Oil Palm Cultivation Practice

Oil Palm Cultivation and its
package and practices

Presented by
Debashis Saikia
Introduction
• Richest source of vegetable Oil and immense
potential to meet the edible oil demand.
• Tropical crop mainly cultivated in Asia, Africa
and South America.
• Malaysia and Indonesia leading palm Oil
producers as well as exporters in the world.
• One hectare of oil palm garden can yield upto
6 tonnes of crude oil.
Cond.
• Only Oil seed crop which gives 2 types of oil
from same fruit-palm oil from mesocarp and
palm kernel oil from kernel.
• World’s major source of vegetable oil and fat
• Consumed in food and oleo-chemical
industries.
Climate
• Optimum maximum temperature is 29-33OC
• Optimum minimum temperature is 22-24OC
• Prolonged cooler conditions with less than 19OC
reduce the palm growth and leaf production and
increase male inflorescences.
• Oil Palm requires evenly distributed annual rainfall
of 1800-2500 mm without a distinct dry season as
it grows continuously and yields round the year.
• Dry spell should not be less than 2 months.
Soils
• Deep loamy or alluvial soil rich in organic
matter and with good water permeability are
found ideal.
• Preferred pH ranged from 4-7.
Nursery Management
Land Preparation and planting
• Equilateral triangular system of planting with 9m
X 9m X 9m spacing is normally recommended.
(143 palms in one hectare of land)
• Mutual shading of fronds/leaves under high
density of gardens reduces palm yield by inducing
more male inflorescences.
• Rows should be oriented in North-South direction
for efficient utilisation of solar radiation.
7.8 m
9m
9m
7.8 m 9m
9m
9m
9m
• Pit size 60 cm3 dug prior to planting and allowed to
season at least a month in advance. (1m width, 1m
length and 60cm depth).
• Planting should be preferably done in monsoon.
• At time planting 20kg Organic Matter, 400g of SSP or
250g DAP or 250g rock phosphate and 50g of phorate
granules are to be incorporated with soil in pit before
planting.
• Seedlings of 12-14 month age are used for
transplanting in the main field.
Gap filling and replacement
• Chance of mortality of palms in juvenile
phases due to various reasons.
• Replace the unproductive and abnormal palms
before 5 years.
• Early production of more female
inflorescences in the initial 30 months is an
indication of high yielders whereas the palms
which fail to produce female inflorescences
will remain as poor yielders.
Gap filling and replacement
• If delayed, growth of replanted seedlings will
be affected due to shade cast by surrounding
palms.
• Right time for replanting is the monsoon
season.
Basin Management
• Basin should be formed around the palms
immediately after planting.
• In first year, basin of 1 meter radius has to be
formed by removing soil from inside, so that soil
does not accumulate at the collar region.
• Widened to 2 m in second year and 3m in third year
onwards.
• Basin area represents active root zone, it must be
kept weed free to avoid competition for nutrients
and water with main crop.
Cover Cropping
• Growing of leguminous creepers in inter space
of oil palm gardens in called cover cropping.
• Mainly recommended for high rainfall areas.
• Protection of soil from erosion, smothering of
weeds, soil enrichment with nitrogen and
conservation of moisture.
• Improve fertility of the soil by adding organic
matter and plant nutrients.
Other package and practices
• Irrigation management
• Fertiliser management
• Inter cropping
Weed management
• Basin area represents active root growth zone, should
be kept weed free to avoid competition for nutrients
and water.
• Control of weeds in young gardens is more critical.
• Most common herbicides are glyphosate (systemic
herbicide) and grammoxone (contact herbicide).
• Glyphosate @2.5 ml/L of water can be applied
periodically (every 3-4 months).
• Do not irrigate gardens at least for 3 days after the
application of herbicide.
Ablation
• Removal of male and female inflorescences and fruit
bunches produced during the juvenile period is called
ablation.
• It improves vegetative growth of palm y retaining the
nutrients.
• Also improves drought resistant capacity of young palms.
• Flowering in oil palm starts from 14-18 months after
planting.
• Ablation should be done at monthly intervals during
second and third years.
Frond/leaf prunning
• When palms are 5-6 years old, they produce 3-40
leaves/annum and then declines to 20-25
leaves/year.
• Oil palm produces 2 leaves/month.
• It gives only 8-12 unches annually as fruit bunches
are not produced at each and every leaf axil.
• As far as possible it is better to retain as many
leaves as possible as they are the source of
photosynthesis.
Frond/leaf prunning
• Not a recommended practice but has to be
done for the sake of convenience of fruit
bunch harvesting.
• Severe prunning affects palm growth, causes
abortion of female inflorescences and reduce
FFB yield.
• Clean cut as close to the stem as possible with
the help of a sharp knife/sickle/chisel.
Frond/leaf prunning
• Done at the end of rainy season or during low
crop season. Crown cleaning has to be taken
up at least once in a year.
• There should be minimum of 33 leaves on the
palm for optimum yield.
Mulching
• Reduce soil temperature, conserve soil moisture, improve
physio-chemical and biological properties of soil and suppress
weed growth.
• Supplies good amount of organic matter and Nutrients NPK &
Mg after decomposition.
• Biomass of oil palm garden such as leaves, male
inflorescences, dry grass, oil palm mill waste like empty fruit
bunches, pressed mesocarp fibre, nut shells and palm oil mill
effluent (POME)sludge, decanter cake etc can be used for
mulching.
• Empty fruit bunches (EFB) @250 and leaf shreds
@150kg/palm/year can be used for mulching basins.
Yield
• Yield of oil palm depends on variety, age, agro-climate and
management.
• Difference in yield level among oil palm growing countries
is very well known.
• Average productivity in Malaysia is 20.2 ton/ha/year and it
is highest in the world.
• Prolonged dry season, high vapour pressure deficit in
atmosphere and low sunlight levels are responsible for
lower yields in West Africa (Centre of origin).
• Average yield in India is about 5 ton/ha and AP is leading
in both area and production.
Yield
• Many farmers in AP are getting
25-30t/ha/year.
• Scope to enhance yield upto 40ton/ha with
high yielding varieties and good agronomic
practices under irrigated conditions.
• Average weight of FFB is about 25-30 kg ut
60-80 kg are also obtainable.
Yield
• Higher yields in AP suggest that the adverse
effects of sub-optimal climatic conditions can
be neglected by proper management
particularly by irrigation.
• Certainly, farmers who are able to provide
optimum irrigation, fertilisers and manures
are able to harvest high yields.
Thank You

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