The effect of water deficit on inflorescence period at palm oil productivity on peatland

Abstract

Various factors influence palm oil production, including planting material, environment (climate and soil), and cultivation management. The environment occupies a crucial position that can affect crop production potential even with optimal cultivation management. Unfavorable climatic conditions, for instance, drought, can cause water deficit, which has implications for crop productivity. This paper aims to get a comparative study for the effect of water deficit on the inflorescence period, namely the sex determination phase (29 months before harvesting) and floral abortion (10 months before harvesting). The research was carried out on oil palm plantations on peatland in Riau, Indonesia, with the characteristic annual rainfall of 2000 mm/ year. This study employs a simple regression analysis on panel data of five years and two estates for data analysis. The result highlights that the increase of a 100 mm water deficit on oil palm peatland plantation impacts the decrease in productivity by 6% in the sex determination phase. In contrast, in the floral abortion phase, the decline in productivity is more significant, namely 7%. The analysis also indicated that the research deficit had more impact on the bunch number than the bunch weight.