IMPROVING BANANA AND OIL PALM SEEDLINGS GROWTH...

IMPROVING BANANA AND OIL PALM SEEDLINGS GROWTH USING

INDIGENOUS NITROGEN FIXING AND PHOSPHATE SOLUBILIZING

BACTERIA

THEN KEK HOE

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

IMPROVING BANANA AND OIL PALM SEEDLINGS GROWTH USING

INDIGENOUS NITROGEN FIXING AND PHOSPHATE SOLUBILIZING

BACTERIA

THEN KEK HOE

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy (Bioprocess Engineering)

Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

SEPTEMBER 2016

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deeply grateful and sincere

gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Zainul Akmar Zakaria and my co-supervisor Prof. Dr.

Mohamad Roji Sarmidi from Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD), Faculty of

Chemical and Energy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for their detailed and constructive

comments, valuable advice, friendly help, extensive discussions and encouraging

guidance around my study have been very significant for this thesis.

My sincere appreciation also extends to the management of Felda Global Ventures

Research & Development Sdn. Bhd., all my colleagues, sub-ordinates and friends in Felda

Global Ventures Research & Development Sdn. Bhd. and Felda Agricultural Services Sdn.

Bhd. for their full support, assistance and endless helps in this work.

Last but not least, deepest appreciation to my parent, wife, sons and family

members for their continuous supports and encouragements throughout the progress

of this study.

iii

ABSTRACT

Oil palm is the biggest commodity crop while banana is the second largest

fruit crop planted in Malaysia. Both are highly nutrient-demanding crops that

requires a large amount of fertilizer. This present an opportunity to find alternative

source of nutrient that is much cheaper than the imported inorganic fertilizer for oil

palm and banana plantation. Hence, the objective of this study was to develop a

newly formulated biofertilizer incorporating locally isolated indigenous nitrogen

fixing bacteria (NFB) and phosphate solubilising bacteria (PSB) into oil palm empty

fruit bunch (EFB) compost as alternative nutrient source for banana and oil palm to

improve their growth and nutrient uptake. Three NFB and PSB strains (Enterobacter

cloacae, Burkholderia cepacia and Serratia marcescens) were successfully isolated

from the root of oil palm and banana to be formulated as biofertilizer for evaluation

on oil palm and banana seedlings. The formulated biofertilizer showed high viable

cell count of NFB and PSB inoculants in the carrier (fine EFB compost) i.e 2.45 x

108 cfu/g to 4.31 x 10

9 cfu (colony forming unit)/g carrier was recorded at the second

day after inoculation. Biofertilizer formulation containing Enterobacter cloacae

showed promising and consistent effect on the growth of oil palm and banana

seedlings including increased plant height (13.7% for oil palm and 15.6% for

banana), improved total dry biomass production (27.4% and 33.8% respectively) and

high total nutrient uptake (nitrogen (N) 30.6-48.1%, phosphorous (P) 27.2-33.1%,

potassium (K) 30.5-37.7%, magnesium (Mg) 48.8%, sulfur (S) 18.1-28.5% and

boron (B) 24.5%). Enterobacter cloaceae also showed good root colonization ability

as shown from the Field emission scanning electron microscopy analysis. The use of

nutrient-rich EFB compost (3.06% N, 0.37% P, 4.74% K, 3.32% calcium (Ca),

0.79% Mg, 0.07% S, 70.3 mg/kg B, 102.1 mg/kg copper (Cu), 6600.9 mg/kg iron

(Fe), 160.2 mg/kg zinc (Zn), 455.2 mg/kg manganese (Mn) and 41.4% total carbon,

C) as carrier for biofertilizer was able to improve the soil properties notably soil pH,

organic C, total N, total P, available P and exchangeable Mg. As a conclusion, the

application of locally isolated NFB and PSB together with EFB as carrier (as well as

source of nutrient) was successful to improve the growth of oil palm and banana

seedlings together with the soil properties. Biofertilizer formulation containing

Enterobacter cloacae showed higher performance relative to the other formulations,

hence recommended to be applied as soil mixture or directly applied into the planting

hole of oil palm and banana seedlings during transplanting to the field to encourage

the growth and nutrient uptake during early planting phase.

iv

ABSTRAK

Kelapa sawit merupakan tanaman komoditi terbesar manakala pisang

merupakan tanaman buah-buahan yang kedua terbesar di Malaysia. Kedua-dua

tanaman ini memerlukan input nutrien yang tinggi. Ini membuka peluang untuk

mendapatkan sumber nutrien alternatif yang lebih murah daripada baja inorganik

import untuk ladang kelapa sawit dan pisang. Dengan ini, objektif kajian ini adalah

untuk membangunkan formulasi biobaja baru daripada gabungan bakteria pengikat

nitrogen (NFB) dan bakteria pelarut fosfat (PSB) ke dalam kompos tandan kosong

sawit (EFB) sebagai sumber nutrien alternatif kepada kelapa sawit dan pisang demi

menggalakkan pertumbuhan dan pengambilan nutrien. Tiga jenis NFB dan PSB,

iaitu Enterobacter cloacae, Burkholderia cepacia dan Serratia marcescens berjaya

diasingkan daripada akar kelapa sawit dan pisang untuk diformulasikan sebagai

biobaja untuk penilaian kepada anak benih kelapa sawit dan pisang. Biobaja ini

mencatatkan jumlah sel hidup inokulan NFB dan PSB yang tinggi dalam pembawa

(kompos EFB halus) sebanyak 2.45 x 108 hingga 4.31 x 10

9 cfu (unit pembentuk

koloni)/g pembawa. Formulasi biobaja yang mengandungi Enterobacter cloacae

menunjukkan prestasi yang menyakinkan dan konsisten kepada anak benih kelapa

sawit dan pisang dapat meningkatkan ketinggian sebanyak 13.7% dan 15.6%

masing-masing serta meningkatkan jumlah berat kering sebanyak 27.4% dan 33.8%

masing-masing. Formulasi Enterobacter cloacae ini juga menggalakkan jumlah

pengambilan nutrien oleh anak benih kelapa sawit dan pisang pada kepekatan 30.6-

48.1% (nitrogen, N), 27.2-33.1% (fosforus, P), 30.5-37.7% (potassium, K), 48.8%

(magnesium, Mg), 18.1-28.5% (sulfur, S) dan 24.5% (boron, B). Analisa Mikroskopi

pancaran medan imbasan elektron juga menunjukkan Enterobacter cloaceae

mempunyai keupayaan kolonisasi akar yang baik. Kompos EFB yang kaya dengan

nutrien (3.06% N, 0.37% P, 4.74% K, 3.32% kalsium (Ca), 0.79% Mg, 0.07% S, 70.3

mg/kg B, 102.1 mg/kg kuprum (Cu), 6600.9 mg/kg besi (Fe), 160.2 mg/kg zink (Zn),

455.2 mg/kg Mangan (Mn) dan 41.4% jumlah karbon, C) digunakan sebagai

pembawa dalam biobaja turut meningkatkan sifat-sifat tanah terutamanya pH, jumlah

organik C, jumlah N, jumlah P, jumlah P tersedia dan Mg tertukar-ganti. Sebagai

kesimpulan, aplikasi pencilan bakteria NFB dan PSB dari punca tempatan beserta

EFB sebagai bahan pembawa (juga sebagai sumber nutrien) telah berjaya

meningkatkan pertumbuhan anak benih kelapa sawit dan pisang beserta kandungan

tanah. Formulasi biobaja mengandungi Enterobacter cloaceae yang menunjukkan

kesan yang lebih tinggi berbanding formulasi baja lain adalah disyorkan untuk

digunakan sebagai campuran tanah atau ditaburkan terus ke dalam lubang tanam

anak benih kelapa sawit dan pisang semasa penanaman di ladang bagi menggalakkan

pertumbuhan dan pengambilan nutrien semasa fasa awal penanaman.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ii

iii

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

iv

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF TABLES xii

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF APPENDICES

xv

xxi

xxiii

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background 1

1.2 Problem Statement 4

1.3 Aim and Objectives 5

1.4 Scopes of Study 5

1.5 Research Significance

6

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Oil Palm Industry in Malaysia

2.2 Banana Plantation in Malaysia

2.3 Fertilizer

2.4 Fertilizer Usage in Malaysia

7

9

11

14

vi

2.5 Fertilizer Application Practices in Oil Palm

and Banana Plantation

2.6 Oil Palm Mill Biomass as Potential Plant

Nutrient

2.7 Biofertilizer

14

16

19

2.8 Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria 21

2.9 Root Colonization by Plant Growth

Promoting Bacteria

23

2.10 Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria

2.11 Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria Associated with

Oil Palm

2.12 Nitrogen Fixing Bacteria Associated with

Banana

2.13 Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria


Associated with Oil Palm


Associated with Banana

2.16 Co-inoculation of Nitrogen Fixing and

Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria

2.17 Multifarious Beneficial Traits of Plant

Growth Promoting Bacteria

2.18 Carrier Material for Biofertilizer

25

26

28

31

34

35

36

39

40

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 43

3.1 Study Outline

3.2 Banana and Oil Palm Root Sampling

43

45

3.3 Isolation of Nitrogen Fixing and


49

3.4 Screening of Nitrogen Fixing and

Phosphate Solubilizing Bacterial

Isolates

51

vii

3.4.1 Determination of Nitrogen

Fixation Capability

51

3.4.2 Determination of Phosphate

Solubilizing Activity

3.5 Growth Profile of Selected Bacteria

Strains

3.6 Biocompatibility of Mixed Cultures of

NFB and PSB

3.7 Processing of Oil Palm Empty Fruit

Bunch Compost

3.7.1 Temperature Monitoring of EFB

Compost

3.7.2 Compost Sampling for Chemical

Analysis

53

54

54

55

57

57

3.8 Identification of NFB and PSB

3.9 Biofertilizer Formulation Using NFB and

PSB Inoculated into EFB Compost

3.9.1 Carrier Preparation Using EFB

Compost

59

60

61

3.9.2 Preparation of NFB and PSB

Inoculant

3.9.3 Viable Cell Count of Bacterial

Inoculants in Biofertilizer

3.10 Efficiency of Formulated Biofertilizer on

Banana and Oil Palm Seedlings

3.10.1 Effect of Biofertilizer on Plant

Growth and Biomass Production

3.10.2 Effect of Biofertilizer on Total

Nutrient Uptake

3.10.3 Nutrient Analysis of

Biofertilizer Treated Soil

3.11 FESEM Study on Root Colonization by

Inoculated NFB and PSB

62

63

64

68

68

70

72

viii

3.12 Experimental Design and Data Analysis

on Biofertilizer Evaluation

72

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 74

4.1 Isolation of Potential Nitrogen Fixing

Bacteria and Phosphate Solubilizing

Bacteria from Banana and Oil Palm

Roots

74

4.2 Nitrogen Fixing Capacity of Selected

Isolates

80

4.3 Phosphate Solubilizing Activity of

Selected Isolates

82

4.4 Selection of Potential Nitrogen Fixing

and Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria

4.5 Mixed Cultures of Nitrogen Fixing and


4.6 Identification of Selected Nitrogen

Fixing and Phosphate Solubilizing

Bacteria

4.6.1 Identification of Isolate N15


4.6.3 Identification of Isolate P3


4.7 Physical Characteristic during

Composting

4.7.1 Temperature Changes during

Composting

4.7.2 Changes in Nutrient Content

4.8 Formulation of Biofertilizer

4.9 Evaluation of Formulated Biofertilizer

on Oil Palm and Banana Seedling

84

88

90

91

94

97

99

101

102

104

109

117

ix

4.9.1 Effect of Biofertilizer

Application on Oil Palm

Seedling Growth


Application on Banana

Seedling Growth


Application on Soil Chemical

Properties


Application on Dry Biomass

Production of Oil Palm

Seedlings


Application on Dry Biomass

Production of Banana

Seedlings


Application on Improvement

of Total Nutrient Uptake by

Oil Palm Seedlings


Application on Improvement

of Total Nutrient Uptake by

Banana Seedlings

4.10 FESEM Study on NFB and PSB in

Biofertilizer Formulation

4.10.1 FESEM Study of NFB and

PSB Colonisation on Oil Palm

Roots

4.10.2 FESEM Study of NFB and

PSB Colonisation on Banana

Roots

118

125

132

139

144

149

154

157

161

165

x

4.11 Re-isolation of NFB and PSB Strains

from the Inoculated Banana and Oil

Palm Roots

169

5 CONCLUSION

5.1 Conclusion

5.2 Recommendation

174

174

175

REFERENCES 177

Appendices A – E 198 - 204

xi

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 The distribution of oil palm planted area in Malaysia (2012) 8

2.2 The distribution of banana planted area in Malaysia (2007) 10

2.3 The common PGPR strain for plant growth promoting

application 22

2.4 Example of NFB that was isolated from banana plant

tissue 29

2.5 Species of co-inoculation and improvement to banana, oil

palm and other crops 38

2.6 Various types of carrier for biofertilizer inoculants and

their efficiency 42

3.1 Banana and oil palm root sampling source, sampling sites,

agricultural practices of the sites and the total roots been

sampled 48

3.2 Full composition of the Burk’s nitrogen free (BNF)

agar and Pikovskaya (PKV) agar mediums 49

3.3 Formulations of biofertilizer from different species of NFB

and PSB in single culture and mixed culture 61

3.4 Treatments layout of biofertilizer evaluation for banana

seedling 66

3.5 Treatments layout of biofertilizer evaluation for oil palm

seedling 67

4.1 Potential NFB and PSB isolated from banana root

samples 77

xii

4.2 Potential NFB and PSB isolated from oil palm root

samples 78

4.3 Profile on the response of isolates on BNF and PKV agar

media 79

4.4 Nitrogen fixing capacity of potential NFB isolates 81

4.5 Phosphate solubilizing activity of potential PSB isolates 83

4.6 Ability of selected NFB and PSB isolates in nitrogen

fixing capacity and phosphate solubilizing 84

4.7 Spectrophotometer absorbance reading of various isolates

grown in NB for 48 hours to determine the growth profile 86

4.8 Viable cell count of various isolates grown in NB for

48 hours 87

4.9 Nitrogen fixing capacity, phosphate solubilizing index

and growth characteristic for the chosen isolates which

will be further evaluated for biofertilizer formulation 88

4.10 Viable cell count of isolates in mixed culture and

single culture 90

4.11 Top 10 hits blast results of isolate N15 against NCBI

16S rRNA sequences database 93



4.13 Top 10 hits blast results of isolate P3 against NCBI




4.15 Physical and chemical characteristics of EFB compost 113

4.16 Characterization of macronutrients in EFB compost 114

4.17 Characterization of micronutrients and heavy metal

in EFB compost 115

4.18 Viable cell count of bacterial inoculants in carrier 117

4.19 Growth profile of oil palm seedling on biofertilizer treated

soil 123

xiii

4.20 Total primary roots length, total primary roots numbers,

stem girth size and total leaves numbers of oil palm

seedlings planted on biofertilizer treated soil 124

4.21 Growth profile of banana seedling on biofertilizer treated

soil 130

4.22 Total primary roots length, total primary roots numbers,

stem girth size and total leaves numbers of banana

seedlings planted on biofertilizer treated soil 131

4.23 Chemical properties of the soil that used as growing media

in biofertilizer evaluation 133

4.24 Soil fertility level for oil palm cultivation (Goh et al., 1997) 133

4.25 Soil nutrient level at 112 days after planted with oil palm

seedling 136

4.26 Soil nutrient level at 112 days after planted with banana

seedling 138

4.27 Dry biomass analysis of oil palm seedling after 112 days

planted on biofertilizer treated soil 142

4.28 Dry biomass analysis of banana seedling after 112 days


4.29 Total nutrient uptake of oil palm seedlings after 112 days


4.30 Total nutrient uptake of banana seedlings after 112 days


4.31 Top 10 hits blast results of isolate N12-B-S1 against NCBI


xiv

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO.

TITLE PAGE

2.1

2.2

2.3

2.4

3.1

Types of fertilizers; (a) mixture (b) compound (granular)

(c) slow-release (d) liquid and (e) organic fertilizer

Example on the effect of the inoculation of PGPR on the

growth of roots and shoot of banana plantlets (Mia et al.,

2002)

Biochemistry of atmosphere nitrogen fixation

(Simarmata, 2013)

Schematic diagram of soil phosphorous mobilization and

immobilization by bacteria (Mohammadi and Sohrabi,

2012)

Overall research methodology for this study

12

24

25

33

44

3.2 Healthy and good yielding oil palm (a) and banana (b)

trees located in Sg. Tengi Selatan Research Station,

Selangor and Jengka 26 Research Station, Pahang were

selected for roots sampling

45

3.3 Primary (a) and secondary roots (b) of banana 46

3.4 Primary (a), secondary (b) and tertiary roots (c) of oil

palm

46

3.5 Roots sampling zone for banana (a) and oil palm (b) 47

3.6 Oil palm roots were sampled and placed into sterile bags

for storage in chiller before bacterial isolation

47

3.7

Three banana root sections were placed on BNF agar

medium for NFB isolation

50

xv

3.8

3.9

3.10

3.11

3.12

3.13

3.14

3.15

Assembly of apparatus for Kjeldahl digestion (Felda

Laboratory Test Method, 2014)

Processing of oil palm empty fruit bunch compost; the

shredded EFB fibres (a), POME drenching on EFB fibres

(b), mechanical turning of EFB composting windrow and

covered by air permeable canvas (c) and mature EFB

compost windrow (d)

Composting thermometer used to measure the

temperature of the composting windrow

Un-inoculated EFB compost carrier (a) and bacteria

inoculated EFB compost carrier with darker colour and

moist (b) immediately after inoculation

A 21 days old banana tissue culture seedlings (a) and

germinated oil palm seeds (b) were used as the planting

material to evaluate the efficiency of biofertilizer

Glass house (a), shade was provided for banana and oil

palm seedlings during early stage of planting (b) and the

pots arrangement (c) for banana and oil palm seedlings

for biofertilizer evaluation

Biofetilizer applied as soil mixture at 10% (b), 20% (c)

and 30% (d) were showed darker colour as compared to

soil only media (a)

Leaves, stem and roots samples of oil palm (a) and

banana (b) seedlings for determination of biomass and

nutrient content

53

56

57

63

64

65

65

70

4.1 Growth of nitrogen fixing bacterial isolated (red arrow)

on BNF agar (left) and halo zone (blue arrow) developed

by phosphate solubilizing bacterial isolates on PKV agar

media (right)

75

4.2

4.3

Various types of bacterial cultures isolated on BNF agar

media with potential as nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Colour morphology of major groups of NFB isolates;

cream (a), cream translucent (b), yellow (c), orange (d)

and red (e)

75

76

4.4

Growth of bacterial isolates in BNF media after 24 hours

of incubation

80

xvi

4.5 Formation of clear halo zone around the isolated bacterial

colonies (isolate P5, P6, P7 and P8 in replication R1, R2

and R3) on NBRIP agar media indicating phosphate-

solubilizing activity

82

4.6

4.7

4.8

4.9

4.10

4.11

4.12

4.13

4.14

4.15

4.16

4.17

Growth profile of various isolates grown in NB for 48

hours

Chromatography gel photo of isolates N15, N12, N7 and

P3

Colour changes of shredded EFB fibres during

composting for 51 days

Profile for changes in temperature during EFB


Changes of nitrogen content of EFB compost during


Changes of carbon content of EFB compost during 51

days of composting

Changes of C/N ratio of EFB compost during 51 days of

composting

Changes of K2O content of EFB compost during 51 days

of composting

Changes of P2O5 and MgO content of EFB compost

during composting period of 51days

Physical characteristic of (a) fine EFB compost of < 2

mm, after the (b) undecomposed coarse fibres and coarse

kernel shells > 2 mm were removed from the grinded

EFB compost and the physical characteristic of (c) fine

powder form EFB compost < 1 mm, after the (d) fine

kernel shells and undecomposed fine fibres > 1 mm were

removed from fine EFB compost < 2 mm

Diagram of the preparation of fine powder form of EFB

compost (< 1 mm) from ground EFB compost as the

carrier for biofertilizer inoculants

Isolated bacterial colonies from fine powdered EFB

compost after two days of inoculation (a) Enterobacter

cloacae – single culture, (b) Serratia marcescens – single

culture and (c) mixed cultures of Burkholderia cepacia

(blue arrow) and Serratia marcescens (red arrow)

86

91

102

104

105

105

106

108

108

110

111

116

xvii

4.18

4.19

4.20

4.21

4.22

4.23

4.24

4.25

Growth of oil palm seedlings treated with biofertilizer

Formulation N15, N12 and P3N15 at 10% soil mixture

(N15-10%, N12-10% and P3N15-10%) as compared to

un-inoculated carrier at 10% soil mixture (T2-10%) and

soil only media (T1-0%) at (a) 28 days, (b) 56 days, (c)

84 days and (d) 112 days after planting













Biofertilizer treated oil palm seedling (N12-10%) showed

bigger leaf (blue arrow) and heavy secondary roots (red

arrow) as compared to uninoculated seedling (T2-10%)

Growth of banana seedlings treated with biofertilizer






Growth of banana seedlings treated with biofertilizer






Biofertilizer treated banana seedling (N12-10%) showed

bigger leaf (blue arrow) and heavy secondary roots (red

arrow) as compared to uninoculated seedling (T2-10%)

Oil palm seedlings at 112 days after planted on various

biofertilizers treated growing media at (a) 10% (w/w), (b)

20% (w/w) and (c) 30% (w/w) as soil mixture were

harvested for destructive analysis

120

121

122

125

128

129

131

140

xviii

4.26

4.27

4.28

4.29

4.30

4.31

4.32

4.33

4.34

4.35

Banana seedlings at 112 days after planted on various

biofertilizers treated growing media at (a) 10% (w/w) and

(b) 15% (w/w) as soil mixture were harvested for

destructive analysis

Appearance of Serratia marcescens on SEM studies as

rod-shaped with smooth surface (red arrow) as reported

by (a) Abel et al., 2012 and (b) Castro et al., 2007 was

also observed in this study notably for the (c) N15

formulation (Serratia marcescens in 10% soil mixture)

SEM micrograph of Enterobacter cloacae (white arrow)

in the (d) N12 formulation showed similar morphology

with E. cloacae as reported by (a) Subudhi et al., 2013,

(b) Hood et al., 1998 and (c) Naik et al., 2012

SEM micrograph of (c) Burkholderia cepacia and

Serratia marcescens in Formulation P3N15 (red arrow)

showing similar morphology for Burkholderia cepacia

(white arrow) reported by (a) Cho et al., 2002 and (b)

Vidal-Quist et al., 2014 (b)

SEM micrograph of Enterobacter cloacae colonisation

(white arrow) on oil palm roots at 28 days (a & b) and

112 days (c & d) after inoculation in growing media

SEM micrograph of Burkholderia cepacia and Serratia

marcescens colonisation (white arrow) on oil palm roots

at (a) 28 days, (b) 56 days and (c) 84 days after

inoculation in growing media

SEM micrograph of Serratia marcescens colonisation

(white arrow) on oil palm roots at (a) 56 days and (b) 84

days after inoculation in growing media

SEM micrograph of oil palm roots at (a) 56 days, (b) 84

days and (c) 112 days after planting with un-inoculated

carrier in growing media has detected filamentous shaped

bacteria (white arrow)

SEM micrograph of oil palm roots at (a) 84 days and (b)

112 days after planted in soil only media has detected

filamentous shaped bacteria (white arrow)

SEM micrograph of Enterobacter cloacae colonisation

(white arrow) on banana roots at 56 days (a & b) and 84

days (c) after inoculation in growth media

148

158

159

160

162

163

163

164

164

166

xix

4.36

4.37

4.38

4.39

4.40

4.41

SEM micrograph of Burkholderia cepacia and Serratia

marcescens colonisation (white arrow) on banana roots at

(a) 56 days and (b) 84 days after inoculation in growing

media

SEM micrograph of Serratia marcescens colonisation

(white arrow) on banana roots at 84 days after

inoculation in growth media

SEM micrograph of banana roots at (a) 84 days and (b)

112 days after planting with un-inoculated carrier in

growth media has detected the presence of filamentous

shaped bacteria (white arrow)

SEM micrograph of banana roots at (a) 28 days and (b)

112 days after planting in soil only media has detected

the presence of filamentous shape bacteria (white arrow)

Oil palm (a) and banana (b) root samples placed on

nutrient agar for bacterial growth and the final pure strain

isolated from oil palm (c) and banana (d) roots

Chromatography gel photo of the bacteria strains re-

isolated from oil palm and banana roots

167

168

168

169

171

172

xx

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ACC - 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate

ANOVA - Analysis of variance

ARA - Acetylene reduction assays

AS - Ammonium sulphate (AS)

Av. P - Available phosphorous

BNF - Biological nitrogen fixation

BNF - Burk’s nitrogen free

C - Carbon

C/N ratio - Carbon : nitrogen ratio

CEC - Cation exchange capacity

CPO - Crude palm oil

CRD - Complete Randomised Design

DMRT - Duncan’s Multiple Range Test

EFB - Empty fruit bunches

EM - Effective microbe

EX - Exchangeable

FESEM - Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

FESEM - Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope

GML - Ground Magnesium Limestone

Ha - Hectares

IAA - Indole acetic acid

IRRI - International Rice Research Institute

K - Potassium

Kies - Kieserite

LCC - Leguminous cover crops

MC - Moisture content

xxi

Mg - Magnesium

MOP - Muriate of Potash

MPOB - Malaysia Palm Oil Board

MRP - Mussoorie Rock Phosphate

N - Nitrogen

NA - Nutrient agar

NB - Nutrient broth

NBRIP - National Botanical Research Institute’s Phosphate

NCBI - National Centre for Biotechnology Information

NFB - Nitrogen fixing bacteria

OC - Organic carbon

OM - Organic matter

P - Phosphorous

PGPR - Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria

PKV - Pikovskaya

POME - Palm oil mill effluent

PR - Phosphate Rock

PSB - Phosphate solubilizing bacteria

SAS - Statistical Analysis System

SEM - Scanning Electron Microscope

SI - Solubilization Index

SRF - Slow release fertilizer

TC - Total carbon

xxii

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE

PAGE

A

B

C

D

E

The list of chemical used for laboratory analysis

The Phylogenetic tree-neighbour joining

(unrooted tree) for isolate N15 by NCBI blast tree

method


(unrooted tree) for isolate N12 by NCBI blast tree

method


(unrooted tree) for isolate P3 by NCBI blast tree

method


(unrooted tree) for isolate P3 by NCBI blast tree

method

198

201

202

203

204

xxiii

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Palm oil is one of the most important edible oil in terms of world production

that contributed about 35% of the total vegetable oils production in 2012/2013.

Malaysia and Indonesia are the largest world palm oil producers with market

percentage of 39% and 48%, respectively in 2010/2011. Oil palm planted area in

Malaysia was drastically increased about 1.2 million hectares from 3.9 million

hectares in 2004 to 5.1 million hectares (ha) in 2012 where Peninsular Malaysia

remained as the largest planted area with 2.6 million ha, followed by Sabah with 1.4

million ha and Sarawak about 1.1 million ha in year 2010 (Malaysia Agribusiness

Directory 2013/2014, 2013).

Oil palm plantation in Malaysia is managed by government agencies, private

companies and smallholders. The Federal Land Development Authority of Malaysia

(FELDA) is among the largest oil palm plantation agency in Malaysia with total oil

palm planted area of 13% of the total oil palm planted area in Malaysia in year 2013.

Other government oil palm plantation agencies, independent smallholder estates and

private companies contributed about 11%, 14% and 62%, respectively of the total oil

palm planted area in Malaysia (Malaysia Palm Oil Board, 2015).

2

Banana is one of the most important fruit crops in Malaysia with the

estimated planted area around 33,495 ha in 2013. It is the second largest planted

fruit crop in Malaysia after durian (88,641 ha) (Malaysia Agribusiness Directory

2013/2014, 2013). Under the New Key Economy Area of Agricultural (NKEA

Agriculture) programme, banana was identified as one of the high-value non-

seasonal tropical fruit crops. Approximately 9,000 ha of oil palm plantation land

owned by a large government linked company (GLC) have been identified for

intercropping of banana during oil palm replanting period under the entry point

project number 7 (EPP 7) which is “Upgrading capabilities to produce fruit and

vegetables for premium markets” (Economy Transfer Programme, 2013).

Fertilizer is the major input in agriculture to sustain plant growth and

achieving high yield production. Oil palm and banana are among the highest nutrient

demanding crops as compared to other commodity and fruit crops. Typical nutrient

requirement for oil palm (136 palms/ha) are as follows (per hectare per year); 129 kg

of nitrogen (4.5 kg/palm of Ammonium Sulphate), 109 kg of phosphorous (P2O5)

(2.5 kg/palm of Rock Phosphate) and 367 kg of potassium (K2O) (4.5 kg/palm of

Muriate of Potash) (Izwanizam et al., 2013). Banana (1600 trees/ha) however,

requires a much higher nutrient input than oil palm with 566 kg of nitrogen, 566 kg

of phosphorous (P2O5) and 592 kg of potassium (K2O) per hectare for two years

(Department of Agriculture Malaysia, 2009).

The fertilizer consumption of oil palm in Malaysia in year 2010/2011 was

about 374,000 tonnes of nitrogen (N), 179,000 tonnes of phosphorous (P2O5) and

989,000 tonnes of potassium (K2O) which is 78.2% of the total fertilizer usage in

Malaysia (Heffer, 2013). Banana recorded the highest fertilizer consumption fruit

crops of Malaysia in 2008 with the estimated consumption of 6,425 tonnes of

nitrogen, 6,250 tonnes of phosphorous and 10,190 tonnes of potassium (Sabri, 2009).

Nitrogen and phosphorous are the two major macronutrients which is very

important for all the crops especially during early planting for vegetative growth.

3

Nitrogen is the most important element for banana plant growth where its deficiency

could occur even on the very fertile soil and often observed under the poor rooting

condition. Phosphorous uptake in banana is very rapid in the short and longer

periods of planting (between 2-5 months after planting) notably for vegetative

growth under tropics weather condition (Lahav and Turner, 1989).

From an industrial point of view, minimization of fertilizer cost is desirable,

as this would ultimately reduce the overall operational cost for oil palm and banana

plantations. For example, the estimated fertilizer cost for oil palm production in

Felda Agricultural Services Sdn. Bhd. (FASSB) was about 34.4% of the total

operation cost or RM 50.38/ton of fresh fruit bunch in year 2011 (FASSB, 2012).

Fertilization cost in oil palm and banana plantation was increased due to fluctuation

in fertilizer price in world market. The average imported fertilizer price in Malaysia

has increased about 87.0% from RM 739/ton in year 2005 to RM 1,383/ton in 2013.

Phosphorous fertilizer recorded the highest price increase at 135.4% followed by

nitrogen fertilizer and potassium fertilizer at 107.8% and 61.6% respectively

(Malaysia Agribusiness Directory 2013/2014, 2013). Therefore, an alternative

source of fertilizer is important to reduce the impact of high fertilizer cost to ensure

the competitiveness of banana and oil palm industry in Malaysia. In view of this, the

use of oil palm biomass which is cheap and present in abundance is a feasible and

commercially viable approach. One example is the effort by Felda Global Ventures

(FGV) to recycle the oil palm empty fruit bunch, EFB (obtained from oil palm mills)

in producing EFB compost, which can act as organic fertilizer to substitute the role

of synthetic chemicals in satisfying some part of the nutrient requirement for oil palm

and banana. Nevertheless, the application of EFB compost in the estate do pose

some limitations such as its bulky nature, high moisture content (50-60%) and large

volumes required to fulfill the plant requirement due to their low nutrient contents

(1.34 % N, 0.67 % P, 1.96 % K in dried weight; Kavitha et al., 2013) as compared to

inorganic fertilizer. Currently, FASSB has produced fortifier EFB compost by

incorporating the EFB with inorganic fertilizers such as Di-ammonium phosphate,

Christmas Island Rock Phosphate, Muriate of Potash and Kieserite to increase the

nutrient content of the compost. This fortifier EFB compost showed comparable

plant growth performance, nutrient uptake and dry biomass production for the newly

4

planted oil palm as compared to the effect from the use of conventional fertilizer.

The fortifier EFB not just able to save the fertilizer cost by reducing the nutrients

application concentration by 30%, but also maintaining the adequate nutrient

requirement for the plants (FASSB, 2013).

Nevertheless, there is always the possibility of further reducing the

dependency on these N and P-based inorganic fertilizer. One of the approaches that

can be taken is by the utilization of nitrogen fixing bacteria (NFB) and phosphate

solubilising bacteria (PSB) to fix the atmospheric nitrogen and solubilized the

insoluble phosphate in the soil to supply nitrogen and phosphorous for oil palm and

banana. Both NFB and PSB inoculation to the banana and oil palm plants has been

shown to have a synergistic effect in promoting faster plant growth (Rodriguez-

Romero et al., 2005, Mia et al., 2009 and Shamsudin, 1994). Based on this, it is

highly potential to incorporate NFB and PSB into EFB compost to produce an

effective biofertilizer that shall act as an alternative basal fertilizer for oil palm and

banana plantation. The biofertilizer is possible to be applied into the planting hole

during planting to supply the nitrogen and phosphorous for the plant and promote

vigorous plant growth in early stage of planting.

1.2 Problem Statement

Banana and oil palm are two nutrient-demanding crops that require a large

amount of fertilizer input during both vegetative and reproductive stage. However,

current high price of imported fertilizer in the world market (up to 87.1% increment

from RM 739/ tonne in 2005 to RM 1383/ tonne in 2013) has resulted in the drastic

increased of the production cost in oil palm and banana plantation. Therefore, an

alternative source of organic-based fertilizer is needed for oil palm and banana plants

to reduce the impact of high fertilizer price to ensure the competitiveness of oil palm

and banana industry in world market. The oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB)

5

compost which consisted of high nutrient content of potassium (1.8% K), nitrogen

(2.2% N) and phosphorus (0.8% P) and magnesium (1.1% Mg)) has great potential to

be utilized as fertilizer for oil palm and banana (Pupathy and Radziah, 2013). This is

expected to substantially reduce the use of the relatively more expensive imported

inorganic chemicals as source for fertilizer. Apart from this, the application of N-

fixing and P-solubilizing bacteria into the EFB compost can also further reduce the

dependency on inorganic N and P fertilizers.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

To evaluate the effectiveness of a newly formulated biofertilizer, by

incorporating indigenous nitrogen fixing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria into oil

palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) compost, as carrier for an alternative nutrient source

to improve the growth and nutrient uptake of banana and oil palm seedling.

1.4 Scopes of Study

1. To isolate and screen the newly isolated indigenous nitrogen fixing and

phosphate solubilizing bacteria from banana and oil palm root for its nitrogen

fixing capacity, phosphate solubilizing activity, fastest growing strain and

most viable strain in mixed culture.

2. To produce EFB compost from oil palm empty fruit bunches with palm oil

mill effluent (POME) as the nutrient rich carrier for the attachment of

nitrogen fixing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria.

6

3. To formulate biofertilizer with newly isolated indigenous nitrogen fixing and

phosphate solubilizing bacteria into EFB compost as carrier.

4. To evaluate the effectiveness of biofertilizer formulation on banana and oil

palm seedlings growth, biomass production and total nutrient uptake by the

banana and oil palm seedling.

1.5 Research Significance

1. Evaluation on the potential of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) compost

inoculated with indigenous newly isolated nitrogen fixing and phosphate

solubilizing bacteria as an effective nutrient source for banana and oil palm

seedling.

2. Development of a new biofertilizer with an immediate commercial-viability

to be used by Felda Agricultural Services Sdn Bhd (FASSB), as the R&D

commercialization company of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad i.e.

the biggest oil palm plantation owner in Malaysia.

3. Reduction on the time period required for the growth of banana and oil palm

seedlings through the application of the newly formulated biofertilizer that

resulted in improved plant growth and nutrient uptake by the plants.

177

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