A Cost-Effective Novel Biochemical Fertilizer for Better Managing Nutrient Levels and Vegetative Growth in the Immature Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)

The oil palm (OP) Elaeis guineensis is a robust feeder of nutrients and necessitates the adjustment and adequate allocation of nutrients for optimum growth and yields. Therefore, information on leaf nutrient concentrations during the immature stage is essential for maximal OP yield at the mature sta...

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Published in:Horticulturae 2022-09, Vol.8 (9), p.758
Main Authors: Peng, Shih Hao Tony, Chee, Kheng Hoy, Saud, Halimi Mohd, Yusop, Mohd Rafii, Tan, Geok Hun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural commodities
Aluminum
Biochemistry
biofertilizer
Boron
Calcium
Cation exchange
Cation exchanging
Chlorophyll
Correlation analysis
Cost reduction
Economic aspects
Elaeis guineensis
Environmental aspects
Fertilization
Fertilizer application
Fertilizers
leaf nutrient
Leaves
Magnesium
Microorganisms
Nitrogen
Nutrient concentrations
Nutrients
Oil palm
Organic carbon
Palm oil
Parameters
Phosphorus
Physiological aspects
Plantations
Potassium
Rain
Regression analysis
Soil fertility
Trees
Vegetable oils
vegetative growth
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Summary:The oil palm (OP) Elaeis guineensis is a robust feeder of nutrients and necessitates the adjustment and adequate allocation of nutrients for optimum growth and yields. Therefore, information on leaf nutrient concentrations during the immature stage is essential for maximal OP yield at the mature stage. Currently, in Malaysia, fertilizer by the standard practice application (Treatment 1; T1) is considered a cost-effective fertilization practice in terms of fertilization cost and the overall cost per palm oil tree per hectare. However, there is an idea to further reduce the costs of fertilizers and labour per hectare to make it more cost-effective. Therefore, the present study aims to develop a novel biochemical fertilizer by testing the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) biochemical fertilizer (Treatment 2; T2) in the immature OP. Since the use of T1 has been well established in Malaysia, the present study is to compare the leaflets’ nutrient levels (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and boron (B)) and vegetative parameters (frond length (FL), frond number of leaves (FNL), frond width (FW), frond thickness (FT), chlorophyll index (CI), and the canopy of immature OP by using T2 to compare with those in T1. This study was conducted 6 to 48 months after planting (MAP) at the Telang OP plantation, Kuala Lipis (Pahang), from January 2015 to December 2018. Based on the chemical levels of the pre-treatment soil samples collected at the weeded circle area in January 2015 in the two depths (0–15 cm and 15–30 cm), there was no significant difference (p > 0.05) in all 11 chemical parameters (pH, total N, organic carbon (Org C), total P, available P (Av P), cation exchange capacity (CEC), exchangeable K, (Ex K), exchangeable Ca (Ex Ca), exchangeable Mg (Ex Mg), exchangeable aluminium (Ex Al) and B between T1 and T2. This indicated that the chemical levels in the OP soils in both T1 and T2 would not be significant factors when T1 and T2 were applied. All six leaflets’ nutrient levels showed at least ‘Optimum’ or ‘Excessive’ compared to the established guideline using T1 and T2. Overall, there was no significant (p > 0.05) difference in all the above six leaflets’ nutrient levels and six vegetative parameters between T1 and T2 based on the t-Test, multiple linear stepwise regression analysis, and correlation analysis. These results suggested that rates of T1 and T2 applied in this study are enough to provide the amount of nutrients n
ISSN:2311-7524
2311-7524
DOI:10.3390/horticulturae8090758