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COPPER AND LIMĘ INTERACTION ON THE GROWTH OF CORN ON TROPICAL PEAT

(1967) indicated that liming peai soils at about 14 t ha^-1 increased soil pH to 5.75 and 4.3, respec-tivcly. Differencesobserved on thesoil pH value$ despite the same ratę of limę added by these re-searchers could bedue to heterogeneity ofinitial soil pH and variousstagesof peatdecomposition. Nevertheless, theresultsimply that liming peatsoil to obtain pH of about 4.40 could result in better growth of sweet corn.

CONCLUSION

In thisstudy, the application of copper in the form ofcoppersulphate and limeat theratcsof 5 kg Cu

ha"¹ and 4 t limę ha ¹ to a peat soil gave optimum drymatteryieldof sweet corn. Application of morę than 16 kg Cu ha”¹ reduces the uptake of Cu by corn at all liming rates. The study indicates that peat soil containing less than 8.7/ig g"¹ DTPA extractable copper should be recommended for copper fertili/aton. It is also suggested that for maximum growth of corn, the pi 1 of peat should be at least 4.40.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to express their gratitude to Universiti Pertanian Malaysia forfinancialsupport of this research. They would also like to thank Prof.Othman Yaacoband Dr. Y.M. Khaniffor tłieir valuable commen ts on this manuscript. The authors also wish to thank Mr. Mohd Fuzi Shariff for his assistance in soil analysis.

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(Recewed 16 Nouember, 1990)

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