OILPALM PLANTATION
INTRODUCTION
Oil
palm requires evenly
distributed annual rainfall
of 2000 mm
without a defined
dry season. Moist,
deep and well
drained medium textured
soils rich in
humus content are
considered ideal. Gravelly
and sandy soils,
particularly the coastal
sands are not
ideal for oil
palm cultivation
Temperature can
be a limiting
factor for oil
palm production Best
oil palm yields
are obtained in
places where a maximum average
temperature of 29-33oC
and minimum average
temperature of 22-24oC
are available. The
crop requires 1800-2000 sunlight
hours annually, more
than 300 cal/cm2
/ per day,
constant sunlight of
atleast 5 hours
per day for
better oil palm
yield.
NURSERY AND ITS MANAGEMENT
Nursery
is raised by
planting germinated sprouts
initially in a pre-nursery bed
or in polybags
in a primary
nursery and transplanting them
at five leaf
stage to a secondary nursery
of large sized
polybags. Raising seedlings in
large polybags without
a pre-nursery stage
is also being
practiced
The potting
mixture is made
by mixing top
soil, sand and
well decomposed cattle
manure in equal
proportions. Smaller polybags
of 250 guage
and 23 x 13 cm
size, preferably black
are used for
raising primary nurseries. A healthy germinated sprout
is placed at
the centre at
2.5 cm depth. It is
better to plant
sprouts soon after
the differentiation of
radicle and plumule.
The seedlings are
to be watered
daily. Application of
a fertilizer mixture
containing one part
of ammonium sulphate, one
part of super
phosphate, one part
of muriate of
potash and two
parts of magnesium sulphate
is recommended at
15 g at
one month stage,
45 g at
three months stage
and 60 g at six
months stage per
seedling. This has
to be applied
6 - 8 cm away
from seedlings during
the first application, 10-12
cm away during
second and 15-20
cm away during
the third application in
primary nursery.
SINGLE STAGE POLY BAG NURSERY AND SECONDARY NURSERY
At present
the single stage
polybag nursery is
recommended in India.
Since the plants
are to remain
in these polybags
for more than
one year, good
quality polybags of
500 gauge and
40 x 45
cm size are
to be used.
On the lower
half of the
bag, perforations are
made at an
interval of 7.5
cm for drainage. A bag can
carry 15 - 18 kg
of nursery soil
depending on the
type of soil
mixture used.
The water
requirement for different stages
of growth of
seedlings are as
follows: 0 - 2 months
at 4 mm/day,
2 - 4 months at
5 mm/day, 4 - 6 months at
7 mm/day and
6 - 8 months at
10 mm/day. Application of
9 - 18
lit. of water
per seedling per
week according to
the stage of
growth and soil
type.
FIELD PLANTING
Prepare
the land for
oil palm plantings at
least 3 months
before transplanting the
seedlings to the
main field. In
soils with low
permeability, drainage channels
are to be
constructed to prevent
water stagnation in
upper layer of
soil.
AGE OF SEEDLINGS AT TRANSPLANTING
It is advisable to
plant well grown
seedlings of 12
- 14 months
old. At this
stage, a well
developed tenera seedling
will have a height of
1-1.3 m from
base and will
have more than
13 functional leaves.
SELECTION OF SEEDLINGS
All
deformed, diseased and
elongated seedlings are
to be discarded. Differences in
the height of
healthy seedlings ranging
from 90 to
159 cm tend
to even up
after 14 months
of transplanting to
maintain.
TIME OF TRANSPLANTING
Transplanting to the
main field has
to be done
during the onset
of rainy season.
In very impermeable soils
and where there
is chance for
the seedlings to
suffer severely during
rainy season, proper
drainage has to
be ensured.
SPACING AND METHOD OF PLANTING
The
optimum planting density
for oil palm
is the density
of population that
gives maximum production from
unit area. Triangular system
of planting with
9 x 9 x 9 m spacing
accommodates 143 palms/ha. is
being recommended.
TRANSPORTING SEEDLINGS AND PREPARING PITS
Pits of 60
cm3 are taken
prior to planting
and filled with
surrounding top soil
and allowed to
settle. Rock phosphate is
applied at 200
g per planting
pit. Nitrogen is
not usually applied
in the planting
pits as the
application of fertilizers may
damage the root
system and affect
survival of the
plants if there
is a dry
period soon after
planting. Nitrogen and
potassium are usually
applied 4 - 6 weeks
after planting. In
Mg deficient soils,
magnesium is applied
at 100 g as anhydrous MgSO4
or 200 g epsum salt
per seedling.
REPLACEMENT AND GAP FILLING
These palms
are to be
given special care
so that they
can catch up
with the rest
of the plantations. Early
production of more
female inflorescences in
the initial 30
months, is an
indication of high
yielders and all
those that fail
to produce female
bunches will remain
as poor yielders.
FERTILIZER REQUIREMENT
Based on the
fertilizer experiments conducted under
rainfed conditions in
India, the following fertilizer schedule
is recommended for
oil palm.
Fertilizer recommendation for
oilpalm
Age Nutrients (gram/palm/year)
N P
K
First year
400 200
400
Second year 800 400
800
Third year 1200 600
2700
METHOD OF FERTILIZER APPLICATION
The
fertilizers are preferably applied
in two equal
split doses during
May - June
and September -October
by uniformly spreading them
within a 2 metre circle
around the base
of the palm
and forking to
incorporate them into
the soil. Mg deficiency can
be corrected through
the application of
500 g of
MgSO4 /palm/year. Rock phosphate and
muriate of potash
are the best
source for phosphorus and
potassium respectively. During
the initial years
fertilizers may be
applied within the
area covered by
the crown canopy.
In the case
of older palms,
fertilizers are applied
depending on the
concentration of roots
and are usually
applied in the
weeded circle.
WATER REQUIREMENT
It is
established that oil
palm needs 120
- 150 mm
of water to
meet its monthly
evapo-transpiration needs. In
areas where perennial water
source is available, basin
irrigation is possible. But
where the terrain
is undulating and
water is scarce
during summer months,
drip irrigation is
recommended to keep
four drippers per
palm in the
weeded palm circle
to supply atleast
90 litres of
water per palm
per day during
summer months which
will vary according to
the ETP values
in a locality.
WEED CONTROL
Herbicide application has
become common in
recent years. Herbicides such
as 2, 4-D,
2, 4-5-T, halogenated aliphatic acids
Dalapon and TCA
are found to
produce abnormalities in
oil palm seedlings and
are to be
avoided. Herbicide mixtures
of 2 kg
a.i. of Paraquat
with 3 - 4 kg
Atrazine Monuron and
Diuron per ha
sprayed/ground applied twice
a year has
been found to
give control of
weeds.
MAINTENANCE OF PATHS
In
young plantation, the
maintenance of paths
is important for
inspection and in
later years for
harvesting. This is
carried out by
timely weed control
as done in
the case of
ring weeding.
ABLATION
The bunches produced
initially will be
very small and
have low oil
content. Removal of
such inflorescences is
called ablation or
castration. Removal of
all inflorescences during
the initial three
years is found
to improve vegetative growth
of young palms
so that regular
harvesting can commence
after three and
half years of
planting.
PRUNING OF LEAVES
In oil palm
two leaves are
produced per month.
Therefore, it becomes
necessary to prune
excess leaves so
as to gain
access to bunches
for harvest. Severe
pruning will adversely affect
both growth and
yield of palm,
cause abortion of
female flowers and
also reduce the
size of the
leaves. It was
suggested that palms
aged 4 - 7 years
should retain 6 - 7 leaves per
spiral (48 - 56), those
aged 8 - 14 years
5 - 6 leaves per
spiral (40 - 49) and
those above 15
years should have
4 - 5 leaves per
spiral (32 - 40).
Pruning is preferably carried
out at the
end of the
rainy season. It
is also better
to carry it
out during the
low crop season
when labourers are
also available.
Insect pollination in oil palm
The oil palm,
hitherto though to
be wind pollinated, has
been now proved
to be an
a insect pollinated species.
From West Africa,
the original home
of oil palm,
eight species of
pollinating weevils were
reported. Occurence of
Eldeidobius kamerunicus in
the oil palm
plantations of Kerala
was introduced during
1985 from where
it was introduced and
got established in
little Andamans during
1986.
Introduction of
weevil in India
increased the fruit
let from 36.8
percent to 56.1
percent resulting in
40 per cent
increase in F/B
ratio. The maximum
attainable pollination potential was
as much as
to cent percent
with 57 percent
increase in FFB
weight.
HARVESTING
Proper and timely
harvesting of fruit
bunches is an
important operation which
determines the quality
of oil to
a great extent.
The yield is
expressed as fresh
fruit bunches (FFB)
in kg per
hectare per year
or as oil
per hectare per
year. The bunches
usually ripen in
six months after
anthesis. Unripe fruits
contain high water
and carbohydrate and
very little oil.
As the fruit
ripens oil content
increase to 80
- 85% in
mesocarp. Over ripe
fruit contains more
free fatty acids
(FFA) due to
decomposition and thus
increases the acidity.
Usually the ripe
fruits, attached to
the bunches contain
0.2 to 0.9%
FFA and when
it comes out
of extraction plant
the FFA content
is above 3%.Ripeness of
the fruit is
determined by the
degree of detachment of
the fruit from
bunches, change in
colour and change
in texture of
the fruit. Ripening
of fruits start
from top downwards, nigrescens fruits
turning reddish orange
and the virescens (green)
to reddish brown.
Fruits also get
detached from tip
downward in 11
- 20 days
time. Ripeness is
faster in young
palms than in
older palms for
the bunches of
equal weight. The
criteria used in
determining the degree
of ripeness based
on the fruit
detachment are as
follows:
Fallen fruits:
10 detached or
easily removable fruits
for young palms
and 5 for
adult palms.
Number of
fruits detached after
the bunch is
cut; 5 or
more fruits/kg of
bunch weight, quantity
of detachment per
bunch; fruit detachment on
25% of visible
surface of bunch.These criteria
could be applied
with flexibility.
FREQUENCY OF HARVESTING
Harvesting rounds
should be made
as frequent as
possible to avoid
over ripening of
bunches. A bunch
which is almost
ripe but not
ready for harvest
for a particular harvesting round
should not be
over-ripe by next
round. In lean
period of production, harvesting can
be made less
frequent and it
should be more
frequent in peak
periods. Harvesting rounds
of 7 - 14 days
are generally practiced. Other
factors determining frequency are,
extraction capacity of
the mill, transportation facilities, labour
availability and skill
of the workers.
In India, harvesting is
usually carried out
with a chisel
of 6 - 9 cm
wide attached to
a wooden pole
or light hollow
aluminium pipe, Bunches
are cut without
damaging the petiole
the leaf that
supports it. Use
of narrow chisel
is usually carried
out till the
palm reaches two
meters above the
ground. For taller
palms upto 4 meters, a wider chisel
of 14 cm
is used.
Yield of Oilpalm
In
well maintained garden
the yield of
oilpalm will be
as furnished below
:
Age of oilpalm Yield (Ton/ha/year)
3-4 years 5
4-5 years 12
5-6 years
25
6-25 years 30
ECONOMICS
A detailed account
of the economics of
oilpalm cultivation in
India has been
furnished. The data
furnished therein is
modified using current
labour charges and
oil price and
the details on
various investments and
returns from one
hectare adult plantation. This
excludes the cost
of land as
we expect government owned
land, leased land,
or already owned
property will be
used for oilpalm
cultivation. From the
fourth year, the
yield of bunches
increases upto tenth
year, and a stabilized bearing
is attained thereafter. The
investment during first
year under irrigation will
be almost three
times of that
under rainfed conditions mainly
on account of
the initial expenditure required
to install the
drip irrigation system.
With irrigation the
annual returns will
exceed the annual
expenses from the
first harvest itself,
i.e, during the
fourth year after
planting. By the
end of sixth
year the total
returns will be
more than total
investments including all
the expenditure for
installing pumpset and
the drip irrigation system.
A minimum of
22 FFB per
hectare can be
expected from the
tenth year onwards.
TABLE 1 - COST OF PRODUCTION AND (Rs.) PER HECTARE
S.No.
Particulars Cost of production
1 Labour cost
for 200 Nos.
@ Rs.80/- per
day as casual
labour 16,000
2 Fertilizer cost
2,500
3 Plant Protection cost
400
Total cost of production
28,900
TABILE 2 : INCOME FROM OILPALM GARDEN DEPENDING UPON THE BUNCH PRODUCTION
S.No. No. of Bunches/ tree/year FFByieldt/ha/yearGrossIncome Rs./ha/yearNet income
(Gross income – cost) Rs./ha/year
1 10 bunches
@ 10kg/tree/year 14.3 35,750 6,850
2 12 bunches
@ 15kg/tree/year 25.7 64,250 35,350
3 12 bunches
@ 20kg/tree/year 34.3 85,750 56,850
Cost of one tonne of FFB is Rs.2,500
