Mission to BAKRIE oil palm plantations in Sumatra, Indonesia, August 2008

At Agrowiyana, the first harvest recording in reference experiment AW CP 01 is proceeding satisfactorily. The first fertilizer application under the protocol was carried out in May 2008 on back-up trial AW ES 01, harvest recording will begin in January 2009. At Kisaran, harvest recording in experiment KP CP 01 will begin in October 2008, as planned. The first fertilizer application under the protocol was carried out in June 2008 in back-up trial TR ES 01, harvest recording will begin in January 2009. The preliminary testing of phosphate fertilizer in the nursery with soil from Sungei Aur will begin in November 2008 at the Sei Baleh nursery after three months in the prenursery. At Pasaman, the second fertilizer application under the protocol was carried out in May and June 2008 in experiment AB CP 01, harvest recording will begin in May 2009. The site for future trial SU ES 01 will be fixed using an isometric map based on topography. The leaf sampling procedure is satisfactory on the whole, and even excellent at Pasaman. It remains to be standardized even further, and a certain number of automatic reflexes need to be acquired. 515 leaf samples will be analysed in 2008. Due to great difficulties with fertilizer supplies (a general phenomenon in Indonesia) only a fraction of the recommended rate could be applied in the first half of 2008: the average rate of cover amounted to 74% at Agrowiyana, 91% at Kisaran and 7% at Pasaman. Overall stability can be seen in mineral nutrition between August 2007 and August 2008. However, there is a slight drop in N, P and K at Pasaman, probably due to the virtual absence of fertilizer in the first half of 2008. Nitrogen, and especially phosphorus, nutrition is poor at Sungei Aur. It is proposed that the 2008 fertilizer schedule be re-applied identically in 2009, adding a lower scale interval for N and P, to take into account the deterioration at Sungei Aur. The respective fertilizer rates will be calculated by the CIRAD method, resulting in moderate quantities of fertilizer to be applied in 2009, due to the recent evolution of economic conditions. (Résumé d'auteur)