Nutrient Management for Palm Oil Plantation

Nutrient management is one of the major cost components for a palm oil plantation. This is due to the inherently poor fertility of most tropical soils and the intensive extractive nature of plantation agriculture. Biochar offers the possibility for a revolution in nutrient use efficiency in tropical agriculture along with many other proven soil and water holding benefits.

Why biochar?

Many advantages of biochar applications to improve the soil fertility. Biochar production process also uses a thermal process that faster and also more affordable in investment than the biological process, that's common called fermentation. Saving estimation of fertilizer use could save up to 50% with the use of biochar, that means increase the fertilization efficiency due to the application of biochar.

 

How to produce biochar?

 

To produce the best biochar in quality and quantity, the best technology is continous slow pyrolysis process. The biomass waste that is generated by palm oil mill every day is a potential raw material for the production of biochar. Syngas, biooil and heat are other products from continous slow pyrolysis technology for energy applications or other.