The potential of ameliorants to mitigate carbon dioxide emission from oil palm plantation on peat soil

Abstract

The development of oil palm plantations on peatlands leads to the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. Soil amelioration can improve the fertility of peat soil because consists of polyvalent cations that overcome the negative effect of high-level organic acid as well as reduce GHG emissions. This study aimed to observe the effectiveness of soil amelioration for reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emission from oil palm plantations on peat soil. The study was carried out on smallholder oil palm at Kumpeh, Muara Jambi District, Jambi Province. The study was arranged with six treatments and four replications of a Randomized Completely Block Design (RCBD). The treatments were control, manure, compost of empty fruit bunch, lateritic soil, pugam (peat fertilizer) type A and type T. The results showed that ameliorants could reduce CO2 emission by approximately 1.7-34.4% compare to control except program T. The lowest CO2 emission was produced during 5-7 weeks after the first application of ameliorants. The soil ameliorants should be added every 4 months to control the CO2 emissions from peat soil. Long term observation is needed to more explore the potential of ameliorants to reduce CO2 emission from oil palm plantation in peat soil.