Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, Volume 23, August 1989, pp. 41 – 57
Soil Science Department, Universiti Pertanian Malaysia
Abstract: The Kedah Plain in the Northwest and the Kelantan Plain in the Northeast of Peninsular Malaysia represent two of the major rice growing areas of Malaysia. In both of these areas the rice is double-cropped using irrigation systems. However, the yields of rice in these two areas are quite different.
Mineralogical studies of the clay and silt fractions of the soils found in these two areas show that in the Kedah Plain the soils are rich in smectite minerals with minor amounts of kaolinite. In the Kelantan Plain however the mineralogy is dominated by kaolinite and illite. This difference in mineralogy and its resultant difference in fertility status of the soils are believed to be responsible for the differences in the yield of rice.
The paper discusses the factors which influence the origin and differences in mineralogy of these two areas. The presence and genesis of gypsum crystals in some soils of the Kedah Plain is also discussed.
Abstrak: Dataran Kedah di barat-laut dan Dataran Kelantan di timur-laut Malaysia mewakili dua kawasan terbesar penanaman padi di Malaysia. Padi ditanam dua musim dengan menggunakan sistem pengairan pada kedua-dua kawasan tersebut. Tetapi hasil padi kedua kawasan ini adalah berbeza.
Kajian mineral bahagian lempung dan kelodak tanah-tanah kedua kawasan ini menunjukkan bahawa tanah-tanah di Dataran Kedah kaya dengan mineral smektit dengan sedikit kaolinit. Tetapi kaolinit dan ilit adalah kaya di Dataran Kelantan. Perbezaan mineralogi ini dan sebabnya perbezaan status kesuburan adalah bertanggungjawab kepada perbezaan hasil padi.
Kertas kerja ini membincangkan faktor-faktor yang memainkan peranan kehadiran dan perbezaan mineralogi di kedua-dua kawasan ini. Kehadiran dan pembentukan hablur gipsum dalam beberapa tanah di Dataran Kedah juga dibincangkan.
https://doi.org/10.7186/bgsm23198904
