A review of 15 years of oil palm irrigation research in in Southern Thailand by Palat Tittinutchanon 1, Chayawat Nakharin 1, Clendon J H 1 and Corley R H V 2 1- Univanich Palm Oil Public Co. Ltd., 258 Aoluk-Laemsak Road, P.O. Box 8-9, Aoluk, Krabi 81110, Thailand 2- Highlands, New Road, Great Barford, Bedford MK44 3LQ, England
Planted area of oil palms in Thailand 1969-2006 500,000 450,000 400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000 200,000 150,000 100,000 50,000 Thailand s Oil Palm planted area (Hectares) First factory at Univanich First plantings at Univanich 483,000 hectares 45,000 growers 0 483,200 hectares 1968 1971 1974 1977 1980 1983 1986 1989 1992 1995 1998 2001 2004
Fruit Processed by by Univanich 1990 --2006 Thousand tonnes 800 700 732 600 500 466 428 507 545 505 400 300 231 235 253 304 336 286 374 338 200 136 149 185 100 0 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Estate Fruit Purchased Fruit
Recent oil o palm plantings are spreading North as far as 15 0 from the Equator Univanich Palm Oil Krabi Province 15 0 10 0 5 0 Equator
Univanich Soil Soil Water Deficit (mm) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total 1997 3 0 18 58 35 22 0 0 0 0 0 1 119 1998 61 72 149 94 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 376 1999 0 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 32 2000 72 83 18 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 183 2001 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2002 24 144 76 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 280 2003 0 86 47 14 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 149 2004 28 94 94 26 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 260 2005 111 146 22 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 310
Thousand tonnes 140 Thailand s s Monthly CPO Production 2004 --2007 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 2004 2005 2006 2007 Annual CPO Production (tonnes) 2004 820,800 2005 784,000 2006 1,167,100 2007 1,050,500
Univanich Irrigation Trials Trial Period Objectives DIR 90 (Phase I) 1990 1999 To compare 150 litres/palm.day (Dripper Irrigation) 300 litres/palm.day with normal and double fertiliser MIR 93 1996 1999 To compare 4 methods (Methods of Irrigation) - Drippers - Sprinklers - Microsprayers - Contour furrows DIR 90 (Phase II) 2000 2006 To compare 225 litres/palm.day (Dripper Irrigation) 450 litres/palm.day with normal and double fertiliser by fertigation
Methods of Irrigation Trial
Dripper Sprinkler Micro Sprayer
Computerised control system
9 drips per palm
1 sprinkler 2 palms
2 micros per palm
Furrow irrigation
Methods of Irrigation Table 1 Yield with different irrigation methods Mean (tons fresh fruit bunches/ha.yr) for 4 years, 1996-1999 Method Rate of irrigation (litres/palm.day) 0 120 240 360 Unirrigated control 19.5 - - - Drip - 21.2 23.5 26.6 Sprinkler - 22.3 22.7 21.8 Microsprayer - 22.5 23.7 22.5 Contour furrow - 22.9 25.6 23.4 Standard error 1.7 Mean, all methods 19.5 22.2 23.9 23.6
Table 2 Yield with different levels of drip irrigation, trial DIR90 tonnes FFB/ha.yr Irrigation (l/palm.day) Normal Fertiliser Double Fertiliser Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 1 Phase 2 0 (external control) 17.7 17.6 19.8 18.2 150 225 22.3 24.3 22.9 24.1 300 450 23.0 25.0 26.0 28.1
4 drips per palm
Figure 2 Yield responses to irrigation, with and without extra fertilizer, in phase 2 of DIR90 (2002-2006) 30 Yield (t FFB/ha.yr) 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 0 225 450 Irrigation (l/palm.day) low fertiliser high fertiliser
Figure 3 Comparison of responses in three drip irrigation trials 30 The line is a regression through all data points shown. For DIR90, the unirrigated data are from the external control plots, and the irrigated data are from the plots receiving double the normal rate of fertiliser. Yield (tons FFB/ha.yr) 28 26 24 22 20 18 MIR93 DIR90 ph 1 DIR90 ph 2 fitted line 16 0 100 200 300 400 Irrigation (litres/palm.day)
Some practical aspects of irrigation
Some practical aspects of irrigation digging trenches for dripper lines close to the palm causes root damage and depresses yield up to 2 years after installation mature palms can obtain water from as far as 36 m away so it is not necessary to irrigate very close to the palm irrigation of seedlings from time of planting can be done with moveable dripper line coiled around the palm
Drip line every second row
Moving coil system
Moving coil system
Irrigated progeny trials
Irrigated progeny trials
Conclusions : the drip system is the best for irrigating oil palms fertilizer inputs should be increased to obtain maximum response to higher rates of irrigation with adequate fertilizer the yield response to irrigation was more or less linear, up to 450 litres/palm.day that response in Univanich Thailand was up to 10 t FFB/ha.year