EVALUATION OF DIFFERENT RATES AND TYPES OF MOROCCAN PHOSPHATE ROCKS ON OIL PALM SEEDLINGS

Phosphorus (P) deficiency has consistently been a major limitation in crop production, especially in acidic tropical soils such as those in Malaysia. Since Morocco has the world's largest reserve of phosphate mines, its phosphate rocks (PR) can be examined for their agronomic effectiveness in Malaysian soil. This study investigated the effects of various types of Moroccan phosphate rocks (MPR) as well as Egyptian phosphate rocks (EPR) on the growth performance of different oil palm genotype seedlings. Five different rates of MPR Type B was used to assess the effect of different rate of PR on oil palm seedlings' performance; 0 (control), 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg P kg-1. Meanwhile, four different types of PR were used to assess the effect of different types of PR on oil palm seedlings' performance: MPR Type A, MPR Type B, MPR Type C, EPR and control (no PR application). The results showed that the rates and types of PR application had significant effects on the P concentration and P uptake of oil palm seedlings. MPR Type B at 100 mg P kg-1 was found to produce the optimum rate of P concentration and P uptake in the oil palm seedlings. In terms of different sources of PR, MPR Type B was found to provide oil palm seedlings with a higher concentration of P than EPR.