Biochar-compost mixture as amendment for improvement of polybag-growing media and oil palm seedlings at main nursery stage

Rovica Radin,Che Fauziah Ishak,Rosenani Abu Bakar,Lim Chin Tsong,Siti Hajar Ahmad

doi:10.1007/s40093-017-0185-3

Rovica Radin, Che Fauziah Ishak + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40093-017-0185-3

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Abstract

PurposeProduction of oil palm seedling in the nursery mainly utilises top soil as polybag medium. These soils, especially in tropical regions, are acidic and have low organic matter content. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) biochar and compost incorporation as amendment in polybag medium for oil palm seedlings growth at the nursery stage.MethodsA polybag experiment was conducted with four biochar rates (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% w/w C addition), two compost rates (0 and 30% v/v), and two fertiliser application rates (75 and 100% of recommended rate). The effects of biochar, compost, and biochar-compost combination on oil palm seedling growth was evaluated and the effectiveness of EFB biochar in retaining soil nutrients was determined indirectly by measuring amount of nutrient leached through the polybag medium.ResultsBiochar, compost, and biochar-compost amendment improved polybag media’s chemical properties (pH, total C and N, C:N ratio, CEC, Mg, and Ca). There were no significant effects of the amendments on shoot biomass. However, root growth and shoot:root ratio significantly improved with 1.5% w/w C addition and 30% (v/v) compost with 75% recommended fertiliser rates applied. Furthermore, nutrient leaching measurement indicates that, EFB biochar significantly reduced ammonium-N leaching up to 21–46%.ConclusionsOverall, this study demonstrates the potential of biochar and compost co-application to improve the chemical properties of polybag medium and root development of oil palm seedlings.

Highlights

The Malaysian oil palm industry has grown tremendously over the past few decades and has become a major contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) from agriculture sector, amounting to 46.9% in 2015 (DOSM 2017)
Co-application of compost and biochar up to 1.0% w/w C addition with 100% fertiliser rate positively affect P uptake and was significantly higher than control treatment
This study suggests that application of biochar may have inhibited C losses when the amendments were combined together (Table 6); the drastic losses of total C were detected in compost-only amendment (15.83%) and lowest biochar rates (0.5% w/w C; 9.31%)

Summary

Introduction

The Malaysian oil palm industry has grown tremendously over the past few decades and has become a major contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP) from agriculture sector, amounting to 46.9% in 2015 (DOSM 2017). Oil palm plantation occupied 5.39 million ha of total planting area with production of 20 million tonnes of crude. There are two main stages in oil palm cultivation: nursery stage and renewal or definitive area, where the palms are grown for 20–25 years, the economic life period of oil palm (Zulkifli et al 2010). Seedlings are established in the nursery stage for 10–14 months before field planting. A common practice of oil palm seedling production in the nursery is using top soils as the polybag medium. The efforts to maintain soil nutrient status through chemical fertilisation come with certain cost,

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