Suwardi and Itsuo Goto (1996)
ABSTRACT
Despite efforts to promote natural zeolite for agricultural application have increased recently, the real utilization is still limited. To achieve the full potential of its application, the investigations of the fundamental properties and the practical application researches are needed. Some eleven natural zeolite sample were collected from various location in Indonesia for investigation of the mineralogical and chemical properties. X-ray diffractogram of the sample showed the samples contained mordenite and mixture of mordenite and clinoptilolite. The sample were also associated with other minerals such as quartz, feldspar, montmorilonite, and volcanic glass. The zeolite content of the sample showed wide differences from 26 to 28 %. The mineralogical and chemical properties of the sample were vary with every deposit and even in different parts of the same deposit. The variation was caused by the presence in various ratio of associated minerals. Therefore, it is necessary to be thoroughly characterized with respect to mineralogical composition as well as chemical characterization before a particular zeolite is offered for particular use. The application of 5 Mg ha-1 natural zeolite to soils increased significantly the exchangeable potassium and the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of Ultisol and Entisol. Increasing CEC soils were also followed by increasing dry weight of tomato plant.
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