Thursday, June 4, 2009

Oil Palm composting.

We were on our way to the north.... Too hot!.... I took a break, stretch the limbs and look around. The palm leaves are cut off regularly to facilitate the harvesting of the fruits.... They pile the leaves in rows in between palms, and leave it to nature to take its own course.... rot, disintegrate, to form humus/compost.

When these palms had been around for 15 years or so, they become to tall to harvest, so they have to be chopped down. They normally slice the trunks into thin slices using chain saw, and leave them to rot..... Within a month or two new seedlings will be planted in rows... such a sight!...

The practice of palm composting has been around for a while, and now leading the pack, in organic farming ........





leaves left to rot.


and other leaves too

8 comments:

  1. Yes, that's a familiar sight in our country. The tall trees are not so attractive as they are left to rot. Up in the air, the oil palm plantations look great -green as far as the eyes can see!

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  2. I have bought some soils from a nursery to plant brinjal. The nursery claimed that the soil are actually oil palm compost. That was the first time I heard of oil palm compost.

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  3. > keats
    Hi, thanks for for dropping by... plantations are a great sight, a sea of green waves!!

    ~ bangchik

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  4. >JC

    I also bought something similar..., what we bought is not actually compost, more of semi-compost.. but they are good as mulch around plants, and will disintegrate/decompose within a month or so...

    ~ bangchik

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  5. Wow! It looks like everything can be composted!

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  6. > Tatyana...

    By the look at it, everything categorised as organic can be composted....

    ~ bangchik

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  7. Beside pruned oil palm's fronds, the best medium for composting and gardening is the Empty Fruits Bunches (EFB). It very good for our small vegies farm at the backyard. Its will retain soil moisture and once rotten it will nourish our plants with high nitrogen and potassium.

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  8. > Helmi
    Thanks for the info.... I bought mulch in bags, another oil palm product..., black and fibrous. Plants love them....

    ~ bangchik

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