Growth Performance of Oil Palm Seedlings on Different Types of Organic Fertilizer

Abstract

Fertilizer and soil nutrient management is important to sustain the productivity of nursery systems for oil palm seedling. Inorganic fertilizer usually applies to the oil palm seedling in nursery. The problem of the inorganic fertilizer nowadays is the price is quite expensive and can cause pollution if not manage well. So, by changes the inorganic to organic fertilizer, farmers can reduce their cost, and can gets many benefits through the usage of organic fertilizer. This study investigated the effects of organic fertilizer on growth performance and development of oil palm seedling. 3-month-old Tenera oil palm seedling was treated with an organic fertilizer (10 g of goat manure, 10 gram of fish waste and 10 gram of coffee waste). Control treatments were left untreated. Growth of seedling, plant morphology, plant physiology and soil pH were measured to compare among the treatments. Application of organic fertilizer significantly increased number of fronds about 28% to 46% compare from the control treatment, 28% to 41% increment in plant girth for treatment that treat with organic fertilizer, and significantly increase chlorophyll content of oil palm seedling leaves more than 11% for organic fertilizer application but not significantly increase the plant height and relative growth control (RGR). Several treatments on different organic fertilizer, like soil pH and relative water content (RWC), not significantly different from control but application of organic fertilizer help to increase the soil pH and help to increase the percentage of RWC in plant. These finding indicates that application of different organic fertilizer help to improve several morphology characteristics like number of fronds, and plant girth. It also can help to increase the chlorophyll content in leaves and help to improved soil pH. In future, application of organic fertilizer can be fully utilized for growth and development of oil palm seedling in nursery where it can help to reduce the usage inorganic fertilizer and help to reduce the cost of the nursery.