Introducing natural farming in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) cultivation

This paper reviews the role of Natural Farming as an ecological farming method to produce organically grown food of safe and high quality and at the same time improve soil quality and soil health. Currently, there is a dearth of information on the effects of Natural Farming approach on black pepper farms particularly in Sarawak, Malaysia. Previous studies on other crops had indicated positive outcome using the Natural Farming method. Thus, this paper discusses the essential role of effective microorganisms in Natural Farming and their potential in pepper cultivation. Through the action of effective microorganisms, this approach should be able to transform a degraded soil ecosystem into one that is fertile and has high nutrients availability. The mixed culture of effective microorganisms applied must be mutually compatible and coexist with one another to ensure its favorable establishment and interaction in the soil. Therefore, it is anticipated that introducing Natural Farming in black pepper cultivation can enhance the predominance of effective microorganisms in the soil, which in turn could lead to promising growth and yield of the crop

Dr. LADA: diagnosing black pepper pest and diseases with decision tree

Malaysia has the distinction of being the world’s fifth largest pepper producer country whereby 98% of the country's annual production comes from the State of Sarawak. However, crop loss due to pest and disease incidence has been identified as one of the major pepper production constraints. Inefficient advisory mechanism and assistance from extension staff due to technical and logistic limitations have hindered the pest and disease diagnosis effort for pepper. Currently, extension staff from MPB will have to travel to the rural farms when contacted, or during their visits to advice or treat the plants. Therefore, “DR. LADA”, was jointly developed by Malaysian Pepper Board and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to diagnose six pests and ten diseases of pepper which commonly found in Malaysia and recommends appropriate management measures to solve the problems. This an interactive android-based mobile app used an inference engine utilises the forward-backward chaining methods to trigger the correct output from decision tree that inter-relates the expert rules which extracted and validated by Malaysian Pepper Board experts. Dr. LADA is a native mobile app develop on a java-based platform which provides fast performance, high degree of reliability and can be used without any internet connection. The app has been tested with 10 case studies carried out by Malaysian Pepper Board and scored 97% of accuracy. Having Dr. LADA, user can identify problems by answering a series of questions from symptoms shown by several plant parts. Therefore, the dependency of farmers on extension staff are reduced, and indirectly minimizing the extension activity costs

Chemical and biological characteristics of organic amendments produced from selected agro-wastes with potential for sustaining soil health: a laboratory assessment

Sustaining soil health cannot be divorced from sustainable crop production. Organic, or natural, farming is being promoted as a good sustainable agriculture practice. One aspect of organic farming that could significantly enhance and sustain soil health, soil quality, and crop productivity is the use of high-quality soil conditioners or organic amendments produced from agro-wastes. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the chemical and biological properties of selected agrowastes with potential for use as organic amendments in sustaining soil health. Standard procedures were used to produce and characterize the soil conditioners, namely fermented plant juice (FPJ), fermented fruit juice (FFJ), palm kernel shell (PKS) biochar, and kitchen waste (KW) compost. The fermented juices (FPJ and FFJ), PKS biochar, and KW compost exhibited chemical and biological properties with good potential as soil conditioners or organic amendments to sustain soil health. The fermented juices contained important microbes that can solubilize P and K in soil for crop use. The high pH and C content of the biochar and compost and the high cation exchange capacity of the biochar are good indicators of the potential of these materials to sustain soil health in terms of the liming effect of acid soils, nutrient and water retention, nutrient reserves, and a suitable habitat for microbial life. Moreover, the organic amendments contain reasonable amounts of macro- and micro-nutrients, which could be released to increase soil fertility. Despite these potential benefits, field application of these organic amendments is necessary to evaluate their effects on soil health and crop production in both the short and long ter

Effects of Organic Amendments Produced from Agro-Wastes on Sandy Soil Properties and Black Pepper Morpho-Physiology and Yield

Sandy textured soil infertility poses a problem for sustainable crop cultivation. This problem is usually dealt with by the addition of chemical fertilizers, which are expensive and can cause serious environmental issues if not managed well. A better alternative to improve and manage sandy soil infertility is the use of organic amendments produced from agro-wastes. This two (2)- year field study was conducted in a sandy-textured soil grown with black pepper to evaluate mainly the effects of chemical fertilizer, fermented plant and fruit juices, compost, and biochar on soil properties and morpho-physiological characteristics and yield of black pepper. Generally, the results indicated that the combination of fermented fruit juice, compost, and biochar was comparable to and in some cases better than chemical fertilizer in terms of soil physical, chemical, and biological properties as well as crop performance. These findings were even more pronounced in the second year of measurements. There were strong positive relationships between soil N and pepper leaf chlorophyll content and between soil microbes and soil respiration. The findings showed that these soil amendments produced from agro-wastes are a good alternative to the use of chemical fertilizers on sandy soils to improve soil fertility and productivity and the yield of black pepper sustainably

Responses of Jatropha curcas L. to water stress

Research on production of Jatropha curcas focus mainly on its suitability to dry and and lands; whereas less attention has been paid to its production under high water availability. The growth performance of a drought tolerant plant such as J. curcas under different watering regimes was studied to investigate the influence of both high and reduced water availability on the various morphological and physiological traits that could contribute to an understanding of the effects of water stress on the plant. The experiment was a completely randomized design (CRD) with 4 treatments replicated 3 times )Each replicate consisted of 2 plants with a total of 24 plants altogether. Treatments were: (i) Rainfed (WO) - Plants watered at field capacity > -0.03 MPa, (ii) Mild water stress (W1) - Water maintained at soil water potential between > -0.10 and > -0.30 MPa, (iii) Moderate water stress (W2) - Water maintained at soil water potential between > -0.80 and > -1.0 MPa, and (iv) Extreme water stress (W3) - Water maintained at soil permanent wilt point >-1.50 MPa. The well-watered plants responded by showing significantly (p < 0.05) better height, greater proportion of inflorescence and fruits, comparatively larger fruits and more mass in seeds, higher leaf stomatal density and bigger leaf area growth. Number of inflorescences, amount of fruits, fruit size, seeds mass, and leaf stomatal density were increased by 31,54,90,3, and 69 % respectively in plants grown under well-watered conditions. Photosynthesis rates (A), stomatal conductance (gs), and transpiration (E) of the control was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than its water-stressed counterparts. However, water use efficiency for WO and W3 showed insignificant difference probably due to W3 adaptive capability to water deficits. Strong correlations were established between leaf stomatal conductance with both photosynthetic rates (r2 = 0.86) and volumetric soil water content (r2 = 0.89). Furthermore, foliar abscisic acid (ABA) was significantly correlated to stomatal conductance (r2 = 0.96) and volumetric soil water content (r2 = 0.83). Extreme water stress increased foliar ABA by 5-folds which in turn reduced stomatal conductance and thus decreasing photosynthesis rates. As an indicator for water stress, foliar spectral analysis showed low reflectance which attributed primarily to absorption by higher concentration of chlorophyll photosynthetic pigments and the presence of cytoplasmic fluid at the leaf cellular level. Strong significant I11 correlations were achieved by the reflectance indices such as the reflectance at 550 nm (R550)s, tructure independent pigment index (SIPI), and photochemical reflectance index (PRI) to leaf photosynthetic pigments indicating the depression caused by drought to chlorophyll concentrations in leaves. Overall, the well-watered plants at soil water field capacity (-0.03 MPa) showed better morphological and physiological responses whereby the positive effect has been very favaourable in terms of its flowering and fruiting due to the plant's potential to produce biofuel

Effects of Organic Soil Amendments on Photosynthetic Traits of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in an Alluvial Soil

Black pepper in Sarawak, Malaysia, is mainly cultivated using the conventional method involving heavy usage of chemical compound fertilizers. Organic soil amendments can reduce the required amounts of chemical fertilizers. So, the objectives of this study were to compare selected properties of soils as well as the physiological performances of mature vines following the application of fermented juices, biochar, and compost. There were five treatments; each replicated five times in a randomized complete block design. Treatments were as follows: (i) FNPK–NPK 15 : 15 : 15 compound fertilizer; (ii) FPJ (fermented plant juice); (iii) FPJBC (FPJ, biochar, and compost); (iv) FFJ (fermented fruit juice); and (v) FFJBC (FFJ, biochar, and compost). The results revealed that combined fermented juices, biochar, and compost positively improved soil bulk density, soil porosity, TOC, C/N ratio, available P, exchangeable K, and exchangeable Ca. The fermented juices incorporated with biochar and compost had favourable effects on the leaf chlorophyll concentration, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and gas exchange rates such as photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration. Pepper leaf chlorophyll, NDVI, and photosynthesis rate were negatively correlated with soil total N. These results suggested that introducing organic soil amendments such as fermented juices, biochar, and compost improved soil physiochemical properties and black pepper physiological traits

Effects of organic soil amendments on photosynthetic traits of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) in an alluvial soil

Black pepper in Sarawak, Malaysia, is mainly cultivated using the conventional method involving heavy usage of chemical compound fertilizers. Organic soil amendments can reduce the required amounts of chemical fertilizers. So, the objectives of this study were to compare selected properties of soils as well as the physiological performances of mature vines following the application of fermented juices, biochar, and compost. There were five treatments; each replicated five times in a randomized complete block design. Treatments were as follows: (i) FNPK–NPK 15 : 15 : 15 compound fertilizer; (ii) FPJ (fermented plant juice); (iii) FPJBC (FPJ, biochar, and compost); (iv) FFJ (fermented fruit juice); and (v) FFJBC (FFJ, biochar, and compost). The results revealed that combined fermented juices, biochar, and compost positively improved soil bulk density, soil porosity, TOC, C/N ratio, available P, exchangeable K, and exchangeable Ca. The fermented juices incorporated with biochar and compost had favourable effects on the leaf chlorophyll concentration, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and gas exchange rates such as photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, and transpiration. Pepper leaf chlorophyll, NDVI, and photosynthesis rate were negatively correlated with soil total N. These results suggested that introducing organic soil amendments such as fermented juices, biochar, and compost improved soil physiochemical properties and black pepper physiological traits

Chemical and Biological Characteristics of Organic Amendments Produced from Selected Agro-Wastes with Potential for Sustaining Soil Health: A Laboratory Assessment

Sustaining soil health cannot be divorced from sustainable crop production. Organic, or natural, farming is being promoted as a good sustainable agriculture practice. One aspect of organic farming that could significantly enhance and sustain soil health, soil quality, and crop productivity is the use of high-quality soil conditioners or organic amendments produced from agro-wastes. Thus, the objective of this study was to characterize the chemical and biological properties of selected agro-wastes with potential for use as organic amendments in sustaining soil health. Standard procedures were used to produce and characterize the soil conditioners, namely fermented plant juice (FPJ), fermented fruit juice (FFJ), palm kernel shell (PKS) biochar, and kitchen waste (KW) compost. The fermented juices (FPJ and FFJ), PKS biochar, and KW compost exhibited chemical and biological properties with good potential as soil conditioners or organic amendments to sustain soil health. The fermented juices contained important microbes that can solubilize P and K in soil for crop use. The high pH and C content of the biochar and compost and the high cation exchange capacity of the biochar are good indicators of the potential of these materials to sustain soil health in terms of the liming effect of acid soils, nutrient and water retention, nutrient reserves, and a suitable habitat for microbial life. Moreover, the organic amendments contain reasonable amounts of macro- and micro-nutrients, which could be released to increase soil fertility. Despite these potential benefits, field application of these organic amendments is necessary to evaluate their effects on soil health and crop production in both the short and long term