Field Decomposition of Oil Palm Frond and its Effect on Soil Physical Properties
The growth of agro-based industry in recent years has created a strong competition against the traditional use of oil palm fronds purely to mulch frond avenues in oil palm plantations. Meanwhile, increased mechanization continues to cause soil compaction in harvesting paths which act as sub-agric...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
1997
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10398/1/FP_1997_7_A.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10398/ |
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| Summary: | The growth of agro-based industry in recent years has created a strong
competition against the traditional use of oil palm fronds purely to mulch frond
avenues in oil palm plantations. Meanwhile, increased mechanization continues to
cause soil compaction in harvesting paths which act as sub-agricultural roads .
Approximately, 50% of an oil palm area is made up of harvesting paths, thus the
resulting soil compaction could have a serious impact on palm growth and yield in
the long term. Therefore, the objective of this research was to study the
decomposition of oil palm fronds placed on the harvesting path and its effect on soil
physical properties.
Harvesting paths at Universiti Putra Malaysia oil. palm plantation was
mulched with oil palm fronds at four different rates of biomass, Fl (9.2 kg plot-1),
F2 (18. 4 kg plot-1), F3 (27. 6 kg plot-1) and F4 (36.8 kg plot-1) representing
respectively 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the total frond harvested in a year.
Unmulched plots were used as control. There were 3 replicates in each treatment
and the plots were arranged in randomized complete block design (RCBD). Each
plot measures 5.5 m wide and 7.0 m long. The rate of decomposition was
determined by destructive tissue sampling of the standing biomass at 0, 3, 6 and 9
months after mulching. At the same time the changes in physical properties within
the 0-15 cm soil depth were also monitored. The soil properties analysed were soil
organic matter, aggregate stability, bulk density, penetration resistance, available
water holding capacity, soil infiltrability and saturated hydraulic conductivity.
After nine months of observation, it was found that treatment F1 produced
the highest percent of oil palm frond decomposed (73%) while the highest rate of
decomposition (8.4 kg month-1) produced by treatment F4. The percent of oil palm
frond decomposed increased with time whereas the rate of decomposition decreased.
As a result of decomposition, the organic matter of the 0-15 cm soil depth increased
by 0.32%, 0.38%, 0.39%, and 0.83% for treatments F1, F2 , F3 and F4
respectively. There was no increase in organic matter for the unmulched plot. |
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