Establishment of Oil Palm Seedlings Using Treated Oil Palm Decanter Cake (OPDC) as Bio-Organic Media

Abstract

Oil Palm Decanter Cake (OPDC) from palm oil milling is a potential hazard for environment due to its elevated organic content. Direct use of OPDC for planting medium could also give negative effect to plant growth, despite its high potential due to its substantial nutrient content. This study was conducted to examine the potential of hot water-treated OPDC as bioorganic media and its effects on growth performance of oil palm seedlings. OPDC was treated with hot water to remove oil content and chemical analysis was determined on N, P, K, Ca and Mg. For bio-organic media, the treated OPDC was mixed with MPOB F1 fertilizer and soil at 25%, 50% and 75% to plant oil palm seedlings. The results showed that after hot water treatment, residual oil was reduced from 15% to 10-11%. Once applied as planting media, highest growth performance and biomass accumulation was recorded by mixture of 25% treated OPDC with soil and MPOB F1 fertilizer. Plant height, stem girth, leaf number, leaf area, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight and root dry weight were improved by 28%, 15%, 10%, 60%, 72%, 45% and 18%, respectively as compared to control. Higher percentage at 50% and 75% does not improved oil palm seedlings growth. In conclusion, appropriate amount of treated OPDC addition in growing media could improve the growth of oil palm seedling after oil content removal.