ATTACHMENT 1

FERTILIZER USE IN OIL PALM PLANTATION

1.0 Amount of fertilizer use from literature

We found that the figures on fertilizer application used by the consultant did not reflect the real

application by the Ma la y s i a n plantations. The figures wer e found generally to be too high

because of the following reasons:

(i) The high value quoted bas e d on the published data concerning agronom i c trials aimed

for maximu m yield of FFB (fresh fr ui t bunch), thus, high fertiliz er inputs were use d

throughout those experiments. An average yi el d of 20 t FFB/ha over the life cycle was

used against the high fertiliz er input from agr o nomic trial carried out over a limited

period (3 to 6 year da t a of mat u re palms )

. More realistic fertilizer applicat ion data

should be based on what actuall y happened on the ground. Fertiliz er input should be an

average of fertiliz er app lied throughout the life cycl e. The amount of fertilizer applied,

being dependent on yi eld potential and age of oil palm yield profile ov e r 25 yea r s life

cycl e had b een given in three diff er ent scenarios based on the yi eld potential i.e. hi gh

yielding, average and low yielding as shown in Figure 1

.

(ii) The yield response and fertilizer rate have a quadratic relationship. A typical yield

response cu rve of applied N is given in Figure 2. The yield increases at a sh a r p rate whe n

the amount of fertilizer applied ranges from 0 kg N/ha to 90 kg N/ ha while the yi eld

increas e s at a slower rate when the amount of fertiliz er applied is higher. The majority

of the planters will ap ply fertiliz er based on economic consideration rather th an

maximum agronomic yield, since fertilizer input is de pendent on prices of the

commodities.

Figure 1: Oil Palm Yield Profile for 25 Years Life Cycle

*Note: The dat a are based fro m MPOB Observation Block Network in Malaysia

1NFFB Yield (t/ha/yr)

14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 FT 0 3 : R 2

= 0. 95 04 ; M S E 0

. 8 8 0 5 Y

= 1 8 .0 9 0 0 + 5. 34 06 N - 0. 84 56 N 2

0 89 .9 17 3. 9 260

. 8

Figure 2: Typical Yield Response to Nitrogen Application Rates (Ma t ure Palms planted on

Mineral Soil)

Note: MP OB A nnual Resear c h Re port

2.0 Standard Pl antation Pr actice and Fertilizer Application

In most fertilizer response studies, the amoun t of nutrients in one tonne of FFB has been

estimated as shown in Table 1. The fertiliz er recommendati on is made based on expected yield

and nutrient balance whe r e f e rtiliz er man a gement system to achiev e expected yield potential

comprising the following:

• Establishing the yield po tential (pal m age and soil types);

• Establishing the most limiting nutrient;

• Estimating the amount of fertilizers to be suppli e d to achieve the potential yield ;

• Taking into consideration the amount of nutrients to be supplied inherently by the soil

and legume cover;

2• Taking into consideration the nutrients supplied by nutrient recycling (empty fruit bunch

and biomass from oil pal m replantin g );

• If necessary, supplementing with mineral nutrient to meet the yield targ et;

• Considering appropriate agronomic practices to increase nutrient uptake and minimize

erosion, leaching and immobilization of nutrients;

• Considering effectiv e method of fertilizer application and avoiding wet season.

Based on yield profiles given in Figure 1, the recommend ed rate for the plantations to achieve

high yield (a bove 25 t FFB/ha/yr) an d the standard application or average application reflect i ng

the majorit y of oil palm plantations after taking into consideration the low input plantations

and smallholders are shown in Tables 2 and 3

, respectively.

It is an industry standard practice tha t the fertilizer application rate varies according to oil palm

age with low fertilizer input for the immature period (1

– 3 years old) and increas i ng with age

and yield production and the higher the yield, the higher the fertiliz er input. In the high yield

potential area (more th an 28 tonnes FFB/ha/yr refer to Table 2 ), th e fertilizer rate can go up to

124 kg N/h a

. However, the averag e value of recommend ed fertilizer rate of 110 kg N/ha wa s

normally us ed for matur e ar e a (5

‐ 20 years old). The amount of fertiliz er applied for th e

immature stage (1

– 3 years) was 48 kg N/ha/year. At the end of oil pal m cycl e (21 to 25 years),

fertiliz er is reduced a cco rdingly with an average of 53 kg N/ha/year.

Table 1: Amount of Nutrient in FFB (kg Nutrient /t FFB)

N P2O5 K2O MgO

Dura (Ng and Thamboo,

1967) 2.94 0.89 4.67 1.36

Tarmizi & Mohd Tayeb (2006) 3.10 0.74 4.93 1.13

3Table 2: Fert ilizer Recommendation for High Yielding Plantations (Average Yield of 25 t/ha)

Palm N kg/ h a/yr

Age

1 29.4

2 44.1

3 58.8

4 88.2

5 102.9

6 102.9

7 111.7

8 117.6

9 123.5

10 123.5

11 117.6

12 to 15 111.7

16 to 20 102.9

21

‐ 23 88.2

24 58.8

25 0

Average (25 yrs) 92.2

kg N / t FFB 3.69

Table 3: Standard Fertilizer Application by Majority of Oil Palm Plantations (Average Yield of 21

t/ha)

Palm N kg/ h a/yr

Age

1 29.4

2 44.1

3 58.8

4 58.8

5 73.5

6 73.5

7 88.2

8 88.2

9 102.9

10 102.9

11 to 15 88.2

16 to 22 73.5

23 to 24 58.8

25 0

Average (25 yrs) 72.3

Kg N / t FFB 3.44

43.0 Fertilizer Us e by Oil Pal m from Import Data

Most of the fertiliz ers used in Malaysia are impo rted. The trends of the total usage of fertilizers

for oil palm for 2002, 2007 and 2008 are shown in Table 4

. The estimated fertiliz er/h a basis and

the average amount of fertiliz er used from 2002 to 2008 are shown in Table 5

.

Table 4: C on sumption of Nutrients for Oil Palm from Fertilizer Import (FIAM, 2009)

Fertilizer Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P 2 O 5 ) P o t a s s i u m (K 2 O)

Y e a r 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8

Estimated n u trient

con s um ed by oil

palm 1 8 0 2 7 2 3 0 0 1 5 3 2 3 0 2 5 2 4 7 0 7 0 4 7 3 7

. 4

Oil palm planted

area (,000 h a ) 3,670 4,304 4,488 3,670 4, 304 4,488 3,670 4,304 4,488

Yield (t F F B / h a ) 1 8 1 9 2 0 1 8 1 9 2 0 1 8 1 9 2 0

Nutrie nt appl ied kg

/ha 4 9 6 3

. 2 6 6

. 8 4 1

. 7 5 3

. 4 5 5

. 7 1 2 8 1 6 3

. 6 1 6 4

. 3

Nutrient applied kg/t

FFB 2

. 7 2 3

. 3 2 3

. 3 4 2

. 3 2 2. 8 1 2

. 7 9 7

. 1 1 8

. 6 1 8

. 2

Table 5: Average amount of nutrient applied from 2002 to 2008 (FIAM, 2009)

Fertiliz er nutrient kg/ha kg/t FFB

Nitrogen (N) 59.67 3.14

Phosph orus (P 2 O 5 ) 50.27 2.64

Potassium (K 2 O) 152 8.0

4.0 The Proposed Fertilizer Use from the Inventory Data

The inventory data for fertiliz er input used for LCA study at MPOB were collected from a

detailed survey of the estates throughout Malaysia. The data we r e collected from 102

plantations (based on feedback to the questionnaire) covering 1.1 million ha of area, which is

approximately 25% of th e total area planted with oil palm. It consists of mature and immature

areas from private estates and organized government estates and organized smallh olders from

all over the country ranging from 1 year old to 25 year old pa l m s, ther eby, coverin g

geographical and age representativeness. The data collectio n took place from June 2007 until

August 2007 as sh own in Table 6

. In addition to N, P and K, Mg mainly from kieserit e is required

for some soi l s and the average value is presented in Table 6.

5Table 6: Estimated Amo unt of Fertilizers Used in Malaysian Oil Palm Plantation

Fertilizer Nutrient Amount (kg / ha) kg/t FFB

N 72.2 3.49

P 2 O 5 58 2.8

K 2 O 238 11.5

MgO 19 0.9

5.0 Conclusion

The proposed fertilizer va l u e s to produce 1 tonne of FFB from the inventory study by MPOB LCA

team ar e wi thi n the values calcu l at ed from yi eld response data and the standard plantation

practice and fertiliz er import figures. The values are realistic figures repr esenting the Malaysian

oil palm production to be used for GHG emissions calculation

.

6.0 Reference s :

Mohamed Ali Sabri, Fertiliz er Industry Association of Malaysia, (FIA M) (2009). Evolution of

fertiliz er use by crops in Malaysia: recent trends and prospects.

MPOB (2002) Annual Resear ch Rep o rt.

Ng, S. K. and Thamboo ( 1967)

. Nutri e nt Contents of Oil Palms in Malaya I. Nutrients r e quired for

reproduction: fruit bunch and male inflorescenc es. Malay. Agric. J., 46, p. 3

‐ 45.

Tarmizi, A.M and Mohd Tayeb, D (2006)

. Nutrient demands of Tenera oil palm planted on

Inland Soils of Malaysia, JOPR, Vol 18, June 2006, p206

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