Nutrient Management in Oil Palm

TCCL places strong emphasis on fine-tuning the stepwise process of preparing fertilizer recommendations.

Fertilizers are the largest variable cost in oil palm production. Significant inputs (kg/ha, $/ha) are often required to optimise yield. Crop residues provide opportunities to substitute for mineral fertilizers over up to 20% of the planted area.

Appropriate use of mineral fertilizers and crop residues

The OMP Fertilizer Planner makes the complex issue of preparing fertilizer recommendations much easier to manage. Once agronomic data have been entered in OMP (e.g., leaf and soil analysis, fertilizer and production history, palm census) the OMP Fertilizer Planner can be used to interrogate data for each block and apply maintenance and corrective fertilizer doses according to need.

Thomas Fairhurst

Designed as a computerised decision support tool.
Transparent process that can be peer reviewed easily.
Thorough interrogation of all agronomic data that affects fertilizer recommendations.
Block specific fertilizer recommendations for immature and mature plantings.
Selection of least costly nutrient sources.
Full integration of mill residue utilisation.
Easy to monitor compliance with fertilizer programme implementation.