Abstract
The conventional system of raising rubber seedlings in nurseries is the soil-polybag growing system with
sprinkler irrigation. The drawback of this system is associated with high water wastage and labour. The soilpolybag growing system also causes root restriction and root coiling which reduce the seedlings growth and lower
field survival rate upon field transplanting. The potting mix growing system was developed in this study to overcome
these disadvantages. An experiment was conducted under a rain shelter at Field No. 15, Universiti Putra Malaysia,
Serdang (2O59'4.96"N and 101O44'0.70"E) for 8-months period, from December 2014 to July 2015. The experiment
was laid out in a RCB design. Rubber clone RRIM 2000 series at one-month old was used, under two different
growing systems as follows: potting mix growing system (BX-1 growing media with Rb900 tubes) with wick
irrigation system (T1) and soil-polybag growing system with wick irrigation system (T2). Plant growth parameters
and leaf nutrient content of the seedlings were measured at the start and end of the experiment. Highest plant
growth and leaf nutrient content was recorded in the potting mix growing system which differed significantly from
the seedlings raised in the conventional system (p<0.01). The cost benefit analysis of the two growing systems
showed that the conventional growing system had a higher cost saving benefit for a small-scale seedlings
production but only for the short term. For a longer term of production or a large-scale production, the potting mix
growing system had higher cost benefit more than the conventional system.
Nabayi Abba, Zulkefly Sulaiman, Christopher Teh Boon Sung , Ahmad Husni Mohd Hanif. (2020) Use of root trainers and wick irrigation for better production of rubber plant seedlings production in nurseries, The Journal Soil & Environment , Volume 39, Issue 2.
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