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 Malaysian plantations. The figures were found generally to be too high

because of the following reasons:

(i) The high value quoted based on the published data concerning agronomic trials aimed

for maximum yield of FFB (fresh fruit bunch), thus, high fertilizer inputs were used

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

used against the high fertilizer input from agronomic trial carried out over a limited

period (3 to 6 year data of mature palms). More realistic fertilizer application data

should be based on what actually happened on the ground. Fertilizer input should be an

average of fertilizer applied throughout the life cycle. The amount of fertilizer applied,

being dependent on yield potential and age of oil palm yield profile over 25 years life

cycle had been given in three different scenarios based on the yield potential i.e. high

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 curve of applied N is given in Figure 2. The yield increases at a sharp rate when

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

increases at a slower rate when the amount of fertilizer applied is higher. The majority

of the planters will apply fertilizer based on economic consideration rather than

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

commodities.  

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

*Note: The data are based from MPOB Observation Block Network in Malaysia  

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N

FFB Yield (t/ha/yr) 14

16

18

20

22

24

26

28

FT03 : R2 = 0.9504; MSE 0.8805

Y=18.0900 + 5.3406N - 0.8456N2

0 89.9 173.9 260.8

Figure 2: Typical Yield Response to Nitrogen Application Rates (Mature Palms planted on

Mineral  Soil)

Note: MPOB Annual Research Report

2.0 Standard Plantation Practice and Fertilizer Application

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

estimated as shown in Table 1. The fertilizer recommendation is made based on expected yield

and nutrient balance where fertilizer management system to achieve expected yield potential

comprising the following:  

• Establishing the yield potential (palm age and soil types);

• Establishing the most limiting nutrient;

• Estimating the amount of fertilizers to be supplied to achieve the potential yield;  

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

and legume cover;  

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

and biomass from oil palm replanting);  

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

• Considering appropriate agronomic practices to increase nutrient uptake and minimize

erosion, leaching and immobilization of nutrients;  

• Considering effective method of fertilizer application and avoiding wet season.  

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

high yield (above 25 t FFB/ha/yr) and the standard application or average application reflecting

the majority 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 that the fertilizer application rate varies according to oil palm

age with low fertilizer input for the immature period (1 – 3 years old) and increasing with age

and yield production and the higher the yield, the higher the fertilizer input. In the high yield

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

124 kg N/ha. However, the average value of recommended fertilizer rate of 110 kg N/ha was

normally used for mature area (5  ‐20 years old). The amount of fertilizer applied for the

immature stage (1 – 3 years) was 48 kg N/ha/year. At the end of oil palm cycle (21 to 25 years),

fertilizer is reduced accordingly 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

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

Palm N kg/ha/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/ha/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

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3.0 Fertilizer Use by Oil Palm from Import Data

Most of the fertilizers used in Malaysia are imported. The trends of the total usage of fertilizers

for oil palm for 2002, 2007 and 2008 are shown in Table 4. The estimated fertilizer/ha basis and

the average amount of fertilizer used from 2002 to 2008 are shown in Table 5.  

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

Fertilizer Nitrogen (N) Phosphorus (P2O5) Potassium (K2O) 

Year 2002 2007 2008 2002 2007 2008 2002 2007 2008

Estimated nutrient

consumed by oil

palm 

180 272 300 153 230 252 470 704 737.4

Oil palm planted

area (,000 ha)

3,670 4,304 4,488 3,670 4,304 4,488 3,670 4,304 4,488 

Yield (t FFB/ha) 18 19 20 18 19 20 18 19 20

Nutrient applied kg

/ha 

49 63.2 66.8 41.7 53.4 55.7 128 163.6 164.3

Nutrient applied kg/t

FFB

2.72 3.32 3.34 2.32 2.81 2.79 7.11 8.61 8.2

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

Fertilizer nutrient kg/ha kg/t FFB

Nitrogen (N) 59.67 3.14

Phosphorus (P2O5) 50.27 2.64

Potassium (K2O) 152 8.0

4.0 The Proposed Fertilizer Use from the Inventory Data  

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

detailed survey of the estates throughout Malaysia. The data were collected from 102

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

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

areas from private estates and organized government estates and organized smallholders from

all over the country ranging from 1 year old to 25 year old palms, thereby, covering

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

August 2007 as shown in Table 6. In addition to N, P and K, Mg mainly from kieserite is required

for some soils and the average value is presented in Table 6.

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Table 6: Estimated Amount of Fertilizers Used in Malaysian Oil Palm Plantation

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

N   72.2 3.49

P2O5 58 2.8

K2O 238 11.5

MgO 19 0.9

5.0 Conclusion

The proposed fertilizer values to produce 1 tonne of FFB from the inventory study by MPOB LCA

team are within the values calculated from yield response data and the standard plantation

practice and fertilizer import figures. The values are realistic figures representing the Malaysian

oil palm production to be used for GHG emissions calculation.  

6.0 References:

Mohamed Ali Sabri, Fertilizer Industry Association of Malaysia, (FIAM) (2009). Evolution of

fertilizer use by crops in Malaysia: recent trends and prospects.

MPOB (2002) Annual Research Report.

Ng, S. K. and Thamboo (1967). Nutrient Contents of Oil Palms in Malaya I. Nutrients required for

reproduction: fruit bunch and male inflorescences. 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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