THE EFFECTS OF ADDING ZEOLITE IN THE SOIL ON YIELD AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF NAPIER GRASS (PENNISETUM PURPUREUM CV. TAIWAN)

H. Haryani1*, A. Aswanimiyuni1, F. Norfadzrin1, S. A. Syed Hussein2, M. A. Abu Hassan2, A. Azman1

Zeolite can be potential as soil amendment for retaining soil ammnonium and potassium from being leached into the ground. This is a contributing factor to the high yield and quality nutrient content of the fodder. The effect of zeolite on the quality and productivity of Napier Grass (Pennisetum purpureum cv. Taiwan) was studied. The clinoptilolite zeolite use in this study was imported from Indonesia. Napier grass was randomly grown in six forage plots (three forage plots on zeolite treatment and three forage plots on control treatment). The study showed that the use of zeolite in treatment group significantly influence the yield (39.06 tonne/ha/harvest) higher compare to control (29.69 tonne/ha/harvest). It was also shown that the nutritive values (crude protein, metabolized energy, dry matter and crude fibre) for napier grass treated with zeolite has no significant different from the control except for metabolizable energy (ME)