Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate the current soil properties in lowland paddy fields in Peninsular Malaysia and to assess the long-term changes in the soil fertility status during 50 years after the Green Revolution. Forty paddy fields were selected close to the study sites surveyed in 1965 and grouped based on six physiographic environments: the brackish swamp (BS, including acid sulfate soils), the brackish alluvium (BA), the freshwater swamp (FS) and the riverine alluvium (RAw) in the west coast, and the riverine alluvium (RAe) and the beach ridges interspersed with swales (BRIS) in the east coast. Soil samples were collected from the depth of 0–15 cm and analyzed for the physicochemical properties. Despite similar fertilizer application rates over Malaysia, several differences were found in the current soil properties between different physiographic environments, such as (1) higher levels of clay fraction, 1.4 nm minerals, CEC, exchangeable bases and available Si as well as Mg- and Na-rich status in the brackish environments (BS and BA), (2) higher levels of available N in the riverine alluvium environment in the east coast (RAe), and (3) the excessive P accumulation in the acid sulfate soils. Compared with the soil data in 1965, the effects of the Green Revolution well appeared in the dramatic increase of P availability as well as the alleviation of soil acidity. In addition, the composition of exchangeable bases changed toward Ca-rich and Mg-low status. Large reduction in soil organic matter was found in the swamp environments (BS and FS), while those in the riverine alluvium environment in the east coast (RAe) increased. It could be concluded that the soil fertility status of paddy fields in Malaysia has been successfully improved over the 50 years of the Green Revolution. Balanced fertilizer application schemes taking account of different soil characteristics in different physiographic environments would be a feasible option to achieve both efficient, sustainable rice production and environmental conservation.
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Acknowledgments
This chapter is mainly derived from Tanaka et al. (2021) published in Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Taylor and Frances, doi. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380768.2020.1840264. The authors would like to thank Drs. Tan Ngai Paing and Khairul Hafiz Mohd Yusoff, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Mr. Haruyoshi Saito, Kyoto Prefectural University, and Ms. Nao Kajiwara, Kochi University, for their collaboration during the entire course of this research, and Dr. Kazutake Kyuma, Emeritus Professor of Kyoto University, and Dr. Toshiyuki Wakatsuki, Emeritus Professor of Shimane University, for their supervision on this research. This research was partly funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science through a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (overseas academic) (No. 15H05247).
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Tanaka, S., Nakao, A., Yanai, J. (2022). Changes in Soil Fertility of Paddy Fields in Malaysia Due to the Long-Term Effect of Green Revolution. In: Yanai, J., Tanaka, S., Abe, S., Nakao, A. (eds) Changes in Paddy Soil Fertility in Tropical Asia under Green Revolution. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5425-1_5
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