Characteristics of coastal sediment from three different sites and their potential as the ameliorant of peat soil in West Kalimantan

Abstract

It is well-known that there are some problems faced in cultivating peat-land as an agricultural land. The main problems are related to both its low soil acidity and its high cation exchange capacity. Previous studies showed that coastal sediment has shown its potential to overcome these constraints. This experiment is design to invent new potential coastal sediment resource after the closeness of Pantai Kijing areas as the coastal sediment source, and to study some of important basic chemical properties of coastal sediment collected from new sites. The samples were collected from 10 selected sites in District of Sambas, and analyzed in the Laboratory of Soil Chemistry and Soil Fertility of Faculty of Agriculture, Tanjungpura University. For other two districts we used secondary data from previous studies. It was found that (1) District of Sambas could be the most next potential coastal sediment source after the closeness the area of Pantai Kijing, (2) High pH and BS values of coastal sediment from District of Sambas are two important properties needed to improve poor soil properties in West Kalimantan, and (3) high base element content could be further resource in improving properties of upland degrade soil in West Kalimantan. It is highly recommended to do more further basic experiments in order to optimize this new coastal sediment funtion as soil ameliorant.