UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

UTILISATION OF PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT AS NITROGEN SOURCE FOR OIL PALM ( ELAEIS GUINEENSIS JACQ. )

MOHAMAD HASHIM BIN AHMAD TAJUDIN

FP 1990 3

UT I LI SAT ION OF PALM OI L M I L L EFFLUENT AS NITROGEN SOURCE FOR OIL PALM (ELAEIS GUINEENsIS JACQ . )

By

MoHAMAD HASHIM BIN AHMAD TAJUDIN

Thesis Submitted in Partial Fu l fil ment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Agric u l tura l

Science in the Fac u l t y of Agriculture Univers i t i Pertan i an Ma l ays i a

May 1990

Specially dedicated to:

my wife - Lailaton Abd Rahman

and my children - Norsyimalaila

- Norfaeza

- Nor Adila

Whose love, understanding and support have greatly helped me in the

completion of this thesis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express his thanks and g ratitude to h i s

s u pe rvisors, Assoc i ate P rofessor D r . Zaharah Abd u l Rahman, Tuan Haj i

Abdu l Ha l im Haji Hash i m and M r . Yeow Kheng Hoe for their support ,

advice and guidance th roughout the who l e pe riod of this study .

The author i s a l so very gratef u l to the Biol ogy Depa rtment of

Unit Tenaga Nuk l ea r for the ass i stance on N- 1 5 anal ysis , Anal ytical

Chemist ry section of OPRS for the l eaf and soi l anal y s i s , staff of

Agronomy Section for co l l ect i on, comp i l at i on and statist i ca l anal ysis

of data and Adm i n i st ration Sect i on for the typing of th i s manusc ript .

He i s a l so g ratefu l to the D i rector, Resea rch and Dev e l opment and

col l eagues at the O i l Pa l m Research Station and P rang Besar Research

Station for t he i r support , comments and encou ragement .

Fina11y , the author wou l d l i ke to thank Go l den Hope P l antations

Be rhad for the s ponsorsh i p of h i s study at Unive rsit i Pertanian

Mal aysia .

i i i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ; ; ;

L I ST OF TABLES v; 1

L I ST OF FIGURES x i

L I ST OF ABBREVIAT IONS xii

ABSTRACT x i ;;

ABSTRAK xv;

CHAPTERS

I

I I

I NTRODUCT ION

L ITERATURE REVIEW 3

N i t rogen Req u i rement of O i l Pa l m 3

So i l N i t rogen and O rgan i c Matter Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 4

T ypes of POME 6

M i ne ral i sation of N 8

Benef i c i a l Effects of Eff l uent App 1 i cat i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1

Effect o f Eff l uent on C rop P roduct i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1

Effect of Eff l uent on Vegetat i ve G rowth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2

Effect of Eff l uent on So i l N i t rogen Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2

Quant i tat i ve Measu rement of N u t r i ent Uptake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 3

i v

I I I MATERIALS AND METHODS 1 6

I V

Tria l No . 1 - Minera l isat i on o f Nitrogen lh Treated POME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6

Treatments 1 6

�xperimenta' Procedure 1 6

Tria l No . 2 - Avai l abi l ity of Nitrogen in Treated POME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7

Treatments 1 8

Experiment a l Procedure 1 8

Tria l No . 3 - Eva l uat i on of Treated POME as Fert i l i zer Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 0

Treatments 2 1

Design and P l ot S i ze 2 1

Experimenta l Procedure 2 1

RESULTS AND DI SCUSSION 2 5

Nutrient Composition of Treated POME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 5

Minera l isation of N i trogen 2 7

Distribution of N i n O i l Pa l m Seed 1 i n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 1

Effect of Treated POM E on Soil Nitrogen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 6

Ava i l abi l ity o f POME-N

Uptake of POM E-N

Effect of Treated POME on Soil

38

42

Chemic a l Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Effect of Treated POME on Pa l m Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6

Effect of Treated POME o n Leaf Nutrient Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 9

v

Effect of T reated POME on FFB yie l d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3

v SUMMARY AND CONCLUS ION 6 6

BIBLIOGRAPHY 69

APPENDI CES 7 9

VITA 1 7 3

vi

L IST OF TABLES

Tab l e Page

Est i mates of Tota l Soil N i t rogen i n the Top 45 cm of P rof i l e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

N u t r i ent Ana l y s i s of Var i ous T ypes of POME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I nc ubat i on study T reatments

POME App l i cat i on T reatments

Nut r i ent Compos i t i on of Treated POME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

N i t rogen Compos i t i on of T reated POME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

D i st r i but i on of N i t rogen i n O i l Pa l m Seedl i n g . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Concent rat i on of N i t rogen i n Va r i ous Parts of Oil Palm Seed l i ng . . . . . . . . . . . .

9 Tota l N i t rogen Y i e l d i n Plant Parts

1 0 Effect of T reated POME on Dry Matte r P roduct i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 N i t rogen Content of POME-T reated and Unt reated Soi 1 s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 2 Soi l - N Status Before and After T r i a l Pe r i od . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 3a Ava i lab i l i ty of POME-N i n T r i al N o . 2 ( a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 3b Ava i l ab i l i ty of POME-N i n T r i a l No . 2 (b) ............................. .

1 4a N i t rogen i n Plant De r ived f rom T reated POME i n T r i a l No . 2 ( a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 4b N i t rogen i n Plant De r i ved f rom T reated POME i n T r i al No. 2 ( b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

v i i

9

1 7

2 1

2 6

2 7

3 2

3 2

34

3 5

3 6

37

3 9

4 0

43

44

15

1 6

1 7

1 8

1 9

20

2 1

2 2

2 3

2 4

2 5

2 6

2 7

2 8

2 9

3 0

3 1

3 2

3 3

Total N i t rogen i n T reated POME

Equ ivalent Value of POME-N in Un i t of Ammon i urn Su 1 phate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ut i l i sat i on Eff i c i ency of POME-N

Effect of T reated POME on Soil Chemi cal P rope rt i es at 0- 1 5 cm Depth . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on Soil Chem i cal P rope rties at 1 5-30 em Depth . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on Soil Chemi cal P rope rt i es at 30-45 cm Depth . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on F rond Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on F rond We i ght . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on Le"f A rea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on T runk He i ght . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on Leaf N i t rogen Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect o f T reated POME on Leaf Phosphorus Status

Effect of T reated POME on Leaf Potass i um Status

Effect of T reated POME on Leaf Magnes i um Status

Effect of T reated POME on Leaf Cal c i urn Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on FFB Y i eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on Bunch P roduct i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Effect of T reated POME on Bunch We i ght . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Anal ys i s of Va r i ance for Total N i t rogen Y i eld i n P l ant Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

v i ; ;

46

46

46

50

5 2

5 4

5 7

5 7

58

58

60

6 1

6 1

6 2

6 2

64

6 5

6 5

1 07

34

35

3 6

3 7

3 8

3 9

40

4 1

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

Analys i s of Var i ance for Effect of T reated POME on D ry Matte r P roduct i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of V a r i ance fo r N i t rogen Content of POME-T reated and Unt rea ted So i 1 s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of Va r i ance for E ffect of T reated POME on Soil Chem i cal P rope rt i es at 0- 1 5 cm Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of Var i ance fo r Effect of T reated POME on Soil Chem i cal P rope rt i es at 1 5- 3 0 cm Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of Va r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on So il Chem i ca l P rope rt i es at 30-45 cm Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of Va r i ance for Effect of T reated POM E on F rond Length

Analys i s of Va r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on F rond We i ght

Analys i s of V a r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on Leaf A rea

Analys i s of V a r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on T runk He i ght

Analys i s of V a r i ance fo r Effect of T reated POME on Leaf N i t rogen Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of V a r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on Leaf Phosphoru s Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of V a r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on Leaf Potass i urn Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Anal ys i s of V a r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on Leaf Magnes i urn Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of Va r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on Leaf Cal c i um status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Analys i s of Va r i ance fo r Effect of T reated POME on FFB Y i eld

i x

1 1 1

1 1 5

1 1 6

1 27

1 38

1 49

1 5 1

1 53

1 55

1 57

1 5 9

1 6 1

1 63

1 65

1 67

4 9

50

Ana l ys i s of V a r i ance for Effect of T reated POME on Bunch P roduct i on

Ana l ys i s of Var i ance for Effect of T reated POME on Bunch We i ght . . . . . . . . . .

x

1 69

1 7 1

Fig u re

1

2

3

4

5

L I ST OF FIGURES

P a l m Oi l and Eff l uent P roduction

N- 1 5 Appl i cat i on Schedule

Expe r i mental P l ot

M i n e ral i sat i on of N i n POME-T reated SOll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

M i neral i sat i on of N i n Unt reated Soi 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . • . . . . • • . • • • • . •

x i

Page

7

1 9

2 3

2 8

2 9

a . e .

ANOVA

A-POME

BOD

CEC

COD

C I RP

CjN

FFB

Gol den

LSD

MOP

Ndf F

NdfS

NdfPOME

OPRS

POME

RCBD

Hope

L I ST OF ABBREVIAT IONS

atom excess

Ana l ys i s of Va r i ance

A-v a l ue of POME

B i ochem i ca l Oxygen Demand

Cat i on Exchange Capac i ty

Chemi c a l Oxygen Demand

Ch r i stmas I s l and Rock Phosphate

Ca rbon to N i t rogen rat i o

F resh F ru i t Bunch

Go l den Hope P l antat i ons Be rhad

Least S i gn i f i cant D i ffe rence

Mu r i ate of Potash

N i t rogen de r i ved f rom Fe rt i l i ze r

N i t rogen de r i ved f rom Soi l

N i t rogen de r i ved f rom Palm O i l M i l l Eff l uent

Oi l Pa l m Research Stat i on

Pa l m O i l M i l l Eff l uent

Randomi sed Compl ete B l oc k Des i gn

x i i

ABSTRACT

Abst ract of thes i s submi tted to the Senate of Unive r�iti Pe rtan i an Ma l ays i a i n p a rt i a l fu l f i l ment

of the requ i rements fo r the deg ree of Master of Ag r i cu l tu ra l Sc ience

UT ILISATION OF PALM O I L M ILL EFFLUENT AS NITROGEN SOURCE FOR O I L PALM ( ELAEIS GUINEENS I S JACQ . )

By

MoHAMAD HASHIM BIN AHMAD TAJUDIN

May 19 9 0

Supe rv i so r : Assoc i ate P rofessor D r . Zaharah Abd . Rahman

Facu l ty Agr i cu l tu re

P a l m o i l m i 1 1 eff l uent ( POME ) i s an o rgan i c waste mate r i a l

p roduced a t the o i l m i l l . I n i ts raw form , POME i s h i gh l y pol l ut i ng .

I t must be t reated befo re be i ng d i scha rged i nto the wate rways . But

i n v i ew of i ts h i gh nut r i ent content , i t can be recyc l ed to the soi l

as a fe rt i l i ze r for ag r i cu l tu ra l c rops .

I n th i s study , th ree se ries of expe r i ments were conducted .

F i rst , a l aboratory i ncubat i on study a i med at dete rm i n i ng the rate of

n i t rogen m i ne ra l i sat i on of t reated POM E . Second , hu rse ry t r i a l s w i th

the object i ve of quant i fy i ng the amount of n i t rogen ava i l ab i l i ty i n

t reated POME us i ng N- 1 5 t race r techn i que . T h i rd , a fie l d t r i al w i th

x i i i

the a i m of eva l u at i ng the effect i veness of eff l uent as a n i t rogen

fe rt i l i ze r for matu re o i l pa l m .

Resu l ts o f the i ncubat i on study i nd i cated that ammon i um-N was

made ava i l ab l e a l most i mmed i ate l y afte r app l i cat i on . Its re lease

recorded a s l i ght i nc rease at the fou rth week and the reafte r

stabi l i sed w i th t i me . The t rend was d i ffe rent for n i t rate-No Its

release was negl i g i ble at the i n i t i al pe r i od , but i nc reased

s i gn i f i cant l y afte r e i ght weeks of i ncubat i on . T h i s i s an i nd i cat i on

of n i t r i f i cat i on p rocess occu r r i ng i n the soi l i n whi ch ammo n i um-N was

conve rted to n i t rate- N o

I n the n u rse ry t r i a l , the amount of n i t rogen re le ased and taken

u p by o i l pa l m seed l i ngs depended ve ry much on the n i t rogen content

of the t re ated POME . At 2 2 54 mg kg- 1 n i t rogen content , about 1 . 2 5 3 9

N i n equ i va l ent un i t of ammon i um su l phate was made ava i l ab l e a l most

i mmed i ate l y afte r app l i cat i on for a pe r i od of two months . At a h i ghe r

content of 485 1 m g kg-1 , the rate of n i t rogen re 1 ease peaked a t one

month afte r app l i cat i on i n wh i ch 8 . 3 5 5 9 N i n equ i va l e nt u n i t of

ammon i um su l phate was made avai l ab l e for p l ant u ptake . The amount of

POME-N taken up by o i 1 pa l m seed l i ngs was aga i n re l ated to the

n i t rogen content of t reated POM E . At l ow l eve l of n i t rogen content

about 0 . 1 65 9 N i n equ i va l ent u n i t of ammon i um s u l phate was taken up

whi le at h i gh n i t rogen content the uptake was 0 . 40 1 g N thus g i v i ng

u t i l i sat i on eff i c iency of 7 . 3% and 8 . 3% respect i ve l y .

x i v

I n the fie l d t r i a l , the effect i veness of t reated POME as a

sou rce of n i t rogen was con f i rmed . Its app l i cat i on at appropr i ate rate

was obse rved to be ab le to support sat i sfactory pa l m g rowth and c rop

p roduct i on . In add i t i on , soi l chemi ca l p rope rt i es were a l so i mproved .

F rom the resu l ts of these t r i a l s , i t i s conc luded that treated

POME i s just as effect i ve as i norgan i c fe rt i l i ze r i n supp l y i ng

n i t rogen for 0; 1 pal m p l anted on Se l angor se r i es so i l .

xv

ABSTRAK

Abstrak tes i s yang d i kemukakan kepada.Senat Un i ve rs i t i Pe rtan i an Mal ays i a sebagai memenuhi

sebahag i an d a r i pada syarat-syarat untuk I j azah Maste r Sa i ns Pe rtan i an

PENGGUNAAN EFLUEN KI LANG MINVAK SAWIT SEBAGAI SUMBER NITROGEN UNTUK KELAPA SAWIT ( ELAEIS GUINEENSIS JACQ . )

O l eh

MOHAMAD HASHI M BIN AHMAD TAJUDIN

Me; 1990

Ketua Pen ye l i a : P rofesor Madya D r . Zaharah Abd . Rahman

Faku l t i Pe rta n i an

Ef l uen ki l an g m i nyak saw i t ( POME) i a l ah satu bahan buangan

o rga n i k yang te rdapat di k i l an g- k ; l an g . Da l am keadaan asa l ny a , POME

boleh mencemarka n a1am sek i ta r . Dengan sebab i tu , i anya pe r1u d i rawat

sebe l um d i sa l u rkan ke sunga i . Tetap i memandangkan kepada kanduhgan

u ns u r n ut r ien yang t i ngg i d i d a l am POM E , i anya bo1eh d i gunakan sebaga i

baj a untuk tanaman pe rtan i an .

Da l am kaj i an i n i , t i ga s i r i pe rcubaan te l ah d i j a l ankan .

Pe rtama , pe rcubaan pen ge raman di makmal yang be rtuj uan Untuk

menentukan kada r m i ne ra l i sa s i n i t rogen yang te rdapat di da l am POM E .

Kedua , pe rcubaan d i tapak sema i an untuk menentukan kedapatan n i trogen

xv i

d i da l am POME men ggunakan kaedah pencai ran i sotop N- 1 5 . Ketiga ,

pe rcubaan d i ladang untuk menguj i kebe rkesanan POME sebagai baj a

organ i k untuk ke l apa saw i t .

Keputusan kaj i an pen ge raman menunj u kkan bahawa n i t rogen d a l am

bentuk ammon i um men j ad i te rsed i a se l epas d i s i ram ke tana h .

M i ne ra l i sas i ammonium-N men i n gkat sed i k i t pada m i nggu keempat dan

kemud i annya stab i l pada pe r i n gkat yang rendah sed i k i t . Corak

m i ne ra l i sasi n i t rate-N be r l a i nan pu l a . Pada pe r i n g kat awa l

pen ge raman , m i ne ra l i sa s i n i t rate-N ada l ah te r l a l u rendah tetapi

men i n gkat dengan be re rt i se 1 epas 1 apan m i nggu . I n i menunj u kkan

te rdapatnya p roses n i t r i f i kas i di da 1 am tanah di mana ammon i um-N

d i tuka rkan ke n i t rate-No

Dal am pe rcubaan d i tapak sema i an , j um l ah n i t rogen te rsed i a dan

d i se rap 01 eh anak ke 1 apa saw it ada 1 ah be rgantung kepada kandungan

n i t rogen d i d a l am e f l uen te rawat . Pada kandungan n i t rogen 2 2 5 4 mg

kg- 1 , l e b i h ku rang 1 . 2 5 3 9 N d a l am un i t pe rsamaan ammon i um s u l fat

te l ah te rsed i a se l e pas sahaj a d i s i ram se l ama dua bu l an . Pada

kandungan n i t rogen yang t i n g g i i a i tu 485 1 mg kg- 1 , kadar pembebasan

n i t rogen memuncak pada satu bu l an se l epas d i s i ram dengan 8 . 3 5 5 9 N

da l am u n i t pe rsamaan ammon i um s u l fat te rsed i a untuk d i se rap oleh

pokok . Kuant i t i POME-N yang d i se rap o l eh anak ke l apa saw i t j uga

be rka i t rapat dengan kandungan n i t rogen di da l am efl uen te rawat .

Pada kandungan n i t rogen yang rendah , sebanyak 0 . 1 65 9 N d a l am u n i t

xv i i

pe rsamaan ammon i um su l fat te l ah d i se rap , manaka l a pada kandungan

n i t rogen yang t i n g g i penye rapan ada l ah sebanyak 0 . 40 1 9 N menjad i kan

kecekapan penggunaan mas i ng-mas i ng pada t ahap 7 . 3% dan 8 . 3% .

Da l am pe rcubaan d i l adang , keputusan yang d i dapat i telahpun

menunjukkan kebe rkesanan POME sebagai punca n i t rogen. Pembe r i an POM E

kepada pokok ke 1 apa saw i t dengan kad a r te rtentu te l a h menunjukkan

keu payaannya untuk menampung pe rtumbuhan pokok dan has i l pada tahap

yang memuaskah . Di samp i ng i tu , s i fat k i m i a tanah juga te l ah

d i pe rt i ngkat kan .

Be rdasarkan kepada keputusan yang d i peroleh i , maka boleh l ah

d i buat kesimpu l an bahawa POME be rupaya membe r i kan unsu r n i t rogen sama

sepe rt i baj a bukan organ i k kepada ke l apa s aw i t yang d i tanam d i kawasan

t anah s i r i Se l ango r .

xv i i i

CHAPTER I

I NTRODUCT ION

O i l pa l m (E]ae1s gu1neens1s Jacq . ) is the wor l d's most rap i d l y

expand i ng p l antat i on c rop ove r the past two decades and i t has become

one of the most i mportant sou rces of vegetable o i l s and fats , con­

t ribut i ng about 1 5% of the wor l d ' s supp l y i n whi ch Mal ays i a i s the

b i ggest p roduce r . Its cU l t i vated a rea i n Mal ays i a is expand i ng

fU rthe r w i th the o pen i ng up of new a reas and rehab i l i tat i on of i d l e

l and . T h i s i s i n l i ne w i th the Nat i on a l Agr i cu l t u re Pol i cy wh i ch a i ms

at mai nta i n i ng the count ry as the numbe r one p roduce r of pa l m o i l .

The rapi d expans i on of o i l pa l m i ndustry i n Ma l ays i a has

resu l ted i n an i nc rease of c rude pa l m o i l p rodUct i on f rom about

43 1 , 000 tonnes i n 1 970 to 5 m i l l i on tonnes i n 1 98 8 . Its p roduct i on

i s p rojected to i nc re ase fU rthe r to about 5 . 5 m i l l i on tonnes i n 1 990

and 8 . 1 m i l l i on ton nes i n the yea r 2000 . W i t h such l arge p roduct i on

of pal m oi l the re wou l d a l so be abundant by-p roducts and res i dues .

One of the majo r by-p roducts p roduced i s pa 1m o i l m i 1 1 eff l uent

( POME ) . I n 1 981 , 7 . 5 m i l l i on tonnes of POME was gene rated and thi s

i s expected to dou b l e i n 1 990 . D i scha rg i ng raw waste mate r i a l

i nto wate rways i s a threat to the env i ronment because of the h i gh

b i ochem i ca l oxygen demand (BO D ) and chemi�al oxygen demand

( COD) content ( Yeow , 1983 ) . The gove rnment has s i nce enfo rced

2

the Env i ronment a l Qua l i ty Act wh i ch requ i res that raw POME be t reated

to an acceptab l e lBve l before i t i s d i scharged .

Howeve r , POME cou l d be put i nto good use i n v i ew of i ts h i gh

nut r i ent va l ue . Many resea rch f i nd i ngs have shown that vari ous types

of waste mate r i a l s a re good sou rce of p l ant nut r i ents . The i r app l i ca­

t i on to l and as fe rt i l i ze r suppl ement for c rops was found to be

benef i c i a l to c rop performance and soi l phys i ca l and chem i c a l

characte r i st i cs (Kha l ee l e t ru. . , 1 98 1; Demuynck et ru. . , 1 984; Ghede r i m

et ru. . , 1 98 5 ; T i t 1 oye et ru. . , 1 98 5 ) .

Some stud i es have been ca r r i ed out on ut i l i sat i on of POME and i ts

effect on c rop and so i l p rope rt i es. Howeve r , l i tt l e attenti on had been

g i ven to the resea rch works a i med at quant i fy i n g the amount of

nut r i ents rel eased by POME fo r p l ant uptake . Though POME conta i ns

othe r major p l ant nut r i ents , thi s study emphas i ses on n i t rogen i n v i ew

of i ts h i gh compos i t i on i n the eff l uent . The object i ves of the study

we re the refore ,

( i )

( i i )

( i i i )

To dete rm i ne the mi ne ra l i sat i on rate of n i t rogen

i n t reated POM E .

T o quant i fy the amount o f n i t rogen de r i ved f rom

t reated POM E .

To eva l uate the effect i veness of t reated POME as

fert i lizer sou rce fo r o i l pa l m g rowth and y i e l d .

CHAPTER I I

LITERATURE R EVIEW

N i t rogen Requ i rement of O i l Palm

N i trogen i s an essent i a l const i tuen t of p rote i n , nucle i c ac i ds

and var i ous enzymes . Most of the b i ochem i ca l react i on s i n the pa l m

a re cata l ysed b y enzymes and thus n i t rogen p l ays a n i mpo rtant funct i on

v i rtual l y i n a l l phys i o l og i ca l p rocesses ( F ran k , 196 5 ) . I n s i tuat i on s

whe re n i t rogen i s def i c i ent , ch l oros i s of leaves occu rs whi ch leads

to reduced rate of photosynthes i s . Red uced p rote i n synthes i s a l so

occurs resu l t i ng i n gene ra l l oss of v i gou r . I n expe r i ment whe re

seve re n i t rogen def i c iency was i nduced on o i l pa l m seed l i ngs , leaf

ch l o rophyl l content was g reat l y reduced and photosynthet i c rate was

a l so l owe red ( Co r ley , 1 9 7 6 ) .

I n o i l pa l m , n i t rogen fe rt i l i ze r appl i cat i on had been shown to

i nc rease leaf a rea , l eaf we i ght , rate of leaf p roduct i on and net

ass i mi l at i on rate ( Co r ley and Mok , 1 9 7 2 ) . Its appl i cat i on had a l so

been shown to i nc rease f resh f ru i t bunch ( FFB ) y i e l d on both i n l and

and coasta l soi l s ( Teoh and Chew , 1980; Chan , 198 1 ; Tan � � . , 1 9 8 1 ;

S i nasamy et �. , 1982; L i m et � . , 1984 ) .

I n coasta l c l ay soi l such as Se l angor se r i e s (� Tropaguept )

the mai n res ponse was to n i t rogen even though the fe rt i l i ty of th i s

3

4

soi l i s cons i dered to be h i gher than most of the othe r so i l s i n

Pen i nsu l ar Ma l ays i a (Foster and Goh , 1 97 7; Teoh and Chew , 1 980;

Foste r et � . , 1 98 5 ) . S i m i l a r response was a l so obt a i ned i n the l eaf

n i t rogen content (P i ggott , 1 968; Teoh and Chew , 1 980 ) .

Soi l N i t rogen and O rgan i c Matter Status

Gene ra l l y , M a l ays i an soi l s a re poo r i n nut r i ent status . They

are heav i l y l eached , ac i d i c , l ow i n exchangeab l e bases , base

satu rat i on percentage and a l so l ow i n cat i on exchange capac i ty (Law

and Tan , 1 97 7 ) . I n a reas whe re p l antat i on c rops have been g rown for

two to th ree generat i ons , most of the i nhe rent so i l nut r i ents and

o rgan i c matter a re exhausted . The est i mated quant i ty of n i t rogen i n

some of the common Ma l ays i an soi l s under p l antat i on was found to be

ran g i n g f rom 2 7 2 0 to 2 2 1 80 kg ha- 1 (Pushpa rajah , 1 98 2 ) . O i l pa l m i n

part i cu l a r , u t i l i se s l arge amounts of nut r i ents i n orde r to susta i n

h i gh c rop p roduct i on . I t was est i mated that the tot a l req u i rement of

n i t rogen f rom the f i rst to the f i fteenth yea r wh i ch i s the most act i ve

g row i ng pe r i od of the p a l m, amounted to about 2455 kg N ha- 1 (Ng ,

1 97 2 ) . W i th th i s assumpt i on , the n i t rogen p resent i n most M a l ays i an

so i l s (Tabl e 1 ) i s i nsuff i c i ent to sat i sfy the needs of the c rop

(Pushpa raj ah , 1 98 2 ).

Organ i c matte r i s one of the most i mportant consti tuents of soi 1

wh i ch i nf l uences many phys i ca l , chemi cal and b i o l og i ca l p rope rt i es .

I t the refore p l ays an i mportant ro l e i n improv i ng the ove ra l l

fert i l i ty of so i l , part i cu l a r l y the h i gh l y l eached M a l ays i an so i l s

Tab l e 1

l:�timl1to'1 of Tot.n1 Soil NHrogon in tho Top 45 em of P rofi l e

5

------------ ------ -- - - - - - - - --------------------------- --- ------- ----________________ _______ __ • _ _ _ _ __ _ " � _ _ M _ _ �� _ _ ____ ____________ _____________ _

Soi l Ser i es SoI l Order Range of N ( kg ha- 1 )8

Rengam U l t 1 sol 4 1 90 - 1 1 300

Serdang U l t i so l 4090 - 1 0690

Du r i an U l t i sol 2 7 2 0 - 1 38 7 0

Ma l acca Oxi so l 2 8 00 - 1 0 1 00

Ho l y rood Ent i sol 5 1 50 - 1 3560

Sel angor Incept i so l 4650 - 2 2 1 80

-- ------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- ---- ---------

Sou rce

a : Pushpa raj ah , 1 98 2

(Othman e t ru. . , 1 97 9 ) . The ave rage organ i c matter content of soi l

p l anted w i th p l antat i on c rops was obse rved to be 4 . 0 1 % and 2 . 50% i n

the 0-6 and 6- 1 5 cm depth respect i ve l y w i th co r respond i ng n i t rogen

content of 0 . 1 6% and 0 . 1 0% ( Cou l te r , 1 950 ) . It is because of th i s

h i gh l y benef i c i a l effect of organic matte r that l egumi nous g round

covers a re estab l i shed i n p l antat i ons to i mp rove and mai nta i n soi l

fert i l i ty . Estab l i shment of l egum i nous cover c rops had been shown to

cont r i bute about 900 kg ha- 1 of n i t rogen (Taj ud i n et ru. . , 1 98 0 ) . Its

estab l i shment had al so been shown to s i gn i f i cant l y i nc rease FFB y i e l d

i n o i l pa l m p l antat i on ( G ray and Hew , 1 96 8 ).

6

Appl i cat i on of p a l m o i l m i l l eff l uent was a l so found to i mp rove

the organ i c matter and n i t rogen status of soi l ( Poon , 1 98 2 ; L i m et

li . , 1 98 3; L i m , 1 987 ) . App l i cat i on of catt l e s l u rry and sewage s l udge

were obse rved to have s i m i l ar benef i c i a l effects ( Demuynck et � . ,

1 984 ; L i nde rmann and Cardenas , 1 984 ; Ga rau et �. , 1986 ) .

T ypes of POME

I n the m i l l i ng of f resh f ru i t bunches at the o i l mi l l , there a re

th ree ma i n waste p roducts that cont r i bute to the f i na 1 d i scha rged

effl uent (Ma et li . , 1 982 ) . T hey a re :

( i ) Ste r i 1 i se r condensate whi ch i s the waste

d i scha rge of the ste r i l i sat i on p rocess .

( i i ) Hyd rocyc l one waste whi ch i s produced f rom the

kerne l separat i ng p rocess .

( i i i ) S l udge waste wh i ch i s p roduced at the separat i ng

p rocess of the o i l l i qu o r . T h i s waste i s a l so

te rmed as cent r i fuga l s l udge .

T hese three wastes form the f i na l d i scharge wh i ch i s c a l l ed raw

eff l uent . D i ag rammatic f l ow chart of pa l m o i l ext ract i on p rocess and

waste p roduct i on i s shown i n F i g u re 1 .

Ave rage p roduct i on of these wastes i s about 1 3 . 6 mt ha- 1 ( Chan et

�. , 1980 ) o r about 2 . 5 mt effl uent pe r tonne of pa l m o i l p roduced