OMAR LATIFAH1; OSUMANU HARUNA AHMED1,2,3; NIK MUHAMMAD ABDUL MAJID4
1 Universiti Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Department of Crop Science, 97008 Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia
2 Universiti Putra Malaysia, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Borneo Ecosystem Science Research Centre, Agriculture and Environment, 97008 Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia
3 Universiti Putra Malaysia, Institute of Tropical Agriculture and Food Security (ITAFOS), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
4 Universiti Putra Malaysia, Institute of Tropical Forestry and Forest Product (INTROP), 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Latifah, O., O. H. Ahmed and N. M. A. Majid, 2017. Enhancing nutrients use effi ciency and grain yield of Zea mays L. cultivated on a tropical acid soil using paddy husk compost and clinoptilolite zeolite. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 23 (3): 418–428
With the ever increasing food demand coupled with environmental pollution due to unbalanced use of chemical fertilizers, there is a need to mitigate nutrients use effi ciency to improve crop productivity. A fi eld study was carried out from April 2014 to August 2014 on Nyalau Series (Typic Tualemkuts) to determine the effects of chemical fertilizers, compost, and clinoptilolite zeolite on: (i) selected soil chemical availability, nutrients uptake and use effi ciency and (ii) grain yield of Zea mays L. The fi eld study was conducted for 72 days for two consecutive planting cycles of Zea mays L. The use of chemical fertilizers, compost, and clinoptilolite zeolite improved nutrients use effi ciency and grain yield of Zea mays L. because of nutrients released from compost and retention of exchangeable cations on the exchange sites of clinoptilolite zeolite. The use of chemical fertilizers, compost, and clinoptilolite zeolite does not only improved timely uptake of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sodium in the aboveground biomass of Zea mays L. but also affects the higher grain yield of Zea mays L. compared with chemical fertilizers only. Application of chemical fertilizers, compost, and clinoptilolite zeolite can improve nutrients availability, uptake and use effi ciency, so was grain yield of Zea mays L.