Pengaruh Kadar Air dan Pemberian Pupuk terhadap Dekomposisi Bahan Gambut

Abstract

Peat land has often been used for large scale farming and plantation. Thus the technology on its utility has been improved and shows a bright prospect. However, the use of those technology upon the peat land has received many critics. Many scientists suggest that the decreasing of ground water levels in peat land will cause the increase of CO2 emission; the lower the groundwater surface, the more emission will be. However, this theory is only based on chemistry and physics reactions, while in fact the decomposition process is determined by biochemical reactions where microbes hold an important role. The objective of this research is to know the effect of water content combined with the addition of fertilizer on the peat decomposition and its composing materials based on its respirations. The respiration was measured by Jar Method. Respiration measurement was done every 10 days until the level of respiration rate was constant. The result showed that 2 times water holding at field capacity (WHFC) treatment has the highest respiration value as compared with 1 times WHFC and 0.5 times WHFC. The addition of urea fertilizer whether alone or combined with SP-36 has an effect to the value of the respiration. The addition of litters on sieved peat (GS) or the sieved peat combined with woody materials (GBS) also showed high respirations value. The high value of respiration was affected by the population of bacteria and fungi. This is supported by suitable environment and adequate food supply. Result of final analysis after incubation showed C/N and C/P ratio may not figured the rate of decomposition.