Journal of Tropical Soils (Jan 2012)
Dynamics of pH, Ferrum and Mangan, and Phosphorus on Newly Opened Paddy Soil having High Soil Organic Matter on Rice Growth
Abstract
Research had been carried out at the Research and Soil Testing Laboratory and Greenhouse of Soil ResearchInstitute, Bogor using newly opened paddy soil from Pesisir Selatan districts, West Sumatra (one year old). Totaltreatments tested were 12 which were combination of farmer rate, NPK recommendation (½×; ¾×; 1½×), strawcompost (½×; ¾×; 1½×), and dolomite. The trial was conducted using a completely randomized design with threereplications. This research had been prepared in two units, one unit for observing plant response to nutrientmanagement and another unit for incubation trial with the same treatment placed in the greenhouse. Rice cultivarused was IR-42 in accordance to the preferred varieties of local farmers. The sampling method for measuring thesolubility of Fe2+ and Mn2+, as well as the availability of PO43- was by centrifuge 50 g mud samples from theincubation pots then separated clear extract using filter paper. The observation results on dynamics of pH, Fe2+,Mn2+ and PO4-3 mainly occured in 1 to 14 days after submerging (incubation). After 14 days soil reaction had reachedthermodynamic sequence of oxidation-reduction processes, the PO43- more available and pH of the soil reached thepeak. The optimum dose of NPK fertilizer obtained 0.875 NPK or equal to 175 kg of urea, 87.5 kg of SP-36 and 87.5 kgKCl ha-1. The highest number of hills achieved from straw compost treatment 1½ organic matter (OM) or 3 tons withan increase of 20%. Application of ameliorant dolomite increased the number of tillers about 2-3%, but insignificantlydifferent with no dolomite treatment.
