LIVING LANDLivine Lano Returning agricultural productivity to former tin mining land in Peninsular Malaysia Dato Dr Sharif Haron, Dr Mohamad Roff Mohd Noor, Dr Wan Abdullah Wan Yusoff and Rohani Md. Yon, Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute ‘or more than a century, tin ore was one of the main Pratt cmon which nabs on primary commodities. The prominence of tin in the cconomy lasted wntil the world tin industry collapsed in the mid 1980s. Following this event, the country's tin industry greatly reduced its activities. With the collapse of the tin mining industry large tracts of land, which have been used for depositing tin tailings, are left vacant. ‘Tin tailings’ refers to the materials other than the tin miner. als coming out of the mining process that were deposited on the mined or unmined land adjacent to the mining sites. Three types of tin tailings are usually found in the tin mines: gravel (>2 mm), sand (coarse sand, 2,0-0.2 ‘mm and fine sand, 0.2-0.02 mm), and slime (silt, 0.02- 0.002 mm and clay, <0.002 mm). Tes estimated that the tow area of ex-mining land in the whole of Malaysia is about 127,550 hectares. About 60 per -Margortegourcrut planted on cand taling, pein Yel of 300 6/9 cent of the ex-mining land has been rehabilitated or reused for other puprposes. Present uses of the ex-mining land include housing and settlement areas, industrial estates, agriculture, aquaculture and animal husbandry, tourism and recreation facilities and public institutions and facilities. Presently, about 50,000 hectares of ex-mining land remain unused. These areas are found quite near the urban, areas. Most of these areas are tin tailings which have been deposited with sand, therefore they are known as sand tail ings. Like other marginal soils, sand tailing is a problem, soil because of its poor physical and chemical properties making it unsuitable for crop growth. The sand tailing contains coarse sand grains with less than 5 per cent clay content. The sandy texture of sand tailing leads to excessive Imternal drainage and low water holding properties, Sand tailing also has a high surface temperature, Sand tailing has «pH of about 5 or less and is characterized bya very low level of bases, phosphorus and nitrogen. Organic [1661Lim nNG LAND Effects of organle and inorganic fertilizer Inputs on yields of swost potato chill and tomato on sand talings crop Yitd (7a) No nputs ‘Organic Inputs only organic Inputs onty | Organ + Inorganic input ‘Sweet potato Organi: 60 va POME Inorganic: 1.4 Va NPK 2 250 ‘on Organi: 30 Va pouty dung Inorganic: 3 ha NPR 1 oa cnn Organic: 30 ya FOME Inorganic: 3 ka NPK: a 14 34 cum Organi: 100 ha EFB Inorganic: 3 ka NPK os 14 aa Tomato Organic: 30 va pouty dung Inorganic: 1.5 Va NEK 30 Tomato Organic: 30 /ha POME. Inorganic: 1.5 vhe NPK 75 30 213 Tomato Organic: 100 yh EF Inorgenic: 1.5 Va NPK 55 20 210 ratter content and cation exchange capacity are extremely, low, leading o 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 tothe 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, frait and root vegetables), field crops (sweet potato and. sweetcorn), herbs (lemon grass, turmeric, ginger, noni and aloe vera) and fruit crops (papaya, ciku and stariruit, Organic ameliorants used were mainly agrobiomass such as ofl 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- ‘ng material. The agrobiomass needed for crop production ‘ean come from either plant or animal sources. The largest source of agrobiomass in the country comes from the oll 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 availabe from the oil palm facto- ries after the oil containing fruits are removed by steaming, leaving behind the empty bunches. These bunches are 67)Living Lax Yields of leafy vegetables on sand tallings compared to mean ylelds on normal solls Common name fr) Engh Local ‘Sand tings Normal sits Chinese mustard Sawibunga 1220 8 Chinese spinach | Bayan 1225 143 Water convoiuius | Kangkong 1020 100 etuee aun salad 45 179 ‘Chinese chives | Kut 1045 us ‘Yields of frult vegetables on sand tallings compared to farmers’ mean yleld ‘Common name Meld (Ya) Engh Local ‘Sand talings Farmers mean a ou 619 ns Brinjal/eae plant Terung 2530) 160 Otra/tdy's finger Kacong endl -20 134 ‘Cucumber Tim 8 392 Tomato Tomato 2140) 284 Herb ylelds on sand tailings compared to farmers’ mean on normal soils ‘commen nae Mola) Engh Local ‘Sand tangs Farmers! mean Lemon grass Seral makan 178287 aaa Ginger Hata 360289 60 Turmeric Kurt 62109 26 Non Mengkodu 37,148,129 12,160, 180° ‘Aloe vor (ge ye) 145 sterilized during the oil extraction process and can be considered as pathogen-free and therefore relatively safe to use directly without composting in the planting hole «especially forthe cultivation of fruit crops. EFB can also be applied in furrows for the cultivation of long-term vegeta~ bles such as sweet shoots. The EFB becomés the source [168] of slow-release organic matter and some nutrients to the infertile sand tilings. 1t also aids in retaining nutrients and water, and can be used as a mulch to prevent the surface soil temperature from rising too high. ‘The POME is collected in ponds near the palm oil mills. Here the effluent undergoes a series of anaerobic andLivine Lanp ‘Sweet potatos planted on sand talings to produce a crop of Vita rd) and gant (hie varies aerobic fermentation, Solid particles of the effluent settle to the bottom of the pond and as the water evaporates the POME is produced. POME is rich in nutrients and has « low carbon-nitrogen ratio indicating that the material has undergone extensive degradation during the fermentation process, The nutrients present in POME are readily avail- able to the growing plants. Studies have shown that POME is @ good nutrient source for vegetables and sweetcorn in sand tailings. Animal manures have also been reported to improve yields and soil properties of sand tailings. Poultry, sheep, goat and caitle manure are good sources of slow-release nutrients for crops on sand tailings such as chilli, In addition to using agrobiomass directly, plant and animal materials can be composted and used as nutrient sources, The nutrient content of compost can vary widely depending on the nutrient content of the source materials, as well as the proportion of the different materials used Legume species, with their ability to fix atmospheric niirogen, can be used as a soil ameliorant on sandy soil These legumes can be ploughed in at flowering, as a means to maintain or improve soil organic matter and fertility. Legumes such as Calopogonium mucunoides, Centrosema pubescens, Indigofera tinctoria, Mucuna cochinchinensis, Vigna radiata, Glycine max, Arachis pintoi and Pueraria Javanica have been found to establish well on sandy soils, ‘The legume species must be inoculated with appropri- ate inoculants and mixed with a little phosphorus before sowing to get effective nodulation and nitrogen fixation to occur. Incorporation of the green manure must be done three weeks before seed sowing. For the rehabilitation of sand tailings, the organic sources of biomass can either be broadcast on the surface of the plot ‘and then incorporated into the soil or applied in furrows and mixed with the sand in the furrows, However, furrow appli- cation of POME or poultry manure was superior to broadcast. application for a number of vegetable crops in sand tailings such as French bean, okra, cucumber and tomato. In both methods, itis important that the organic source is thoroughly mixed into the soil and then left for about three to five days before sowing or transplanting, especially ‘if animal manure is used. This is to ensure that the seeds or Newly parted sweet potate on sanéaling forthe reduction of ‘eutings wit 8 sprrier watering syste [169]ving LAND Ingation for ageute: le @ lke on ex mining tnd proves a water source an ight) mangoes are plate on sie talings wih an rigaton wenn transplants are not scorched by any ammonia gas that may still be emanating from the organic sources Spot application of organic manure is recomemmended for crops such as lemongrass, watermelon and fruit trees and also for those crops with spacing at 1 m x 1 m or greater. Spot application will save the total amount of ‘organic sources required per hectare. The organic source 1s applied in planting holes and then thoroughly mixed with the sand before planting, The rates of epplication ofthe organic inputs depend on the crops to be planted. For tomatoes the yield increased significantly with application of 70 vha of POME while leaf mustard yield increased linearly when poultry manure was applied at 10-40 wha. Okra and cucumber yield increased when 40-50 t/ha of poultry manure was applied. Chilli Increased significantly when 80 Via POME was applied, For leafy vegetables an application of 30.60 ha of poultry manure significantly increased the yield. For short-term leafy vegetables a basal application of about 40 vha of poultry manure i sufficient. Organic fertilizer significantly affects the yields of crops. Applying organic matter greatly increased the yield of crops such as sweetcom, cli and tomato. A combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers greatly boosted the yields of all the crops. Yields of lealy vegctables such as Chinese mustard, Chinese spinach, water convolvulus, lettuce and Chinese chives, grown on sand tilings with appropriate amounts of organic and inorganic sources of mutrient can match or exceed the mean yields achieved by farmers on normal soils. Several fruit vegetables also perform well on sand tailings compared to the mean yield of farmers working on normal soils. This clearly shows that organic inputs supplemented by inorganic fertilizers are crucial to high productivity. Planting herbs on sand tilings also produced good yields. Herbs such as lemon- grass, ginger, turmeric, noni and aloe vera produced yields that exceed farmers’ means when planted on sand tailings. These results indicate that problem soils such as sand tailings can become productive farms when given proper treatment with organic inputs. Crops such as vegetables, fruits, sweet potato, sweetcorn and herbs can be success fully produced by application of the technologies developed, by MARDI, With these technologies sustainable agricul- ture production on sand tailings is equal that obtained from normal soils. Thus soil improvement in sand tailings has, not only produced fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs for the nation but also helped to improve farmers’ incomes. Sand tang areas are cose wo urban areas with ready market for fresh fooe ere [1701