Speaker
Description
Rigorous management of palm oil mill effluent to meet Sabah state sustainability demands led to the installation of a decanter machine. As a result, it produces another palm oil mill (POM) solid waste, oil palm decanter cake (OPDC). To date, the reuse of this waste remains unpopular, and its accumulation may cause environmental pollution. In this study, the effect of oil palm decanter cake (OPDC) as a fertilizer substitute was evaluated based on the growth performance and yield of sweet corn (Zea mays). Eight treatments as follow with four replications were randomly arranged; (T1) Soil alone, (T2) Soil + 100% NPK Fertilizers, (T3) Soil:OPDC (1:1), (T4) Soil:OPDC:Sand (3:1:1), (T5) Soil:OPDC (3:1) + 25% NPK Fertilizers, (T6) Soil:OPDC (3:1) + 100% P Fertilizer, (T7) Soil:OPDC (3:1) + 50% P Fertilizer and (T8) Soil:OPDC (3:1) + 25% P Fertilizer. Initial characterization of the acid soil, OPDC, sand and chemical fertilizer used was done to determine the following chemical properties; pH, total organic carbon, exchangeable acidity and total nitrogen. Plant height, stem girth, and root length were measured one day before harvest. The plants were harvested 65 days after planting (65 DAP), yield components such as fresh cob weight, number of cobs, cob length, and cob girth were measured. The plants were divided into leaves, stems, and roots for fresh and dry weight analysis. Data were analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and treatment means were compared with Tukey’s test at a 5% probability level. The study found that using OPDC as a fertilizer substitute improved sweet corn growth and yield, with the best results in unfertilized, OPDC-amended soil (T3) on acid subsoil. However, limitations in this study restrict the full understanding of OPDC’s potential as a soil amendment. Further research with additional parameters is recommended to explore more potential of OPDC.
Keywords: Oil palm decanter cake (OPDC), sustainable agriculture, sweet corn (Zea mays), soil amendment, growth performance)
