Greenhouse gas flux from peat with oil palm plants of different ages

Abstract

The use of peat for agricultural crop cultivation needs to be done carefully by considering water management and peat characteristics. The use of peat for cultivation affects the breakdown of organic matter, which produces CH4 and CO2. CO2 and CH4 are glasshouse gases that cause global warming and impact climate change. The purpose of this activity was to determine the flux of CO2 and CH4 from the peat used for palm oil cultivation at different ages. The gas collection was carried out surrounding and between plants at 50m, 100m, and 150m from the drainage channel. Gas samples were taken using the closed chamber method, and gas was analysed using gas chromatography equipped certain detector. The results of the activity showed that the flux of methane from peat with palm oil trees aged < 3 years tended to be higher than oil palms aged > 3 years, while the CO2 flux was relatively not different between palm oil aged < 3 years and > 3 years. The distance of the presence of the drainage channel affects the CH4 and CO2 fluxes, namely the high CH4 flux at the point near the drainage channel but the low at the CO2 flux. Further and in-depth research is needed to understand GHG flux from peat with different oil palm ages.