Author : Seoh Yee Ming

Summary : A field study was carried out on an ex-mining area located at University Putra Malaysia (UPM). The purpose of this study was to examine the long-term application of EM on the availability of heavy metals in soil treated with chicken manure (CM) and sewage sludge (SS) and plants uptake. Sweet corn (Zea mays) was planted in the Bungor soil series in lysimeters. This would be the fourth cycle for the crop using chicken manure and third cycle by using sewage sludge. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) method was used for the experimental set-up with ten treatments (CM+EM+PK+SS+EM+PK,CM-EM+PK,SS-EM+PK,EM,Control, Sterilized EM, NPK+liming, CM+EM-PK and SS+EM-PK). Each treatment was replicated three times. Application of EM showed no significant decrease of heavy metals in soil and plants. On the other hand, the resulting data clearly demonstrate that chicken manure treatments produced a higher yield than sewage sludge. Chicken manure treatments increased the Cu and Zn concentration in soil significantly. Metals content in plant and grains in all treatments decreased in the order: Zn>Cr>Ni>Cu>Pb>Cd. chicken manure and sewage sludge can be used as fertilizers with no danger to the environment or to crops as the concentration of heavy metals is way below the maximum permissible concentration level.