ASSESSMENT OF THE MICROBIAL BIOMASS AND THE ENZYME ACTIVITY IN RELATION TO THE FERTILITY AND QUALITY OF PEAT FOR A SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN SEPANG, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Microbial biomass is an important parameter linking the plants to the soil and a source of plant nutrients. Soil microbes play important role in maintaining the soil fertility and they vary with locations due to environmental and human factors. In this study, we examined the effect of the microbial communities on the fertility and quality of the peat or organic soil for a sustainable agriculture. This study was conducted in a cassava farm located in Sepang district of Selangor,
Malaysia, and the soil type is peat or organic (0-60 cm). A fresh peat samples (0-15 cm) was collected randomly (30 points) across the study area of about 9 ha, kept in refrigerator at 4oC for microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass nitrogen and dehydrogenase determination using the appropriate methods. Results obtained ranged from 57.25 µgC/g – 1189.21 µgC/g, 1.46 µgN/g – 10.31 µgN/g, and 0.19 µgTPF/1g/24hrs - 6.23 µgTPF/1g/24hrs for microbial biomass carbon
(MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) and dehydrogenase (DHA) respectively. There was a moderate variation as the coefficient of variation (CV %) recorded were 67.82 %, 47.0 % and 60.12 % for MBC, MBN and DHA respectively. Results shows that the high organic content of the peat favors the growth of microbial population and increases the fertility of the soil in the study area. The microbial index and enzyme activity (MBC, MBN, DHA), showed correlation with other soil
nutrients and shows that they can serve as a useful soil quality indicator with respect to the different land use and soil management.