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Paper presented at SOILS 2013, Malaysian Soil Science Conference 2013

YIELD PERFORMANCE OF OIL PALM PLANTED ON RIVERINE ALLUVIAL
SOILS
Vijiandran J.R. and Xaviar A.
United Plantations Berhad, Jendarata Estate,
36009, Perak Darul Ridzuan, Teluk Intan, Perak


EXTENDED ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION


Oil palm planting in Malaysia has escalated in the last 3 decades from a mere 0.6
million hectares in 1979 to 5.08 million hectares in 2012. The industry produced 18.79
million tonnes of crude palm oil with total earnings of RM 71.40 billion, making it one of the
major income generators for the nations economy (MPOB 2013). It also proved to be a
challenging year for the palm oil industry. Palm oil prices dipped below RM 2500 in the
second half of the year, lower FFB yields were realised due to the physiological cycle of the
palms (MPOB 2013) and the prevalent high prices of inputs particularly fertilisers. Thus,
most players in the palm oil industry faced a reduction in their earnings. Fertilisers currently
constitute about 25% of production cost per metric ton of palm oil. In this context,
agronomists are to ensure efficient fertiliser recommendations according to plant demands for
high sustainable yields. Fertiliser studies facilitate the determination of optimum nutrient
requirement in the various environments which oil palm is grown. This paper discusses the
preliminary findings of an on-going 4x4x3 NKMg trial conducted in a riverine alluvial soil at
one of the United Plantations Berhads property.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A NKMg trial was implemented in 2004 with an oil palm replant on Banar Series soil.
The trial design was Factorial Randomised Complete Block Design with two replicates
(Table 1) consisted of 96 treatment plots with each treatment plot of 4 palm rows with 10
palms in each row. Sixteen palms in the central two rows were marked as recording palms
where all required variables are measured.

Table 1: Details of Nutrient Inputs for the Various Treatments

Nutrient Rate (kg palm
-1
year
-1
)
0 1 2 3
Nitrogen 0 0.5 1.0 1.5
Potassium (P
2
O
5
) 0 1.3 2.6 3.9
Magnesium (MgO) 0 0.4 0.8 -

In addition to treatments in Table 1, the palms were also fertilised with 2 kg of phosphate
rock per palm per year and 0.15 kg of Borate-48 per palm per year across all treatments.
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Paper presented at SOILS 2013, Malaysian Soil Science Conference 2013

Nitrogen and potassium fertilisers were applied three times a year while magnesium is
applied two times a year.

Fertiliser treatment and yield recording commenced at 27 months and 32 months after
planting respectively.


RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Over the first five years of harvesting, significant responses to FFB yields was noted
for nitrogen and to potassium fertilisers from the third year of harvesting. Considering main
effects, applications of 1.0 kg N per palm per year provided consistent significant yield
improvements from the third year (Figure 1). Similarly, applications of 2.6 kg K
2
O per palm
per year showed significant FFB yield improvements from the fourth year of harvest.
Application of magnesium fertilisers did not show any significant response to yields in the
first 5 years of harvest.
































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Paper presented at SOILS 2013, Malaysian Soil Science Conference 2013






With regards to bunch production parameters, improvements in bunch number were noted for
nitrogen in the fourth and fifth year. In contrast potassium showed significant influences in
the first three years of harvest.

CONCLUSION

Nitrogen and potassium fertilisers have significant influence in yield improvement
even in the initial years of growth. The delayed response to nitrogen fertilisers is probably
due to contributions from the leguminous cover crop residues. To avert nutrient stress and
maladies it is crucial for agronomists to sustain a favourable NK ratio during the initial rapid
growth phase.

REFERENCES

MPOB, 2013. Overview of the Malaysian Oil Palm Industry 2012. In
http://econ.mpob.gov.my/economy/Overview%202012_update.pdf


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thanks Messrs United Plantations Berhad for the permission to present
this paper
Figure 1 : FFB Yield Response to Nitrogen and Potassium