P uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 94631199092
minus 8946119909 + 21236 084lowastlowastlowast
K uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 71151199092
minus 6774119909 + 16236 085lowastlowastlowast
Ca uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 24581199092
minus 2366119909 + 5723 085lowastlowastlowast
Mg uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 20681199092
minus 1952119909 + 4636 088lowastlowastlowast
Note lowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 00001 probability level
Table 5 Correlation matrix between dry shoot and root nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)in soil and plant nutrient uptake as affected by compost addition in growing media
Parameter Root Shoot N P K Ca Mg N P K Ca MgDry weight (g) Uptake (mg plantminus1) Soil before treatment ()
Root Dry weight (g) 100 057lowastlowast 081lowastlowastlowast 068lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 078lowastlowastlowast 040lowast 068lowastlowast 058lowastlowast minus022ns 079lowastlowastlowast 063lowastlowastlowast
Shoot 080lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 086lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast 070lowastlowastlowast 061lowastlowast minus027ns 073lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast
N
Uptake (mg plantminus1)
087lowastlowastlowast 092lowastlowastlowast 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 083lowastlowastlowast 075lowastlowastlowast minus031ns 086lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast
P 082lowastlowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 057lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast minus038ns 083lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast
K 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 072lowastlowastlowast minus017ns 086lowastlowastlowast 080lowastlowastlowast
Ca 061lowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 064lowastlowast minus027ns 077lowastlowastlowast 071lowastlowastlowast
Mg 050lowast 044lowast minus031ns 054lowastlowast 045lowast
Notes lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 005 001 and 00001 probability level respectively ns not significant at 119901 lt 005
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
40 45 50 55 60 65 70SPAD reading
N u
ptak
e (m
g pl
antminus
1)
y = 0947x minus 2962
0696lowastlowastR =
Figure 3 Relationship between SPAD value and plant nitrogen (N)uptake Note lowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 probability level
sites that ultimately increased the CEC of growth media [39]Subsequently it also increased dry matter production andenabled efficient nutrients usage [39ndash43] This finding wasconsistent with Palanivell et al [39] which reported that theapplication of saw dust based compost as growing mediaincreased N P K Ca Mg and Na uptake by maize whencompared to conventional fertilizer
C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 C100
Figure 4 Growth of seedlings at the 12th week in prenursery stage
However growth of oil palm seedling is negativelyaffected by compost application solely due to the highC N ratio causing N immobilization However C N valuewould decrease gradually when microorganisms start break-ing down the compost and slowly release plant availablenutrients to the soil throughout the seedlings growth periodSimilar results have been reported by [33] whereby additionof composted greenwaste ofmore than 70 caused reductionin plant growth and root morphology probably due to thepresence of phytotoxic substance and negative changes inchemical and physical properties of growth media
5 Conclusions
Prenursery polybag medium amended with oil palm wastecompost up to 70 increased oil palm seedling growth
International Journal of Agronomy 7
Meanwhile 72 of the compost mixed with topsoil couldproduce the best planting material with respect to the highDMW production oil palm seedlings growth and devel-opment as well as greater nutrient uptake Further studyis required to investigate whether the amount of chemicalfertilizer employed during nursery stage could be reducedthus cutting operational cost by making use of oil palm wastecompost as polybag growth medium
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysiafor providing the facilities and Golden Hope Plantation BhdBanting for the oil palm waste that was used to produce thecompost
References
[1] Y Basiron ldquoPalm oil production through sustainable planta-tionsrdquo European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology vol109 no 4 pp 289ndash295 2007
[2] MPOB ldquoOil palm planted area by state as at December 2014rdquo2014 httpbepimpobgovmyimagesarea2014Area summ-arypdf
[3] M A AMohammed A SalmiatonW A K GWanAzlinaMS Mohammad Amran A FakhrursquoL-Razi and Y H Taufiq-YapldquoHydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass as a potential sourceof renewable energy in Malaysiardquo Renewable and SustainableEnergy Reviews vol 15 no 2 pp 1258ndash1270 2011
[4] M M Khan M A Khan M Abbas M J Jaskani M A Aliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[5] M THashim KH Yeow andY C Poon ldquoRecent developmentin nursery practicemdashpotting mediardquo in Proceedings of the Inter-national Oil PalmPalm Oil Conferences Progress amp ProspectsConference 1 Agriculture A H B Hassan Ed pp 369ndash371Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and IncorporatedSociety of Planters Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 1987
[6] M Khairil A A Kamarozaman I Arifin A Ramadzan andN Nasir ldquoEvaluation of several planting media for oil palm(ElaiesGuineensis) seedlings in main nurseryrdquo in Proceedings ofthe Soil Science Conference of Malaysia Kota Bharu MalaysiaApril 2012
[7] O O Adeoluwa and G O Adeoye ldquoPotential of oil palm emptyfruit bunch (EFB) as fertilizer in oil palm (Elaeis guineensisL Jacq) nurseriesrdquo in Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM OrganicWorld Congress Modena Italy June 2008 httporgprintsorgviewprojectsconferencehtml
[8] E G Uwumarongie-Ilori B B Sulaiman-Ilobu O Ederion etal ldquoVegetative growth performance of oil palm (Elaeis guineen-sis) seedlings in response to inorganic and organic fertilizersrdquoGreener Journal of Agricultural Science vol 2 pp 26ndash30 2012
[9] NO Aisueni andUOmoti ldquoThe role of compost in sustainableoil palm productionrdquo inCutting-Edge Technologies for Sustained
Competitiveness Proceedings of the 2001 PIPOC InternationalPalm Oil Congress Agriculture Conference Kuala LumpurMalaysia 20ndash22 August 2001 Nigerian Institute for Oil PalmEd pp 536ndash541 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2001
[10] F A Siregar S Salates J P Caliman and Z Liwang ldquoEnhanc-ing oil palm industry development through environmentallyfriendly technologyrdquo in Proceedings of the Chemistry amp Tech-nology Conference Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute(IOPRI) Ed Empty Fruit Bunch Compost Processing andUtilities pp 225ndash234 Nusa Dua Indonesia July 2002
[11] S Ovie M O Ekabafe A Nkechika and O N UdegbunamldquoInfluence of composted oil palm bunch waste on soil pHnitrogen organicmatter status and growth of oil palm seedlingsunder water stress conditionrdquoContinental Journal of Agronomyvol 1 pp 1ndash15 2014
[12] J M Bremner and C S Mulvaney ldquoNitrogen-totalrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analyses Part 2 Chemical and Mineralogical PropertiesA L Page R H Miller and D R Keeney Madison Edspp 610ndash615 American Society of Agronomy and Soil ScienceSociety of America 1982
[13] D E Baker G W Gorslinc C G Smith W I Thomas W EGrube and J L Ragland ldquoTechniques for rapid analysis of cornleaves for eleven elementsrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 56 pp 133ndash136 1964
[14] M De Boodt and O Verdonck ldquoThe physical properties of thesubstrates in horticulturerdquoActa Horticulturae vol 26 no 5 pp37ndash44 1972
[15] DW Nelson and L E Sommers ldquoMethods of soil analysis Part2 Chemical and microbiological propertiesrdquo in Total CarbonOrganic Carbon and Organic Matter A L Page R M MillerandD R Keeney Eds vol 9 ofAgronomyMonograph pp 542ndash560 ASA and SSSA Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1982
[16] R H Bray and L T Kurtz ldquoDetermination of total organic andavailable forms of phosphorus in soilsrdquo Soil Science vol 59 no1 pp 39ndash46 1945
[17] M Abad P Noguera and S Bures ldquoNational inventory oforganic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental pottedplant production case study in Spainrdquo Bioresource Technologyvol 77 no 2 pp 197ndash200 2001
[18] M Abad P FMartınezM DMartınez and JMartınez ldquoAgro-nomic evaluation of growing mediardquo Actas de Horticultura vol11 pp 141ndash154 1993
[19] B Ulen ldquoLeaching of plant nutrients and heavy metals duringthe composting of household wastes and chemical characteri-zation of the final productrdquo Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica BSoil amp Plant Science vol 47 no 3 pp 142ndash148 1997
[20] S G Sommer ldquoEffect of composting on nutrient loss andnitrogen availability of cattle deep litterrdquo European Journal ofAgronomy vol 14 no 2 pp 123ndash133 2001
[21] S C Gupta R H Dowdy and W E Larson ldquoHydraulic andthermal properties of a sandy soil as influenced by incorpora-tion of sewage sludgerdquo Soil Science Society of America Journalvol 41 no 3 pp 601ndash605 1977
[22] C J Bronick and R Lal ldquoSoil structure and management areviewrdquo Geoderma vol 124 no 1-2 pp 3ndash22 2005
[23] A Rivenshield andN L Bassuk ldquoUsing organic amendments todecrease bulk density and increasemacroporosity in compactedsoilsrdquoArboricultureampUrban Forestry vol 33 no 2 pp 140ndash1462007
[24] I Celik H Gunal M Budak and C Akpinar ldquoEffects oflong-term organic and mineral fertilizers on bulk density
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Veterinary Medicine International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
4 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 3 Effect of compost addition in growing media on nutrients uptake by oil palm seedlings
Treatments N P K Ca Mg Cu Zn Mn Femg plantminus1 120583g plantminus1
C0 1260b 839c 1143d 300b 283b 2586b 5335b 11012a 50979b
C20 1680b 1178bc 1352cd 309b 445b 2842b 4967b 11063a 37319c
C40 1930b 1453b 1566c 342b 428b 2810b 5763b 12183a 43694bc
C60 2966a 2572a 1970b 512a 644a 4448a 8673a 14256a 73940a
C80 3368a 2421a 2401a 571a 653a 5250a 9200a 13535a 67538a
C100 3248a 2776a 2138ab 489a 644a 4391a 8515a 10574a 75278a
Note means with the same letter within row are not significantly different at 119901 lt 005 according to LSD test C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 and C100 represent 020 40 60 80 and 100 of compost respectively
Therefore C content largely affected the physicochemicalproperties in growth media
32 Macro- and Micronutrients Uptake by Oil Palm SeedlingsThenutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings is shown inTable 3In general there was no significant difference between topsoil(C0) and topsoil-compost mixtures up to 40 (C20ndash40)However the macronutrients uptake increased significantlyat C60 and there was no further significant rise subsequentlyLikewise Cu Zn and Fe uptakes imitated the pattern ofmacronutrients uptake no significant differencewas detectedat low compost rate (C0ndash40) but it increased significantly atC60 and remained stagnant successively (C60ndash100)
33 Oil Palm Seedlings Growth Based on the regressionstudies the shoot dry weight root dry weight plant heightand SPAD reading of oil palm seedlings were related to theamount of compost added (Figure 2) Hence the shoot dryweight was best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 0001) with compost (R2 = 0725) It peaked at C80and declined afterwards Meanwhile the root dry weightwas also best fitted into a positive quadratic relationship(119901 le 001) with compost (R2 = 0496) and the highestroot dry weight was detected at C100 The plant height wasdirectly proportional or positive linearly related (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0534) Meanwhile the SPAD was bestfitted into a positive quadratic relationship (119901 le 0001)with compost (R2 = 0717) and peaked at C80 Addition ofcompost up to 72 in growing media resulted in progressiveseedlings growth but shoot dry weight started to decreasewhen more than 72 of compost was added (Figure 2(a))SPAD value also showed a strong correlation (119901 = 001) tothe seedlings nitrogen uptake (Figure 3)
4 Discussion
41 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on the Character-istics of Growth Media Addition of oil palm waste com-post decreased the bulk density of topsoil-compost growingmediumThis could be attributed to the dilution effect [21] asbulk density of compost was significantly lower than topsoiland higher amount of compost Thus compost additionimproved soil aeration and pore space Bronick and Lal[22] had shown that organic amendments such as compost
have a dilution effect in lowering bulk density Organicapplications (eg compost) increased soil C content and alsoimproved soil aggregation and macroporosity and loweredthe penetration resistance contributing to better crop growth[23 24] This further highlighted the importance of compostin growing medium to alleviate soil C content and improvedsoil physical properties
Adding compost also improved the chemical propertiesof the growing medium as shown by various studies whichreported the ability of compost to reduce soil acidity [25ndash27] This could be attributed to the presence of complexhumic acid in compost [28] which provided binding sites forexchangeable bases and decreased the availability of polyca-tions like Fe2+ and Al3+ [29] Thus addition of compost-Crich in negative functionalities could affect the pHvalue of thegrowth media Besides the high content of alkaline elements(excess cations) Ca andMgwas concomitantwith increasingcompost which could react with the free H+ This explainedthe liming effect of compost and decarboxylation of organicanions during decomposition improving the pH of growingmedia [30]
Furthermore compost could also supply the seedlingswith additional N P Ca Mg and Zn functioning as asource of nutrients beside applied fertilizers Another plau-sible mechanism was compost retaining the nutrients in thegrowing media by surface adsorption and increased nutrientrecovery [31] Vegetal compost was shown to be effective inremoving Zn via sorption process [32] Potassiumwasmostlyleached away as it existed in ionic form (K+) and can be easilydissolved
42 Effects of Oil Palm Waste Compost on Seedling Growthand Nutrients Uptake The oil palm seedling growth andphysiology improved with the application of compost Thiswas majorly attributed to the alteration of physicochemicalproperties of the growing medium Multiple regression studyshowed that root and shoot growth and macronutrientsuptake were highly significantly related to the pH of thegrowing media (Table 4) Previous studies also reportedplants specifically lettuce and ornamental plant showingsimilar response when the growing medium improved fromacidic to slightly acidic [33 34] This highlighted the effectof pH on the nutrient availability as macronutrients likeP were heavily affected by the pH value and subsequently
International Journal of Agronomy 5
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shoo
t dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus00003x2 + 0043x + 1235
0725lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(a)
00
05
10
15
20
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Root
dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus35E minus 05x2 + 0010x + 0532
0496lowastlowastR2 =
(b)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Plan
t hei
ght (
cm)
Compost ()
y = 0046x + 2036
0534lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(c)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 20 40 60 80 100
SPA
D re
adin
g
Compost ()
y = minus0002x2 + 0404x + 4566
0717lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(d)
Figure 2 Effect of compost application rates on (a) shoot dry weight (b) root dry weight (c) plant height and (d) chlorophyll meter readings(SPAD value) of oil palm seedlings Note lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 and 00001 probability level respectively
the nutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings At low pH soilP reacted with Al and Fe oxides forming insoluble Al orFe phosphate through ligand bridging and anionic repulsionrendering P unavailable [35] According to Budianta et al[36] available P concentrations increased to 7382 whenoil palm waste derived compost was applied to soil whilethe soil exchangeable Al decreased This could be due to thepresence of the negative surface functional groups (phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol) on compost immobilizingAl or Fe and releasing P back to the soil
Furthermore the seedling root growth was clearly asso-ciated with the bulk density reflected by the increasing pore
space and soil aeration Addition of composted agriculturalwaste had been reported to significantly improve root growth[37 38] The nutrients uptake increased with root growth asshown by the correlation matrix (Table 5) Thus lower bulkdensity and alleviated pH due to compost addition were idealto promote root growth and increased nutrients uptake andbiomass
Apart from promoting nutrient uptake compost addi-tion also influenced nutrient availability and retention inthe growing medium The surface of organic matter likecompost is rich in negative functionalities such as phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol which serve as exchange
6 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 4 Relationship between shoot and root dry weight nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) andmagnesium (Mg)uptake and soil pH as affected by compost addition in growing media
Interaction between soil pH and Equation R2
Shoot dry weight gminus1 119910 = 42331199092
minus 3799119909 + 8642 086lowastlowastlowast
Root dry weight gminus1 119910 = 61631199092
minus 5937119909 + 1435 078lowastlowastlowast
N uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 10981199092
minus 1039119909 + 246986 084lowastlowastlowast
P uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 94631199092
minus 8946119909 + 21236 084lowastlowastlowast
K uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 71151199092
minus 6774119909 + 16236 085lowastlowastlowast
Ca uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 24581199092
minus 2366119909 + 5723 085lowastlowastlowast
Mg uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 20681199092
minus 1952119909 + 4636 088lowastlowastlowast
Note lowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 00001 probability level
Table 5 Correlation matrix between dry shoot and root nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)in soil and plant nutrient uptake as affected by compost addition in growing media
Parameter Root Shoot N P K Ca Mg N P K Ca MgDry weight (g) Uptake (mg plantminus1) Soil before treatment ()
Root Dry weight (g) 100 057lowastlowast 081lowastlowastlowast 068lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 078lowastlowastlowast 040lowast 068lowastlowast 058lowastlowast minus022ns 079lowastlowastlowast 063lowastlowastlowast
Shoot 080lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 086lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast 070lowastlowastlowast 061lowastlowast minus027ns 073lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast
N
Uptake (mg plantminus1)
087lowastlowastlowast 092lowastlowastlowast 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 083lowastlowastlowast 075lowastlowastlowast minus031ns 086lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast
P 082lowastlowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 057lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast minus038ns 083lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast
K 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 072lowastlowastlowast minus017ns 086lowastlowastlowast 080lowastlowastlowast
Ca 061lowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 064lowastlowast minus027ns 077lowastlowastlowast 071lowastlowastlowast
Mg 050lowast 044lowast minus031ns 054lowastlowast 045lowast
Notes lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 005 001 and 00001 probability level respectively ns not significant at 119901 lt 005
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
40 45 50 55 60 65 70SPAD reading
N u
ptak
e (m
g pl
antminus
1)
y = 0947x minus 2962
0696lowastlowastR =
Figure 3 Relationship between SPAD value and plant nitrogen (N)uptake Note lowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 probability level
sites that ultimately increased the CEC of growth media [39]Subsequently it also increased dry matter production andenabled efficient nutrients usage [39ndash43] This finding wasconsistent with Palanivell et al [39] which reported that theapplication of saw dust based compost as growing mediaincreased N P K Ca Mg and Na uptake by maize whencompared to conventional fertilizer
C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 C100
Figure 4 Growth of seedlings at the 12th week in prenursery stage
However growth of oil palm seedling is negativelyaffected by compost application solely due to the highC N ratio causing N immobilization However C N valuewould decrease gradually when microorganisms start break-ing down the compost and slowly release plant availablenutrients to the soil throughout the seedlings growth periodSimilar results have been reported by [33] whereby additionof composted greenwaste ofmore than 70 caused reductionin plant growth and root morphology probably due to thepresence of phytotoxic substance and negative changes inchemical and physical properties of growth media
5 Conclusions
Prenursery polybag medium amended with oil palm wastecompost up to 70 increased oil palm seedling growth
International Journal of Agronomy 7
Meanwhile 72 of the compost mixed with topsoil couldproduce the best planting material with respect to the highDMW production oil palm seedlings growth and devel-opment as well as greater nutrient uptake Further studyis required to investigate whether the amount of chemicalfertilizer employed during nursery stage could be reducedthus cutting operational cost by making use of oil palm wastecompost as polybag growth medium
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysiafor providing the facilities and Golden Hope Plantation BhdBanting for the oil palm waste that was used to produce thecompost
References
[1] Y Basiron ldquoPalm oil production through sustainable planta-tionsrdquo European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology vol109 no 4 pp 289ndash295 2007
[2] MPOB ldquoOil palm planted area by state as at December 2014rdquo2014 httpbepimpobgovmyimagesarea2014Area summ-arypdf
[3] M A AMohammed A SalmiatonW A K GWanAzlinaMS Mohammad Amran A FakhrursquoL-Razi and Y H Taufiq-YapldquoHydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass as a potential sourceof renewable energy in Malaysiardquo Renewable and SustainableEnergy Reviews vol 15 no 2 pp 1258ndash1270 2011
[4] M M Khan M A Khan M Abbas M J Jaskani M A Aliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[5] M THashim KH Yeow andY C Poon ldquoRecent developmentin nursery practicemdashpotting mediardquo in Proceedings of the Inter-national Oil PalmPalm Oil Conferences Progress amp ProspectsConference 1 Agriculture A H B Hassan Ed pp 369ndash371Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and IncorporatedSociety of Planters Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 1987
[6] M Khairil A A Kamarozaman I Arifin A Ramadzan andN Nasir ldquoEvaluation of several planting media for oil palm(ElaiesGuineensis) seedlings in main nurseryrdquo in Proceedings ofthe Soil Science Conference of Malaysia Kota Bharu MalaysiaApril 2012
[7] O O Adeoluwa and G O Adeoye ldquoPotential of oil palm emptyfruit bunch (EFB) as fertilizer in oil palm (Elaeis guineensisL Jacq) nurseriesrdquo in Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM OrganicWorld Congress Modena Italy June 2008 httporgprintsorgviewprojectsconferencehtml
[8] E G Uwumarongie-Ilori B B Sulaiman-Ilobu O Ederion etal ldquoVegetative growth performance of oil palm (Elaeis guineen-sis) seedlings in response to inorganic and organic fertilizersrdquoGreener Journal of Agricultural Science vol 2 pp 26ndash30 2012
[9] NO Aisueni andUOmoti ldquoThe role of compost in sustainableoil palm productionrdquo inCutting-Edge Technologies for Sustained
Competitiveness Proceedings of the 2001 PIPOC InternationalPalm Oil Congress Agriculture Conference Kuala LumpurMalaysia 20ndash22 August 2001 Nigerian Institute for Oil PalmEd pp 536ndash541 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2001
[10] F A Siregar S Salates J P Caliman and Z Liwang ldquoEnhanc-ing oil palm industry development through environmentallyfriendly technologyrdquo in Proceedings of the Chemistry amp Tech-nology Conference Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute(IOPRI) Ed Empty Fruit Bunch Compost Processing andUtilities pp 225ndash234 Nusa Dua Indonesia July 2002
[11] S Ovie M O Ekabafe A Nkechika and O N UdegbunamldquoInfluence of composted oil palm bunch waste on soil pHnitrogen organicmatter status and growth of oil palm seedlingsunder water stress conditionrdquoContinental Journal of Agronomyvol 1 pp 1ndash15 2014
[12] J M Bremner and C S Mulvaney ldquoNitrogen-totalrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analyses Part 2 Chemical and Mineralogical PropertiesA L Page R H Miller and D R Keeney Madison Edspp 610ndash615 American Society of Agronomy and Soil ScienceSociety of America 1982
[13] D E Baker G W Gorslinc C G Smith W I Thomas W EGrube and J L Ragland ldquoTechniques for rapid analysis of cornleaves for eleven elementsrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 56 pp 133ndash136 1964
[14] M De Boodt and O Verdonck ldquoThe physical properties of thesubstrates in horticulturerdquoActa Horticulturae vol 26 no 5 pp37ndash44 1972
[15] DW Nelson and L E Sommers ldquoMethods of soil analysis Part2 Chemical and microbiological propertiesrdquo in Total CarbonOrganic Carbon and Organic Matter A L Page R M MillerandD R Keeney Eds vol 9 ofAgronomyMonograph pp 542ndash560 ASA and SSSA Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1982
[16] R H Bray and L T Kurtz ldquoDetermination of total organic andavailable forms of phosphorus in soilsrdquo Soil Science vol 59 no1 pp 39ndash46 1945
[17] M Abad P Noguera and S Bures ldquoNational inventory oforganic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental pottedplant production case study in Spainrdquo Bioresource Technologyvol 77 no 2 pp 197ndash200 2001
[18] M Abad P FMartınezM DMartınez and JMartınez ldquoAgro-nomic evaluation of growing mediardquo Actas de Horticultura vol11 pp 141ndash154 1993
[19] B Ulen ldquoLeaching of plant nutrients and heavy metals duringthe composting of household wastes and chemical characteri-zation of the final productrdquo Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica BSoil amp Plant Science vol 47 no 3 pp 142ndash148 1997
[20] S G Sommer ldquoEffect of composting on nutrient loss andnitrogen availability of cattle deep litterrdquo European Journal ofAgronomy vol 14 no 2 pp 123ndash133 2001
[21] S C Gupta R H Dowdy and W E Larson ldquoHydraulic andthermal properties of a sandy soil as influenced by incorpora-tion of sewage sludgerdquo Soil Science Society of America Journalvol 41 no 3 pp 601ndash605 1977
[22] C J Bronick and R Lal ldquoSoil structure and management areviewrdquo Geoderma vol 124 no 1-2 pp 3ndash22 2005
[23] A Rivenshield andN L Bassuk ldquoUsing organic amendments todecrease bulk density and increasemacroporosity in compactedsoilsrdquoArboricultureampUrban Forestry vol 33 no 2 pp 140ndash1462007
[24] I Celik H Gunal M Budak and C Akpinar ldquoEffects oflong-term organic and mineral fertilizers on bulk density
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Veterinary Medicine International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of Agronomy 5
0
1
2
3
4
5
0 20 40 60 80 100
Shoo
t dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus00003x2 + 0043x + 1235
0725lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(a)
00
05
10
15
20
25
0 20 40 60 80 100
Root
dry
wei
ght (
g)
Compost ()
y = minus35E minus 05x2 + 0010x + 0532
0496lowastlowastR2 =
(b)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
0 20 40 60 80 100
Plan
t hei
ght (
cm)
Compost ()
y = 0046x + 2036
0534lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(c)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
0 20 40 60 80 100
SPA
D re
adin
g
Compost ()
y = minus0002x2 + 0404x + 4566
0717lowastlowastlowastR2 =
(d)
Figure 2 Effect of compost application rates on (a) shoot dry weight (b) root dry weight (c) plant height and (d) chlorophyll meter readings(SPAD value) of oil palm seedlings Note lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 and 00001 probability level respectively
the nutrients uptake of oil palm seedlings At low pH soilP reacted with Al and Fe oxides forming insoluble Al orFe phosphate through ligand bridging and anionic repulsionrendering P unavailable [35] According to Budianta et al[36] available P concentrations increased to 7382 whenoil palm waste derived compost was applied to soil whilethe soil exchangeable Al decreased This could be due to thepresence of the negative surface functional groups (phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol) on compost immobilizingAl or Fe and releasing P back to the soil
Furthermore the seedling root growth was clearly asso-ciated with the bulk density reflected by the increasing pore
space and soil aeration Addition of composted agriculturalwaste had been reported to significantly improve root growth[37 38] The nutrients uptake increased with root growth asshown by the correlation matrix (Table 5) Thus lower bulkdensity and alleviated pH due to compost addition were idealto promote root growth and increased nutrients uptake andbiomass
Apart from promoting nutrient uptake compost addi-tion also influenced nutrient availability and retention inthe growing medium The surface of organic matter likecompost is rich in negative functionalities such as phenoliccarboxylic carbonyl and alcohol which serve as exchange
6 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 4 Relationship between shoot and root dry weight nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) andmagnesium (Mg)uptake and soil pH as affected by compost addition in growing media
Interaction between soil pH and Equation R2
Shoot dry weight gminus1 119910 = 42331199092
minus 3799119909 + 8642 086lowastlowastlowast
Root dry weight gminus1 119910 = 61631199092
minus 5937119909 + 1435 078lowastlowastlowast
N uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 10981199092
minus 1039119909 + 246986 084lowastlowastlowast
P uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 94631199092
minus 8946119909 + 21236 084lowastlowastlowast
K uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 71151199092
minus 6774119909 + 16236 085lowastlowastlowast
Ca uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 24581199092
minus 2366119909 + 5723 085lowastlowastlowast
Mg uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 20681199092
minus 1952119909 + 4636 088lowastlowastlowast
Note lowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 00001 probability level
Table 5 Correlation matrix between dry shoot and root nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)in soil and plant nutrient uptake as affected by compost addition in growing media
Parameter Root Shoot N P K Ca Mg N P K Ca MgDry weight (g) Uptake (mg plantminus1) Soil before treatment ()
Root Dry weight (g) 100 057lowastlowast 081lowastlowastlowast 068lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 078lowastlowastlowast 040lowast 068lowastlowast 058lowastlowast minus022ns 079lowastlowastlowast 063lowastlowastlowast
Shoot 080lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 086lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast 070lowastlowastlowast 061lowastlowast minus027ns 073lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast
N
Uptake (mg plantminus1)
087lowastlowastlowast 092lowastlowastlowast 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 083lowastlowastlowast 075lowastlowastlowast minus031ns 086lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast
P 082lowastlowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 057lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast minus038ns 083lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast
K 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 072lowastlowastlowast minus017ns 086lowastlowastlowast 080lowastlowastlowast
Ca 061lowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 064lowastlowast minus027ns 077lowastlowastlowast 071lowastlowastlowast
Mg 050lowast 044lowast minus031ns 054lowastlowast 045lowast
Notes lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 005 001 and 00001 probability level respectively ns not significant at 119901 lt 005
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
40 45 50 55 60 65 70SPAD reading
N u
ptak
e (m
g pl
antminus
1)
y = 0947x minus 2962
0696lowastlowastR =
Figure 3 Relationship between SPAD value and plant nitrogen (N)uptake Note lowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 probability level
sites that ultimately increased the CEC of growth media [39]Subsequently it also increased dry matter production andenabled efficient nutrients usage [39ndash43] This finding wasconsistent with Palanivell et al [39] which reported that theapplication of saw dust based compost as growing mediaincreased N P K Ca Mg and Na uptake by maize whencompared to conventional fertilizer
C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 C100
Figure 4 Growth of seedlings at the 12th week in prenursery stage
However growth of oil palm seedling is negativelyaffected by compost application solely due to the highC N ratio causing N immobilization However C N valuewould decrease gradually when microorganisms start break-ing down the compost and slowly release plant availablenutrients to the soil throughout the seedlings growth periodSimilar results have been reported by [33] whereby additionof composted greenwaste ofmore than 70 caused reductionin plant growth and root morphology probably due to thepresence of phytotoxic substance and negative changes inchemical and physical properties of growth media
5 Conclusions
Prenursery polybag medium amended with oil palm wastecompost up to 70 increased oil palm seedling growth
International Journal of Agronomy 7
Meanwhile 72 of the compost mixed with topsoil couldproduce the best planting material with respect to the highDMW production oil palm seedlings growth and devel-opment as well as greater nutrient uptake Further studyis required to investigate whether the amount of chemicalfertilizer employed during nursery stage could be reducedthus cutting operational cost by making use of oil palm wastecompost as polybag growth medium
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysiafor providing the facilities and Golden Hope Plantation BhdBanting for the oil palm waste that was used to produce thecompost
References
[1] Y Basiron ldquoPalm oil production through sustainable planta-tionsrdquo European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology vol109 no 4 pp 289ndash295 2007
[2] MPOB ldquoOil palm planted area by state as at December 2014rdquo2014 httpbepimpobgovmyimagesarea2014Area summ-arypdf
[3] M A AMohammed A SalmiatonW A K GWanAzlinaMS Mohammad Amran A FakhrursquoL-Razi and Y H Taufiq-YapldquoHydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass as a potential sourceof renewable energy in Malaysiardquo Renewable and SustainableEnergy Reviews vol 15 no 2 pp 1258ndash1270 2011
[4] M M Khan M A Khan M Abbas M J Jaskani M A Aliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[5] M THashim KH Yeow andY C Poon ldquoRecent developmentin nursery practicemdashpotting mediardquo in Proceedings of the Inter-national Oil PalmPalm Oil Conferences Progress amp ProspectsConference 1 Agriculture A H B Hassan Ed pp 369ndash371Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and IncorporatedSociety of Planters Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 1987
[6] M Khairil A A Kamarozaman I Arifin A Ramadzan andN Nasir ldquoEvaluation of several planting media for oil palm(ElaiesGuineensis) seedlings in main nurseryrdquo in Proceedings ofthe Soil Science Conference of Malaysia Kota Bharu MalaysiaApril 2012
[7] O O Adeoluwa and G O Adeoye ldquoPotential of oil palm emptyfruit bunch (EFB) as fertilizer in oil palm (Elaeis guineensisL Jacq) nurseriesrdquo in Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM OrganicWorld Congress Modena Italy June 2008 httporgprintsorgviewprojectsconferencehtml
[8] E G Uwumarongie-Ilori B B Sulaiman-Ilobu O Ederion etal ldquoVegetative growth performance of oil palm (Elaeis guineen-sis) seedlings in response to inorganic and organic fertilizersrdquoGreener Journal of Agricultural Science vol 2 pp 26ndash30 2012
[9] NO Aisueni andUOmoti ldquoThe role of compost in sustainableoil palm productionrdquo inCutting-Edge Technologies for Sustained
Competitiveness Proceedings of the 2001 PIPOC InternationalPalm Oil Congress Agriculture Conference Kuala LumpurMalaysia 20ndash22 August 2001 Nigerian Institute for Oil PalmEd pp 536ndash541 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2001
[10] F A Siregar S Salates J P Caliman and Z Liwang ldquoEnhanc-ing oil palm industry development through environmentallyfriendly technologyrdquo in Proceedings of the Chemistry amp Tech-nology Conference Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute(IOPRI) Ed Empty Fruit Bunch Compost Processing andUtilities pp 225ndash234 Nusa Dua Indonesia July 2002
[11] S Ovie M O Ekabafe A Nkechika and O N UdegbunamldquoInfluence of composted oil palm bunch waste on soil pHnitrogen organicmatter status and growth of oil palm seedlingsunder water stress conditionrdquoContinental Journal of Agronomyvol 1 pp 1ndash15 2014
[12] J M Bremner and C S Mulvaney ldquoNitrogen-totalrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analyses Part 2 Chemical and Mineralogical PropertiesA L Page R H Miller and D R Keeney Madison Edspp 610ndash615 American Society of Agronomy and Soil ScienceSociety of America 1982
[13] D E Baker G W Gorslinc C G Smith W I Thomas W EGrube and J L Ragland ldquoTechniques for rapid analysis of cornleaves for eleven elementsrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 56 pp 133ndash136 1964
[14] M De Boodt and O Verdonck ldquoThe physical properties of thesubstrates in horticulturerdquoActa Horticulturae vol 26 no 5 pp37ndash44 1972
[15] DW Nelson and L E Sommers ldquoMethods of soil analysis Part2 Chemical and microbiological propertiesrdquo in Total CarbonOrganic Carbon and Organic Matter A L Page R M MillerandD R Keeney Eds vol 9 ofAgronomyMonograph pp 542ndash560 ASA and SSSA Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1982
[16] R H Bray and L T Kurtz ldquoDetermination of total organic andavailable forms of phosphorus in soilsrdquo Soil Science vol 59 no1 pp 39ndash46 1945
[17] M Abad P Noguera and S Bures ldquoNational inventory oforganic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental pottedplant production case study in Spainrdquo Bioresource Technologyvol 77 no 2 pp 197ndash200 2001
[18] M Abad P FMartınezM DMartınez and JMartınez ldquoAgro-nomic evaluation of growing mediardquo Actas de Horticultura vol11 pp 141ndash154 1993
[19] B Ulen ldquoLeaching of plant nutrients and heavy metals duringthe composting of household wastes and chemical characteri-zation of the final productrdquo Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica BSoil amp Plant Science vol 47 no 3 pp 142ndash148 1997
[20] S G Sommer ldquoEffect of composting on nutrient loss andnitrogen availability of cattle deep litterrdquo European Journal ofAgronomy vol 14 no 2 pp 123ndash133 2001
[21] S C Gupta R H Dowdy and W E Larson ldquoHydraulic andthermal properties of a sandy soil as influenced by incorpora-tion of sewage sludgerdquo Soil Science Society of America Journalvol 41 no 3 pp 601ndash605 1977
[22] C J Bronick and R Lal ldquoSoil structure and management areviewrdquo Geoderma vol 124 no 1-2 pp 3ndash22 2005
[23] A Rivenshield andN L Bassuk ldquoUsing organic amendments todecrease bulk density and increasemacroporosity in compactedsoilsrdquoArboricultureampUrban Forestry vol 33 no 2 pp 140ndash1462007
[24] I Celik H Gunal M Budak and C Akpinar ldquoEffects oflong-term organic and mineral fertilizers on bulk density
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Veterinary Medicine International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
6 International Journal of Agronomy
Table 4 Relationship between shoot and root dry weight nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) andmagnesium (Mg)uptake and soil pH as affected by compost addition in growing media
Interaction between soil pH and Equation R2
Shoot dry weight gminus1 119910 = 42331199092
minus 3799119909 + 8642 086lowastlowastlowast
Root dry weight gminus1 119910 = 61631199092
minus 5937119909 + 1435 078lowastlowastlowast
N uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 10981199092
minus 1039119909 + 246986 084lowastlowastlowast
P uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 94631199092
minus 8946119909 + 21236 084lowastlowastlowast
K uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 71151199092
minus 6774119909 + 16236 085lowastlowastlowast
Ca uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 24581199092
minus 2366119909 + 5723 085lowastlowastlowast
Mg uptake mg plantminus1 119910 = 20681199092
minus 1952119909 + 4636 088lowastlowastlowast
Note lowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 00001 probability level
Table 5 Correlation matrix between dry shoot and root nitrogen (N) phosphorous (P) potassium (K) calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg)in soil and plant nutrient uptake as affected by compost addition in growing media
Parameter Root Shoot N P K Ca Mg N P K Ca MgDry weight (g) Uptake (mg plantminus1) Soil before treatment ()
Root Dry weight (g) 100 057lowastlowast 081lowastlowastlowast 068lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 078lowastlowastlowast 040lowast 068lowastlowast 058lowastlowast minus022ns 079lowastlowastlowast 063lowastlowastlowast
Shoot 080lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 086lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast 070lowastlowastlowast 061lowastlowast minus027ns 073lowastlowastlowast 067lowastlowast
N
Uptake (mg plantminus1)
087lowastlowastlowast 092lowastlowastlowast 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 083lowastlowastlowast 075lowastlowastlowast minus031ns 086lowastlowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast
P 082lowastlowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 057lowastlowast 084lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast minus038ns 083lowastlowastlowast 077lowastlowastlowast
K 088lowastlowastlowast 055lowastlowast 082lowastlowastlowast 072lowastlowastlowast minus017ns 086lowastlowastlowast 080lowastlowastlowast
Ca 061lowastlowast 074lowastlowastlowast 064lowastlowast minus027ns 077lowastlowastlowast 071lowastlowastlowast
Mg 050lowast 044lowast minus031ns 054lowastlowast 045lowast
Notes lowastlowastlowastlowastlowastlowastsignificant at the level of 005 001 and 00001 probability level respectively ns not significant at 119901 lt 005
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
40 45 50 55 60 65 70SPAD reading
N u
ptak
e (m
g pl
antminus
1)
y = 0947x minus 2962
0696lowastlowastR =
Figure 3 Relationship between SPAD value and plant nitrogen (N)uptake Note lowastlowastsignificant at the level of 001 probability level
sites that ultimately increased the CEC of growth media [39]Subsequently it also increased dry matter production andenabled efficient nutrients usage [39ndash43] This finding wasconsistent with Palanivell et al [39] which reported that theapplication of saw dust based compost as growing mediaincreased N P K Ca Mg and Na uptake by maize whencompared to conventional fertilizer
C0 C20 C40 C60 C80 C100
Figure 4 Growth of seedlings at the 12th week in prenursery stage
However growth of oil palm seedling is negativelyaffected by compost application solely due to the highC N ratio causing N immobilization However C N valuewould decrease gradually when microorganisms start break-ing down the compost and slowly release plant availablenutrients to the soil throughout the seedlings growth periodSimilar results have been reported by [33] whereby additionof composted greenwaste ofmore than 70 caused reductionin plant growth and root morphology probably due to thepresence of phytotoxic substance and negative changes inchemical and physical properties of growth media
5 Conclusions
Prenursery polybag medium amended with oil palm wastecompost up to 70 increased oil palm seedling growth
International Journal of Agronomy 7
Meanwhile 72 of the compost mixed with topsoil couldproduce the best planting material with respect to the highDMW production oil palm seedlings growth and devel-opment as well as greater nutrient uptake Further studyis required to investigate whether the amount of chemicalfertilizer employed during nursery stage could be reducedthus cutting operational cost by making use of oil palm wastecompost as polybag growth medium
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysiafor providing the facilities and Golden Hope Plantation BhdBanting for the oil palm waste that was used to produce thecompost
References
[1] Y Basiron ldquoPalm oil production through sustainable planta-tionsrdquo European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology vol109 no 4 pp 289ndash295 2007
[2] MPOB ldquoOil palm planted area by state as at December 2014rdquo2014 httpbepimpobgovmyimagesarea2014Area summ-arypdf
[3] M A AMohammed A SalmiatonW A K GWanAzlinaMS Mohammad Amran A FakhrursquoL-Razi and Y H Taufiq-YapldquoHydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass as a potential sourceof renewable energy in Malaysiardquo Renewable and SustainableEnergy Reviews vol 15 no 2 pp 1258ndash1270 2011
[4] M M Khan M A Khan M Abbas M J Jaskani M A Aliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[5] M THashim KH Yeow andY C Poon ldquoRecent developmentin nursery practicemdashpotting mediardquo in Proceedings of the Inter-national Oil PalmPalm Oil Conferences Progress amp ProspectsConference 1 Agriculture A H B Hassan Ed pp 369ndash371Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and IncorporatedSociety of Planters Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 1987
[6] M Khairil A A Kamarozaman I Arifin A Ramadzan andN Nasir ldquoEvaluation of several planting media for oil palm(ElaiesGuineensis) seedlings in main nurseryrdquo in Proceedings ofthe Soil Science Conference of Malaysia Kota Bharu MalaysiaApril 2012
[7] O O Adeoluwa and G O Adeoye ldquoPotential of oil palm emptyfruit bunch (EFB) as fertilizer in oil palm (Elaeis guineensisL Jacq) nurseriesrdquo in Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM OrganicWorld Congress Modena Italy June 2008 httporgprintsorgviewprojectsconferencehtml
[8] E G Uwumarongie-Ilori B B Sulaiman-Ilobu O Ederion etal ldquoVegetative growth performance of oil palm (Elaeis guineen-sis) seedlings in response to inorganic and organic fertilizersrdquoGreener Journal of Agricultural Science vol 2 pp 26ndash30 2012
[9] NO Aisueni andUOmoti ldquoThe role of compost in sustainableoil palm productionrdquo inCutting-Edge Technologies for Sustained
Competitiveness Proceedings of the 2001 PIPOC InternationalPalm Oil Congress Agriculture Conference Kuala LumpurMalaysia 20ndash22 August 2001 Nigerian Institute for Oil PalmEd pp 536ndash541 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2001
[10] F A Siregar S Salates J P Caliman and Z Liwang ldquoEnhanc-ing oil palm industry development through environmentallyfriendly technologyrdquo in Proceedings of the Chemistry amp Tech-nology Conference Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute(IOPRI) Ed Empty Fruit Bunch Compost Processing andUtilities pp 225ndash234 Nusa Dua Indonesia July 2002
[11] S Ovie M O Ekabafe A Nkechika and O N UdegbunamldquoInfluence of composted oil palm bunch waste on soil pHnitrogen organicmatter status and growth of oil palm seedlingsunder water stress conditionrdquoContinental Journal of Agronomyvol 1 pp 1ndash15 2014
[12] J M Bremner and C S Mulvaney ldquoNitrogen-totalrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analyses Part 2 Chemical and Mineralogical PropertiesA L Page R H Miller and D R Keeney Madison Edspp 610ndash615 American Society of Agronomy and Soil ScienceSociety of America 1982
[13] D E Baker G W Gorslinc C G Smith W I Thomas W EGrube and J L Ragland ldquoTechniques for rapid analysis of cornleaves for eleven elementsrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 56 pp 133ndash136 1964
[14] M De Boodt and O Verdonck ldquoThe physical properties of thesubstrates in horticulturerdquoActa Horticulturae vol 26 no 5 pp37ndash44 1972
[15] DW Nelson and L E Sommers ldquoMethods of soil analysis Part2 Chemical and microbiological propertiesrdquo in Total CarbonOrganic Carbon and Organic Matter A L Page R M MillerandD R Keeney Eds vol 9 ofAgronomyMonograph pp 542ndash560 ASA and SSSA Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1982
[16] R H Bray and L T Kurtz ldquoDetermination of total organic andavailable forms of phosphorus in soilsrdquo Soil Science vol 59 no1 pp 39ndash46 1945
[17] M Abad P Noguera and S Bures ldquoNational inventory oforganic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental pottedplant production case study in Spainrdquo Bioresource Technologyvol 77 no 2 pp 197ndash200 2001
[18] M Abad P FMartınezM DMartınez and JMartınez ldquoAgro-nomic evaluation of growing mediardquo Actas de Horticultura vol11 pp 141ndash154 1993
[19] B Ulen ldquoLeaching of plant nutrients and heavy metals duringthe composting of household wastes and chemical characteri-zation of the final productrdquo Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica BSoil amp Plant Science vol 47 no 3 pp 142ndash148 1997
[20] S G Sommer ldquoEffect of composting on nutrient loss andnitrogen availability of cattle deep litterrdquo European Journal ofAgronomy vol 14 no 2 pp 123ndash133 2001
[21] S C Gupta R H Dowdy and W E Larson ldquoHydraulic andthermal properties of a sandy soil as influenced by incorpora-tion of sewage sludgerdquo Soil Science Society of America Journalvol 41 no 3 pp 601ndash605 1977
[22] C J Bronick and R Lal ldquoSoil structure and management areviewrdquo Geoderma vol 124 no 1-2 pp 3ndash22 2005
[23] A Rivenshield andN L Bassuk ldquoUsing organic amendments todecrease bulk density and increasemacroporosity in compactedsoilsrdquoArboricultureampUrban Forestry vol 33 no 2 pp 140ndash1462007
[24] I Celik H Gunal M Budak and C Akpinar ldquoEffects oflong-term organic and mineral fertilizers on bulk density
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Veterinary Medicine International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of Agronomy 7
Meanwhile 72 of the compost mixed with topsoil couldproduce the best planting material with respect to the highDMW production oil palm seedlings growth and devel-opment as well as greater nutrient uptake Further studyis required to investigate whether the amount of chemicalfertilizer employed during nursery stage could be reducedthus cutting operational cost by making use of oil palm wastecompost as polybag growth medium
Conflict of Interests
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interestsregarding the publication of this paper
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra Malaysiafor providing the facilities and Golden Hope Plantation BhdBanting for the oil palm waste that was used to produce thecompost
References
[1] Y Basiron ldquoPalm oil production through sustainable planta-tionsrdquo European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology vol109 no 4 pp 289ndash295 2007
[2] MPOB ldquoOil palm planted area by state as at December 2014rdquo2014 httpbepimpobgovmyimagesarea2014Area summ-arypdf
[3] M A AMohammed A SalmiatonW A K GWanAzlinaMS Mohammad Amran A FakhrursquoL-Razi and Y H Taufiq-YapldquoHydrogen rich gas from oil palm biomass as a potential sourceof renewable energy in Malaysiardquo Renewable and SustainableEnergy Reviews vol 15 no 2 pp 1258ndash1270 2011
[4] M M Khan M A Khan M Abbas M J Jaskani M A Aliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[5] M THashim KH Yeow andY C Poon ldquoRecent developmentin nursery practicemdashpotting mediardquo in Proceedings of the Inter-national Oil PalmPalm Oil Conferences Progress amp ProspectsConference 1 Agriculture A H B Hassan Ed pp 369ndash371Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia and IncorporatedSociety of Planters Kuala Lumpur Malaysia June 1987
[6] M Khairil A A Kamarozaman I Arifin A Ramadzan andN Nasir ldquoEvaluation of several planting media for oil palm(ElaiesGuineensis) seedlings in main nurseryrdquo in Proceedings ofthe Soil Science Conference of Malaysia Kota Bharu MalaysiaApril 2012
[7] O O Adeoluwa and G O Adeoye ldquoPotential of oil palm emptyfruit bunch (EFB) as fertilizer in oil palm (Elaeis guineensisL Jacq) nurseriesrdquo in Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM OrganicWorld Congress Modena Italy June 2008 httporgprintsorgviewprojectsconferencehtml
[8] E G Uwumarongie-Ilori B B Sulaiman-Ilobu O Ederion etal ldquoVegetative growth performance of oil palm (Elaeis guineen-sis) seedlings in response to inorganic and organic fertilizersrdquoGreener Journal of Agricultural Science vol 2 pp 26ndash30 2012
[9] NO Aisueni andUOmoti ldquoThe role of compost in sustainableoil palm productionrdquo inCutting-Edge Technologies for Sustained
Competitiveness Proceedings of the 2001 PIPOC InternationalPalm Oil Congress Agriculture Conference Kuala LumpurMalaysia 20ndash22 August 2001 Nigerian Institute for Oil PalmEd pp 536ndash541 Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) 2001
[10] F A Siregar S Salates J P Caliman and Z Liwang ldquoEnhanc-ing oil palm industry development through environmentallyfriendly technologyrdquo in Proceedings of the Chemistry amp Tech-nology Conference Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute(IOPRI) Ed Empty Fruit Bunch Compost Processing andUtilities pp 225ndash234 Nusa Dua Indonesia July 2002
[11] S Ovie M O Ekabafe A Nkechika and O N UdegbunamldquoInfluence of composted oil palm bunch waste on soil pHnitrogen organicmatter status and growth of oil palm seedlingsunder water stress conditionrdquoContinental Journal of Agronomyvol 1 pp 1ndash15 2014
[12] J M Bremner and C S Mulvaney ldquoNitrogen-totalrdquo inMethodsof Soil Analyses Part 2 Chemical and Mineralogical PropertiesA L Page R H Miller and D R Keeney Madison Edspp 610ndash615 American Society of Agronomy and Soil ScienceSociety of America 1982
[13] D E Baker G W Gorslinc C G Smith W I Thomas W EGrube and J L Ragland ldquoTechniques for rapid analysis of cornleaves for eleven elementsrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 56 pp 133ndash136 1964
[14] M De Boodt and O Verdonck ldquoThe physical properties of thesubstrates in horticulturerdquoActa Horticulturae vol 26 no 5 pp37ndash44 1972
[15] DW Nelson and L E Sommers ldquoMethods of soil analysis Part2 Chemical and microbiological propertiesrdquo in Total CarbonOrganic Carbon and Organic Matter A L Page R M MillerandD R Keeney Eds vol 9 ofAgronomyMonograph pp 542ndash560 ASA and SSSA Madison Wis USA 2nd edition 1982
[16] R H Bray and L T Kurtz ldquoDetermination of total organic andavailable forms of phosphorus in soilsrdquo Soil Science vol 59 no1 pp 39ndash46 1945
[17] M Abad P Noguera and S Bures ldquoNational inventory oforganic wastes for use as growing media for ornamental pottedplant production case study in Spainrdquo Bioresource Technologyvol 77 no 2 pp 197ndash200 2001
[18] M Abad P FMartınezM DMartınez and JMartınez ldquoAgro-nomic evaluation of growing mediardquo Actas de Horticultura vol11 pp 141ndash154 1993
[19] B Ulen ldquoLeaching of plant nutrients and heavy metals duringthe composting of household wastes and chemical characteri-zation of the final productrdquo Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica BSoil amp Plant Science vol 47 no 3 pp 142ndash148 1997
[20] S G Sommer ldquoEffect of composting on nutrient loss andnitrogen availability of cattle deep litterrdquo European Journal ofAgronomy vol 14 no 2 pp 123ndash133 2001
[21] S C Gupta R H Dowdy and W E Larson ldquoHydraulic andthermal properties of a sandy soil as influenced by incorpora-tion of sewage sludgerdquo Soil Science Society of America Journalvol 41 no 3 pp 601ndash605 1977
[22] C J Bronick and R Lal ldquoSoil structure and management areviewrdquo Geoderma vol 124 no 1-2 pp 3ndash22 2005
[23] A Rivenshield andN L Bassuk ldquoUsing organic amendments todecrease bulk density and increasemacroporosity in compactedsoilsrdquoArboricultureampUrban Forestry vol 33 no 2 pp 140ndash1462007
[24] I Celik H Gunal M Budak and C Akpinar ldquoEffects oflong-term organic and mineral fertilizers on bulk density
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Veterinary Medicine International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
8 International Journal of Agronomy
and penetration resistance in semi-arid Mediterranean soilconditionsrdquo Geoderma vol 160 no 2 pp 236ndash243 2010
[25] G V Giannakis N N Kourgialas N V Paranychianakis N PNikolaidis andNKalogerakis ldquoEffects ofmunicipal solidwastecompost on soil properties and vegetables growthrdquo CompostScience amp Utilization vol 22 no 3 pp 116ndash131 2014
[26] P J Valarini G Curaqueo A Seguel et al ldquoEffect of compostapplication on some properties of a volcanic soil from centralSouth Chilerdquo Chilean Journal of Agricultural Research vol 69no 3 pp 416ndash425 2009
[27] T J Butler and J P Muir ldquoDairy manure compost improves soiland increases tall wheatgrass yieldrdquo Agronomy Journal vol 98no 4 pp 1090ndash1096 2006
[28] L R Bulluck III M Brosius G K Evanylo and J B RistainoldquoOrganic and synthetic fertility amendments influence soilmicrobial physical and chemical properties on organic andconventional farmsrdquo Applied Soil Ecology vol 19 no 2 pp 147ndash160 2002
[29] Y Chen P Gat F H Frimmel and G Abbt-Braun ldquoMetalbinding by humic substances and dissolved organic matterderived from compostrdquo in Soil and Water Pollution MonitoringProtection and Remediation I Twardowska H E Allen MM Haggblom and S Stefaniak Eds vol 69 of NATO ScienceSeries pp 275ndash297 SpringerDordrechtTheNetherlands 2006
[30] J M Xu C Tang and Z L Chen ldquoThe role of plant residues inpH change of acid soils differing in initial pHrdquo Soil Biology andBiochemistry vol 38 no 4 pp 709ndash719 2006
[31] E P Jouquet E Bloquel T T Doan et al ldquoDo compost and ver-micompost improve macronutrient retention and plant growthin degraded tropical soilsrdquo Compost Science and Utilizationvol 19 no 1 pp 15ndash24 2011
[32] O Gibert D J Pablo J L Cortina and C Ayora ldquoSorptionstudies of Zn (II) and Cu (II) onto vegetal compost used onreactive mixtures for in situ treatment of acid mine drainagerdquoWater Resources vol 39 pp 2827ndash2838 2005
[33] L Zhang X Sun Y Tian and X Gong ldquoComposted greenwaste as a substitute for peat in growthmedia effects on growthand nutrition of Calatheainsignisrdquo PLoS ONE vol 8 no 10Article ID e78121 2013
[34] G Y Jayasinghe ldquoSugarcane bagasses sewage sludge compost asa plant growth substrate and an option for waste managementrdquoClean Technologies and Environmental Policy vol 14 no 4 pp625ndash632 2012
[35] W L Lindsay Chemical Equilibiria in Soils JohnWiley amp SonsNew York NY USA 1979
[36] D Budianta P K S A Halim N S Bolan and R J GilkesldquoPalm oil compost reduces aluminum toxicity thereby increasesphosphate fertilizer use efficiency in ultisolsrdquo in Proceedings ofthe 19th World Congress of Soil Science pp 221ndash223 BrisbaneAustralia August 2010
[37] MMKhanMAKhanAMazhar JMuhammad JMAAliand H Abbas ldquoEvaluation of potting media for the productionof rough lemon nursery stockrdquo Pakistan Journal of Botany vol38 no 3 pp 623ndash629 2006
[38] S B Wilson P J Stoffella and D A Graetz ldquoCompost-amended media for growth and development of Mexicanheatherrdquo Compost Science amp Utilization vol 9 no 1 pp 60ndash642001
[39] P Palanivell K Susilawati O H Ahmed and A M NMuhamad ldquoEffects of crude humin and compost producedfrom selected waste on Zea mays growth nutrient uptake and
nutrient use efficiencyrdquoAfrican Journal of Biotechnology vol 12no 13 pp 1500ndash1507 2013
[40] C Lazcano and J Domınguez ldquoSoil nutrientsrdquo in The Useof Vermicompost in Sustainable Agriculture Impact on PlantGrowth and Soil Fertility M Miransari Ed p 336 NovaScience 2011
[41] A C Petrus O H Ahmed A M N Muhamad H M NasirandM Jiwan ldquoEffect of K-N-humates on drymatter productionand nutrient use efficiency of maize in Sarawak MalaysiardquoTheScientificWorldJOURNAL vol 10 pp 1282ndash1292 2010
[42] M D Perez-Murcia R Moral J Moreno-Caselles A Perez-Espinosa and C Paredes ldquoUse of composted sewage sludge ingrowth media for broccolirdquo Bioresource Technology vol 97 no1 pp 123ndash130 2006
[43] R M Atiyeh S Subler C A Edwards G Bachman JD Metzger and W Shuster ldquoEffects of vermicomposts andcomposts on plant growth in horticultural container media andsoilrdquo Pedobiologia vol 44 no 5 pp 579ndash590 2000
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Veterinary Medicine International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Submit your manuscripts athttpwwwhindawicom
Nutrition and Metabolism
Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Food ScienceInternational Journal of
Agronomy
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
International Journal of
Microbiology
The Scientific World JournalHindawi Publishing Corporation httpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom
Applied ampEnvironmentalSoil Science
Volume 2014
AgricultureAdvances in
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
PsycheHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
BiodiversityInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
ScientificaHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Plant GenomicsInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Biotechnology Research International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Forestry ResearchInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Journal of BotanyHindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
EcologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Veterinary Medicine International
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Cell BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014
Evolutionary BiologyInternational Journal of
Hindawi Publishing Corporationhttpwwwhindawicom Volume 2014