About

Dr. Ali Maru is a Research Fellow of Soil Fertility at University of Ghana, Soil and Irrigation Research Centre. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (Soil Science) from University of Ghana in May 2012. After which he served his country as a teaching assistant at the Soil Science Department, University of Ghana (2012-2013).  In September 2013 he enrolled as a full time Master of Science student at Universiti Putra Malaysia and completed in June 2015. In February 2016, he enrolled as a full-time Doctor of Philosophy student at Universiti Putra Malaysia and completed in June 2019. 

Dr. Ali Maru served as a Research Assistant at the Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Food Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia Bintulu Campus from 2013 to 2019. His involvement in research overs the years increased his expertise in soil fertility and management, agricultural wastes management, organic and liquid fertilizer production from Agro-waste, crop and ruminant’s production, and other related research that improve agriculture productivity. He has co-authored four books. He authored and co-authored 13 published papers whilst some are in review and others are been drafted. He also published 6 conference papers in National and International Conferences of Soil Science. He has also won nine awards in International and National level research exhibition competitions. His current interest is in food and agriculture waste management to mitigate environmental pollution by converting them into useful agriculture inputs. He is interested in effective and efficient fertilizers use in agriculture production. His main ongoing research is assessing the potential of organic fertilizers from  pineapple and coconut husk wastes as soil fertility enhancer. 

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD) in Soil Fertility, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia,  (2016-2019)
• Master of Philosophy Degree (MPhil) in Soil Fertility, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia, (2013-2015)
• Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Certificate, 2nd Class, Upper Division, University of Ghana (2008 - 2012)

Research Areas

• Soil fertility management. Improving poor soils and efficiently managing soil nutrients for optimum plant growth.
• Agriculture waste management. Convection of agriculture waste into useful soil amendments such as compost, biochar, and semi-organic based fertilizers.
• Liquid fertilizer production. Extracting liquid compound fertilizers and compost tea from processed organic wastes and enhancing it for all crop use.
• Crop and Animal Production. Specialized in rice, maize, cattle, sheep, and goat production 

Publications

• Books
• Ahmed O.H., Audrey A., and Maru A. (2019). Biochar and mineral acid soil phosphorus availability Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Serdang. ISBN 978-967-344-920-0
• Ahmed O.H. and Maru A. (2017). Using biochar and urea to improve rice production on tropical acid soils. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Serdang. ISBN 978-967-344-761-9
• Ahmed O.H., Maru A., and Nik M.N.A.M. (2021). Utilizing Organic Amendments in Acidic Soils for Rice (Oryza sativa L.) productivity. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Serdang. ISBN 978-967-2395-82-9
• Ahmed O.H., Nathaniel M., Roland K.J.H., and Maru A. (2023). Ammonia loss, nutrient recovery, growth variables, and yield of rice following the use of urea and chicken litter biochar. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press Serdang. Accepted.

• Journal Articles
• Maru, A., Ahmed, O.H., Jalloh, M.B., Primus, W.C., Musah, A.A. and Ng, J.F., (2023). Co-Composted Chicken Litter Biochar Increases Soil Nutrient Availability and Yield of Oryza sativa L. Land, 12(1), pp.1-20. doi.org/10.3390/land12010233
• Krishnan, K., Ahmed, O.H., Omar, L., Maru, A., Chowdhury, A.J.K. and Musah, A.A., (2023). Fate of nitrogen in a tropical peat soil treated with clinoptilolite zeolite. Desalination and Water Treatment, 281, pp.217-224. doi: 10.5004/dwt.2023.28735
• Ahmed, O.H., Maru, A., Abdullah, R., Chowdhury, A.J.K. and Salleh, N.T., (2022). Co-application of triple super phosphate and chicken litter biochar improves phosphorus availability of mineral tropical acid soils to reduce water pollution. Desalination and Water Treatment, 264, pp.40-53. doi: 10.5004/dwt.2022.28706
• Maikol, N., Haruna, A.O., Maru, A., Asap, A. and Medin, S. (2021). Utilization of urea and chicken litter biochar to improve rice production. Scientific reports, 11(1), pp.1-20. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91426-6
• Maru, A., Ahmed, O.H., Primus, W.C. and Jeffary, A.V. (2021). Dielectric response of nitrogen in soil amended with chicken litter biochar and urea under Oryza sativa L. cultivation. Scientific reports, 11(1), pp.1-10.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91426-6
• Johan, P.D., Ahmed, O.H., Maru, A., Omar, L. and Hasbullah, N.A. (2021). Optimisation of Charcoal and Sago (Metroxylon sagu) Bark Ash to Improve Phosphorus Availability in Acidic Soils. Agronomy, 11(9), pp.1-28.doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091803
• Paramisparam, P., Ahmed, O.H., Omar, L., Ch’ng, H.Y., Maru, A. and Johan, P.D. (2021). Amending Potassic Fertilizer with Charcoal and Sago (Metroxylon sagu) Bark Ash to Improve Potassium Availability in a Tropical Acid Soil. Agronomy, 11(11), pp. 1-31 doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11112222
• Krishnan, K., Ngerong, A.A., Ahim, K., Ahmed, O.H., Maru, A., Omar, L. and Musah, A.A., (2021). Mitigating Potassium Leaching from Muriate of Potash in a Tropical Peat Soil Using Clinoptilolite Zeolite, Forest Litter Compost, and Chicken Litter Biochar. Agronomy, 11(10), pp.1-16. doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11101900
• Maru, A., Haruna, A.O., Asap, A., Majid, N.M.A., Maikol, N. and Jeffary, A.V. (2020). Reducing acidity of tropical acid soil to improve phosphorus availability and Zea mays L. productivity through efficient use of chicken litter biochar and triple superphosphate. Applied Sciences, 10(6), pp.21 - 27. doi.org/10.3390/app10062127
• Maru, A., Haruna, A.O., Majid, N.M.A., Primus, W.C., Asap, A., Maikol, N. and Jeffray, A.V. (2019). Mitigating Ammonia Volatilization from Waterlogged Acids Soils Using Organic Amendments. Sustainable Agriculture Research, 8(526-2020-545), pp.12-22. doi.org/10.5539/sar.v8n3p12
• Maru, A., Haruna, A.O., Majid, N.M.A., Primus, W.C., Maikol, N., Asap, A., Naharuddin, A.N. and Jeffray, A.V. (2019). Using Soil Water to Control Ammonia Emission from Acid Soils with and Without Chicken Litter Biochar. Sustainable Agriculture Research, 8(526-2020-546), pp.23-37. doi.org/10.5539/sar.v8n3p23
• Asap, A., Haruna, A.O., Ab Majid, N.M. and Maru, A. (2018). Amending triple superphosphate with chicken litter biochar improves phosphorus availability. Eurasian Journal of Soil Science, 7(2), pp.121-132. DOI: 10.18393/ejss.360653
• Maru, A., Haruna, O.A. and Charles Primus, W. (2015). Co-application of chicken litter biochar and urea only to improve nutrients use efficiency and yield of Oryza sativa L. cultivation on a tropical acid soil. The Scientific World Journal, 2015. doi.org/10.1155/2015/943853

• Conference Proceedings:
• Latifah, O., Ahmed, O.H., Maru, A.. and Majid, N.M.A., 2017. Economic Viability of Including Cliptilolite Zeolite Rice Straw and Paddy Husk Composts in Zea mays L. Cultivation. Sustainable Soil Management (Soils 2017), p.29.
• Maru, A., Medin, S., Haruna Ahemd, O. and Majid, N.A., (2017). Improving the Extraction of Nutrients Lock Up in Forest Litter for Liquid Compound Fertilizer. Sustainable Soil Management (Soils 2017), p.173.
• Nathaniel, M., Maru, A., Nadzirah, N.A., Ahmed, O.H. and Majid, N.A., (2017). Improving Rice Plant Growth Variables and Rice Yield through Co-Composted Forest Litter. Sustainable Soil Management (Soils 2017), p.194.
• Audrey, A., Maru, A. Osumanu, H.A. and Nik Muhamad, A.M., (2017). Selected Physico-Chemical Properties of Forest Litter Compost. Sustainable Soil Management (Soils 2017), p.199.
• Ahmed, O.H., Maru, A. and Walter, C.P., (2016). Dielectric response determination of soil chemical properties in rice field with biochar and urea. In Proceedings of the Soil Science Conference of Malaysia 2016: Soil Improvment for Sustainable Crop Production, TH Hotel & Convention Centre, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, 5-7 April 2016.
• Maru A., O.H. Ahmed, and W.C. Primus. 2015. Co-application of biochar and urea only to improve nutrients use efficiency and yield of Oryza sativa L. cultivation on a tropical acid soil. In: Proceeding of the 2nd Rice Research colloquium, pp 62-64. UPM, Serdang, Malaysia
• Nordin N.H., Maru A., Ahmed O.H., and Majid N.M.A. Improving Zea mays L. plant growth variables and yield using compound liquid fertilizer extracted from forest litter compost In: Proceeding of the International Conference on Soil Management, 2017. Quality soil drives productivity, ISBN 978-967-9945-39-3., pp 206-209. Parkcity Everly Hotel Bintulu, Sarawak Malaysia.