PERUBAHAN SIFAT FISIKA ULTISOL AKIBAT KONVERSI HUTAN MENJADI LAHAN PERTANIAN

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The aim of this research is to study the effect of forest conversion to arable land on changes of soil phyisical properties of Ultisol. The research was carried out at Tanjung Sari village and Bukit Subur village, Sungai Bahar sub-district, Muaro Jambi, with slope of 8 – 15 %, from May 2009 to October 2009. Data was taken from study of Ultisol morphology in the field using purposive random sampling method with 3 replication, 4 land use types (secondary forest, palm oil farming, rubber farming, and mixed farming) and soil analyze at Soil Science laboratory, Jambi University and also Soil Science laboratory, Bogor Agriculture Institute. The result of this research shows that conversion of forest to the arable land decreases soil organic matter, porosity, permeability, air-filled pores and avaiable water pores and increases bulk density but it does not affect particle size distribution and residual pores. Among 3 arable land , the highest significant change at palm oil farming, followed by mixed farming and rubber farming.