The effect of POME application on production and yield components of oil palm in Lampung, Indonesia

Abstract

Oil palm plant is one of the plantation crops that become the largest foreign exchange income in the national economy. But the lack of information regarding Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) deserves serious attention since POME utilization could support plant growth and production and reduce the environmental pollution. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of POME land application in increasing the production and yield components of oil palm crops. This study was conducted in PTPN VII, Bekri Unit, Lampung, Indonesia, from April to August 2019. The experiment was arranged in a Complete Randomized Group Design (CRGD) with three replicates while the difference in mean values between treatments was analysed using the Independent T-Test. This research results showed that the POME applied land could increase the total FFB number up to 40% significance with 38 harvested FFB per month. While, the total FFB weight increased up to 44% significance with 791,3 kg/38 FFB per month. The results of this study showed that POME applied land could be advantageous to be applied on oil palm plantation and could reduce environmental pollution.