Spatial Yield Variation and Soil N in a Mature Oil Palm Plantation : A Case Study in Sabah
One of the major challenges in oil palm plantations in recent times is the lack of proper interpretation of yield maps for site-specific management, and the identification and understanding of the causal factors influencing the variability of oil palm yields. The ability to find and comprehend th...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2001
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10552/1/FP_2001_10.pdf http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10552/ |
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| Summary: | One of the major challenges in oil palm plantations in recent times is the lack of
proper interpretation of yield maps for site-specific management, and the
identification and understanding of the causal factors influencing the variability of
oil palm yields. The ability to find and comprehend the soil factors influencing
yield variabilities of oil palm will enable us to manage them more efficiently. A
study was conducted in a mature oil palm plantation at Sri Kunak Estate, Tawau,
Sabah, Malaysia with the objectives (i) to quantify and characterize the spatial and
temporal yield variations of fresh fruit bunch (ffb) so as to determine the optimum
management zones for oil palm plantations and create possible management zones
for site-specific inputs (ii) to quantify and characterize the nature of spatial soil
NH4+-N variation as influenced by long-term N fertilizer management (iii) to
establish the inter-relationship between fib yields and soil NH/-N so as to develop
optimum range of soil NH4+ -N for optimum oil palm growth and production. Two clusters of palms were selected; with and without N fertilizer applications for
the past 1 0 years. Soil samples were analyzed for Total N, NH/ -N, N03--N,
exchangeable K, and pH. Fresh fruit bunch (fib) yields were summarized on an
annual basis. Relationship between fib yields and selected soil properties were
investigated using regression analysis. Response of fib yields to soil NH/-N was
compared using 6 empirical fertilizer response models. Geostatistical analysis was
used to characterize the spatial yield variations of fib and soil NH/-N.
Semivariance analysis revealed that within the plots, the increase in semivariance
reached a peak at a range of about 2 to 3 -palm distance, suggesting that the
optimum management zone for oil palm plantations was 37 palms. Application of
N could sustain fib yields above 30 tha-1 y{l . Long-term N fertilizer applications
reduced the annual fib yield fluctuations to between 35 and 45%. |
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