Best Management Practice for Crop Nutrition of Mature Oil Palm

This project aims to implement, test and refine the Best Management Practice (BMP) concept, specifically the fertilization and nutrition approaches, for yield intensification to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability of palm oil production in mature oil palm plantations. The ultimate goal will be to standardize the use of BMPs for nutrient management within the industry. The project will be implemented between 2011 and 2015 in one plantation in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and will deploy a two-pronged approach including commercial block scale implementation of fertilizer management strategies, complemented by block embedded omission plots. Commercial block scale testing of application practices will contribute to more efficient fertilizer application management by the plantation and will contribute information for general fine tuning of nutrient BMPs. We will use 12 commercial blocks. Blocks are being distributed in sets of four within two estates of the plantation. Each set of four blocks contains two BMP blocks where fertilizers are applied in four splits – one with a high fertilizer rate (BMP 1), the other with a low fertilizer rate (BMP 2), and two reference blocks where all IPNI SEAP BMPs are deployed but fertilizer application follows current standard practice – one with high fertilizer rate (BMP 3), the other with low fertilizer rate (BMP 4). Fertilizers are applied as blended mixes including N-P-K-Mg-B.

While it is too early to arrive at definite conclusions, the trends in the last quarters are very encouraging. BMP 1 and 2, which are IPNI SEAP nutrition procedures, are performing well after the residual effects from previous years of management have likely disappeared in the commercial blocks of the trial. SEA-05