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matter content and cation exchange capacity are extremely
low, leading to high nutrient leaching rates. All these proper-
ties make the sand tailing uncondusive to crop growth.
The Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development
Institute (MARDI) took on the challenge and undertook
research to overcome these problems so that the sand tailing
areas can be utilized for crop production. The close proxim-
ity of these areas to the urban areas makes them attractive
for crop growing since there is a ready market in the urban
areas for fresh food crops. Such proximity to the urban areas
would reduce transportation and marketing costs.
The above constraints to crop production can be over-
come with the use of appropriate agrobiomass and inorganic
fertilizers. Application of both organic and inorganic nutri-
ent inputs is important for obtaining good yields of crops
grown on sand tailings such as sweet potato, chilli, cabbage
and tomato.
MARDI has successfully cultivated a range of food crops
and herbs at the Tin Tailing Research Station in Kundang,
Selangor. The crops cultivated include vegetables (leaf,
fruit and root vegetables), field crops (sweet potato and
sweetcorn), herbs (lemon grass, turmeric, ginger, noni and
aloe vera) and fruit crops (papaya, ciku and starfruit).
Organic ameliorants used were mainly agrobiomass such
as oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB), palm oil mill efflu-
ent (POME), animal manures and various composts which
were either made on site from crop residues or purchased.
The organic amendments are mainly agrowastes available
abundantly in the country and generally inexpensive.
The key to transforming barren sand tailings to productive
cropland is the use of agrobiomass which provides organic
matter and nutrients. The provision of organic matter is the
more vital role of agrobiomass as the nutrient content in
organic matter is limited. Nutrients can be supplemented
from chemical fertilizers. Agrobiomass also serves as mulch-
ing material. The agrobiomass needed for crop production
can come from either plant or animal sources.
The largest source of agrobiomass in the country comes
from the oil palm industry which provides about 50
million tons of agrobiomass comprising of fronds, trunks,
EFB, POME, nut shell and pressed fibre. Of these, EFB
and POME have been extensively evaluated as sources of
organic matter and nutrients on sandy soils.
Empty fruit bunches are available from the oil palm facto-
ries after the oil containing fruits are removed by steaming,
leaving behind the empty bunches. These bunches are
Effects of organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs on yields of sweet potato, chilli and tomato on sand tailings
Source: Vimala and Sukra (2010)
1
Crop
Yield (t/ha)
No inputs
Organic inputs only
Inorganic inputs only
Organic + Inorganic inputs
Sweet potato
Organic: 60 t/ha POME
Inorganic: 1.4 t/ha NPK
-
11.2
-
25.0
Chilli
Organic: 30 t/ha poultry dung
Inorganic: 3 t/ha NPK
0
-
1.4
6.1
Chilli
Organic: 30 t/ha POME
Inorganic: 3 t/ha NPK
0
1.1
1.4
3.1
Chilli
Organic: 100 t/ha EFB
Inorganic: 3 t/ha NPK
0
0.5
1.4
4.1
Tomato
Organic: 30 t/ha poultry dung
Inorganic: 1.5 t/ha NPK
0
12.5
3.0
40.0
Tomato
Organic: 30 t/ha POME
Inorganic: 1.5 t/ha NPK
0
7.5
3.0
31.3
Tomato
Organic: 100 t/ha EFB
Inorganic: 1.5 t/ha NPK
0
5.5
3.0
21.0
NPK = 12 N: 12 P2O5: 17 K2O: 2 MgO+trace elements
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iving
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and