Managing peat soils for agricultural development: Redzuan Ibrahim writes about peat, a problem soil - the way to improve it, and suitable crops to grow on it

摘要

PEAT SOILS EXIST in many parts of the world. Dark and fertile-looking, it is a problem soil. Peat is low in fertility, made up of plant remnants which is not fully decomposed. Peat soil is acidic, with a low PH, which can cause low nutrient availability. Only certain crops can withstand its acidic nature. Crops like pineapple and oil palm produce good yield in Malaysian peat. Specific management is required for peat to be developed successfully for agriculture. Usually, peat exists in brackish areasor poorly drained flat land. It has a high water-table (soil water level), and often covered with water, Peat material is either sapric, hemic, orfibric. Fibric peats are the least decomposed, which made up of un-decomposed fibre. Hemic peats are somewhat decomposed, and sapric are the most decomposed. Generally peat soil is divided into three classes according to the depth of peat layer. Shallow peat 0.5m-1.5m, medium peat 1.5m -3.0m, deep peat 3m or more. It is estimated there are 800,000 hectares peat soil in Peninsular Malaysia especially in Johore and Selangor State and 1.4mn hectares in Sarawak