Impact of Coastal Sediment for Reclamation of Peatlands in Kubu Raya District, Indonesia

FEIRA B. ARIEF1,3; SUNTORO SUNTORO2; SAERI SAGIMAN3; JOKO SUTRISNO4
1 Sebelas Maret University, Department of Agriculture Science, Graduate School, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
2 Sebelas Maret University, Department of Soil Science, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia
3 Tanjungpura University, Department of Soil Science, Jalan Ahmad Yani Pontianak 78124, Indonesia
4 Sebelas Maret University, Department of Agribusiness, Surakarta 57126, Indonesia

Abstract

Arief, F.B., S. Suntoro, S. Sagiman and J. Sutrisno, 2018. Impact of coastal sediment for reclamation of peatlands in Kubu Raya District, Indonesia. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 24 (3): 443–449

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the use of coastal sediment as an alternative to peatland reclamation material for maize. Coastal sea sediment is a material composed of partly dissolved precipitated solid particles found along the coastline, and based on some previous researches, the application of coastal sediment can increase the pH and base saturation of peat soil. Thus, to test the accuracy of the coastal sediment, two experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015. The first step was identifying alternative sources of coastal sediment, as ameliorant, with chemical analysis (pH and texture) and incubation experiments. Five locations of coastal sediment from Kubu Raya District and one from Kijing were assessed for peat reclamation. Next, field experiments were conducted related to the addition of the best coastal sediment regarding pH and texture on the production of shelled cobs of maize plants in peat soils with different degrees of thickness. This study was conducted on two types of peat soil thickness (less than 2 m and more than 2 m). The coastal sediment, which was sourced from Kijing beach, was used at three dose levels based on the percentage of weight. All treatments were conducted in triplicate, and the corresponding corn productions were evaluated. The result showed that 10% coastal sediment improves corn production.

Key words: coastal sediment; peat soil; incubation; pH and corn production

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