Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Potential as

Ameliorant for Acid Soil

Parlindungan Lumbanraja

, Erwin Masrul Harahap

, Abdul Rauf

and Rachmat Adiwiganda

Doctoral Program of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 20155, North Sumatra,

Indonesia

Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan 20155, North Sumatra, Indonesia

PT. Wilmar Nabati Indonesia

Keywords: Acid soil, Biochar, Empty Fruit Bunches. Oil Palm,

Abstract: Research took place in Screenhouse of Agriculture Faculty, Nommensen HKBP University Medan, North

Sumatera, Indonesia. The soil used is classified to Inceptisol with loam texture and pH of soil is 4,9 with Al

0,03 m.e/100 g took from Wonosari Tanjung Morawa, Deli Serdang, North Sumatera, Indonesia. The

research is intend to know how the hypothesized oil palm emty fruit bunches biochar (OPEFBB) enhanced

acid soil. Experiment conduct in Complete Randomized Design with six level and four times repetition, then

continued analized with Duncan Multiple Range Test. The application of OPEFBB increasing with highly

significat to: pH, sum of basic cations, base saturation and available K. The soil pH increasing is start from

0,2 units in application 5 t/ha up to 1,12 units of pH on application 25 t/ha. The increasing in soil available

K reach 1,1 m.e/100 g (high) on application 5 t/ha and up to 2,48 m.e/100 g (very high) on the application

25 t/ha compared to the control with 0,59 m.e/100 g (medium). The levels of Ca, Mg, and P are increased

with the application of material but statistically not significant. No significant effect OPEFBB application to

the exchangeable Al of soil. The water volume content is increased significantly but simultaneously

followed a significantly decrease in air filled pores, but for soil bd and soil total porosity did not effects

significantly. The total population of soil microbes differed insignificantly with tendency of decline.

1 INTRODUCTION

In Indonesia the soil conditions tend to react acid

with soil pH values ranging from 4,5 to 5,5 so that

the soil with a pH of 6,0-6,5 has often been said to

be quite neutral when in fact the condition of this pH

value of soil is still slightly acid. The world's acid

soil covers 40% of the world's land area (Pariasca et

al., 2009). In Indonesia the area of acid soil which

consists of various order reaches 102.817.113 ha, in

Sumatera is an area of 29.344.534 ha, and in North

Sumatera is an area of 4.156.283 ha, with the soil

classified to Inceptisol in North Sumatera reached

2.414.939 ha (Mulyani et al., 2006). With such a

large area of acid soil is very useful to obtain a

technology to overcome the obstacles that arise for

the plant, so that one day this land can be utilized for

optimal even more to become sustainable

agriculture.

Acid soil conditions usually coincide with soil

infertility, which in many cases becomes unsuitable

for agricultural crops (Pattanayak and Khriedunio,

2013), relatively low levels of soil base nutrient,

lower availability of macro nutrients both primary

and secondary (Cornell, 2010). The nutrient P

element in acid soil is often not available to plants

due to the fixed by Al (Silveira, 2013). The nutrient

K element eventhough pH is considered to have

little effect on its availability, but the presence of

high Mg and Ca will tend to substitute K in the

absorbtion complex, thus K becomes more available

to the crop (Alberta Canada Agriculture and

Forestry, 2013; McKenzie, 2015).

Low soil pH values on top soil substantially

increase the solubility of Al especially if the soil has

a pH less than 5.0 (Rout et al., 2001; Gazey and

Liam, 2015; Panda et al., 2009). The presence of Al

as a source of acid in the soil even under certain

concentration level will be toxic to the plant.

Aluminum as a toxic in the soil often makes soybean

Lumbanraja, P., Harahap, E., Rauf, A. and Adiwiganda, R.

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Potential as Ameliorant for Acid Soil.

DOI: 10.5220/0009902500002480

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (ICNRSD 2018), pages 337-344

ISBN: 978-989-758-543-2

337

plants dwarf at the initial growth (Zulfa, 2015;

Wissuwa and Ae, 2001; Wissuwa, 2005). Al is very

toxic to plants when the concentration is greater than

2 parts per million (ppm) with a soil pH less than 5.5

(Rout et al., 2001; Gazey and Liam, 2015; Balsberg,

1990) and is a major problem facing by worldwide

agriculture on acid soil farming (Vitorello et al.,

2005) and its effect is usually highly visible in the

final phase of plant growth as a result of the

inhibition of water fulfillment by plant roots (Soil

quality, 2016). Biological conditions in the soil are

also effected by soil pH (Cornell, 2010; Pioneer,

2014) and is also known to inhibit the survival of

beneficial microbes such as rhizobia bacteria as a

nitrogen-fixing for legumes (Hollier and Michael,

2005). It is necessary to adjust the soil pH from

acidic conditions to a level appropriate for plants

growth, as it is above 5.5 to 6.5 and grows well on

range of soil pH 6-7 (University of Massachusetts,

2016). Soybeans grow well at soil pH ranging from

6.0 to 6.8. On acid soils the presence of Al in the soil

may fixed P so that it is less available, P deficiency

will greatly affect the growth even to the yield

reduction due to fewer pods and smaller seeds

(Taufiq, 2014), these adverse effects can already be

solved by created a soil pH greater than 5.5.

Biochar behave alkaline can even function to

increase acid soil pH (Ogawa and Okimori, 2010;

Diacarbon energy, 2016; Hugill, 2011; Chan et al.,

2007). The basic nutrient elements contained in the

biochar material will serve to increase the base

cations into the soil and can be used by soil

microbes as well as plant roots. Biochar is porous

thus able to hold water or air in considerable

amounts so improvement of crop yields is not only

in terms of nutritional but also by an increase in

water holding capacity (USBI, 2016; Toll et al.,

2011). Micro pore on biochar function in holding

water in the soil. Biochar application on textured

sandy soil can increase water availability for plants

up to 11% (Karhu et al., 2011). Biochar effected on

enzymatic activity occurring in soil also proved to

maintain the fertility of the soil for a long time

despite the high rainfall in a region that is very

potential for washing (Hunt et al., 2011). The use of

biochar into the soil is not something universally but

rather needs consideration of local circumstances

and it sources (Abiven et al., 2014; Jenkins et al.,

2016). Biochar can improve the conditions of plant

growth very well (Nature, 2009). The application of

one kilogram per square meter gives better results

and other crops and thoroughly influence the soil

ecosystems (Girardin, 2016; Wen-fu et al., 2013). As

we knew that the source of oil palm empty fruit

bunches is a reneweable natural resource so it will

be very worthwhile to invent the way how to

manage it to support a sustainable agriculture.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

2.1 Time and Place

The screenhouse experiment had done in October-

November 2016 held at Faculty of Agriculture

University of HKBP Nommensen Screenhouse in

Simalingkar. The soil used in this study is inceptisol

with loam texture class that was taken from

Wonosari Village, Tanjung Morawa Deli Serdang

Regency, Indonesia.

2.2 Materials and Tools

The materials use in this study consist of: inceptisol

soil material, oil palm empty fruit bunches biochar,

and rainfall data. The tools use in this study consist

of: plastic, label paper, markers, stationery, meter,

scales weights 15 kg, black buckets as pot, and

camera.

2.3 Experimental Design

The experimental design use Completely

Randomized Design with a six-stages biochar:

without biochar 0,0 (w/w); biochar 0,25% (w/w)

equivalent to 5 t/ha; biochar 0,5% (w/w) equivalent

to 10 tons / ha; biochar 0,75% (w/w) equivalent to

15 t/ha; biochar 1,0% (w/w) equivalent to 20 t/ha;

biochar 1, 25% (w/w) is equivalent to 25 t/ha,

treatment was repeated four times so the sum of

experiment is 24. The effect of treatment on

observation parameters was done by Variance

Analysis Test and when showing significant

followed by Duncan Multiple Range Test.

2.4 Soil Properties Parameters

The main parameters of soil properties observed in

this study including: pH, K, Ca, Mg, Na, sum of

basic cations, base saturation, Al, P, soil bulk

density, total porosity of soil, volumetric water

content, percent of air filled pores, and total

population of soil microbes.

ICNRSD 2018 - International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

338

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit

Bunches Biochar Application on

Several Soil Chemical Properties of

Tanjung Morawa Inceptisol

Oil palm empty fruit bunches biochar application as

a renewable resource increased the: soil pH, the sum

of basic cations (SBC), base saturation (BS) and K

available of soil with very highly significant as seen

in laboratory analysis results presented in Table 1.

The increase of soil pH occurring starting from 0,2

units in application equivalent to 5 t/ha up to 1,12

units of pH (logarithm value) on OPEFBB

application equivalent to 25 t/ha. The increase in soil

pH, is an indication of the decrease in the number of

ions and accompanied by an increase in OH

ions.

The increase of unit soil pH value with

application 5 t/ha has not given significant change

compared to soil pH without application of OPEFBB

and also no change to soil pH level in soil acidity

classification, this is evidence of soil bufferability

has been occured. So the OPEFBB functions to

neutralize the available supply of soil acids of

available buffer capacity in the soil exchange

system. In the application of OPEFBB equal to 10

t/ha soil pH is 5,75 (an increase 0.5 units in soil pH

value) compare to soil pH on the control treatment

with a soil pH 5,25. An increase in soil pH of 0,5 pH

unit statistically has given a significant effect on the

soil pH rise compared to the untreated soil pH and

also rise up classification of the soil pH state from

acid to slightly acidic on the basis of soil acidity

classification (CFSAR, 1994).

Table 1. Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Application to Some Soil Chemical Properties

It is known that the basic cations can react with

water and produce hydroxyl (OH

) in the soil, so the

increasing of basic cations in the soil will increased

amount of hydroxyl as well. The hydroxyl ions that

formed will react with the H

cations from the soil

solution and produce water molecules. The reaction

resulted in the binding of the cation of H

of the soil

solution by each of the formed hydroxyl anions, in

this way resulting in an increasing pH of the soil.

As indicated from the results of this study, the

application of OPEFBB increased the sum of basic

cations (SBC) of soil is significantly different as

shown in Table 1. The number of soil basic cations in

the treatment of OPEFBB application equivalent to 5

t/ha is 5,85 m.e/100 g, an increase in SBC ranging

from 0,9 m.e/100 g (compared to controls increased

by about 18.18% with SBC of soil 4,95 m.e/100 g).

The SBC in the treatment of OPEFBB application

Application of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar (t/ha)

0 5 10 15 20 25

Soil pH

5,25D 5,45D 5,75C 6,15B 6,15B 6,37A*

Sum of Basic Cations ( m.e/100 g)

4,95C 5,85B 5,78B 6,36B 6,48B 7,36A

Soil Base Saturation (%)

41,5C 49,09B 48,44B 53,36B 54,37B 61,68A

Available Soil K ( m.e/100 g)

0,59C 1,1CB 1,24B 1,63B 1,61B 2,48A

Available Soil Ca ( m.e/100 g)

3,28 3,33 3,08 3,17 3,39 3,34**

Available Soil Mg ( m.e/100 g)

1,12 1,24 1,28 1,26 1,29 1,34

Available Soil Na ( m.e/100 g)

0,13 0,16 0,17 0,17 0,18 0,19

Available Soil P ( ppm)

60,92 65,49 64 59,8 63,95 77,66

Available Al ( m.e/100 g)

0,03 0,03 0,03 0,03 0,03 0,17

Description: *) Numbers followed by unequal letters differ significantly according to Duncan highly significant 0.01

(uppercase). **) Numbers not followed by letters are not followed by Duncan's multiple range test.

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Potential as Ameliorant for Acid Soil

339

equivalent to 25 t/ha was 7,36 m.e/100 g, there was

an increasing of SBC of soil of 2,41 m.e/100 g (an

increase of about 48,68% compared to SBC control

value with SBC soil 4,95 m.e/100. So on the basis of

the above data after the calculation is known there is

an increase in SBC of soil ranging from 0,9 to 2,41

m.e/100 g if expressed in percent then the magnitude

of this increase ranges from 18,18% to 48,68%). The

increase in SBC accompanied with increase of soil

BS with highly significant as presented in Table 1

due to an increasing of OPEFBB applied to the soil.

The soil BS increased from 41,5% (control) to 49,09

% in the application of OPEFBB equivalent to 5 t/ha

up to 61,68% at application 25 t / ha. Application of

OPEFBB into Tanjung Morawa inceptisol increased

soil BS from 7,59% to 20,18%. This is evidence that

the OPEFBB potentially as amelioration material for

acid soil.

The available potassium (K

) of soil has

increased with highly significant with the application

of OPEFBB into the soil. Laboratory analysis carried

out that this OPEFBB contains potassium element in

the form of K

O of 10,10% (dry weight). Giving this

material into the soil is enhance in soil available K

when compared to the control 0,59 m.e/100 g

(medium), whereas with OPEFBB equivalent to 5

t/ha K level available soil reach to 1,1 m.e/100 g

(high) and this value reaches 1,864 times of control

(increase 86,44%). The highest increase reaches soil

available K value of up to 2,48 m.e/100 g (very high)

or to 4,20 times (up 320%) on application equivalent

to 25 t/ha. How the three of pH, sum of basic cations

and available K increased with the increasing of

OPEFBB shown in Figure 1.

Other basic cations such as Ca and Mg, although

statistically not significant but increased. For the soil

Mg level on this test scale looks different from the

effect on the soil Ca, that every addition of OPEFBB

always gives consistent tendency to increase to the

available Mg level of soil. The increased availability

of these plant nutrients in the soil with biochar

treatment is directly from biochar (Chan et al., 2008;

Lehmann et al., 2003; Lehmann et al., 2006; Sohi et

al., 2009).

Figure 1. Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Application to pH, K Available and Sum of Soil Base Cations.

Soil available P showed an increasing trend,

although in this study the increase was statistically

not significant. Increase in available P of soil ranges

from 4,57 ppm in application of 5 t/ha with P

available soil is 65,49 ppm compared to P content of

control with P content of soil 60,92 ppm. The

highest increase in soil available P is 16,74 ppm

which occurs in the application of 25 t/ha OPEFBB

with available soil P 77,66 ppm. The result data also

shows that there is no significant effect OPEFBB

application to the exchangeable Al of soil.

3.2 Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit

Bunches Biochar Application to

Some Soil Physical Properties of

Tanjung Morawa Inceptisol

The water holding capacity of OPEFBB is capable of

holding water equivalent to up to 231% water content

(g/g). Application into the soil gives a significant

effect on the increase in soil water volume (v/v)

Table 2, along with the significant decrease of air

filled pores, this relationship shown in Figure 2. But

for soil density and total porosity the application did

not have a significantly different effect.

ICNRSD 2018 - International Conference on Natural Resources and Sustainable Development

340

Table 2. Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Application to Some Soil Physical Properties.

Figure 2. Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Application to Porosity, Water Volume and Pore Filled Air Soil

The increasing of the soil volumes moisture

content is ranging from 0,97% in the application

equivalent to 5 t/ha to 4,81% occurring in the

application of materials equivalent to 15 t/ha. The

increased of soil water content is certainly very

meaningful for the cultivated crops, even it will be

reduce the movement of water as percolation water

in the soil, which means to prevention of soil

nutrient leaching occurs in the soil treatment, so

increased the available nutrients for crops, such an

effect will further improve the efficiency of

fertilizer.

3.3 Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit

Bunches Biochar Application to

Total Population of Soil Microbes

on Tanjung Morawa Inceptisol

The data shown in Table 3 informs that there is a

decrease in the soil microbes population with the

increasing of the OPEFBB, with the pattern of

population decline shown in Figure 3. It is known

that the number of bacteria as the largest number of

microbes in the soil only ranges between 10

to 10

per gram of soil [39], so with the lowest population

occurring on the soil experiments that the microbial

function of the soil can still run normally.

Table 3. Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Application to Total Population of Soil Microbes

Application of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar (t/ha)

0 5 10 15 20 25

Soil BD (g/cm

)

1,02 1,02 1,02 1,02 1,06 1,04**

Soil Porosity (%)

61,65 61,17 61,24 61,20 59,47 60,47

Soil Volumetric Water Content (%)

48,44c 49,41cb 52,95a 53,25a 52,46ab 51,05abc*

Soil Air Filled Pores (%)

13,1a 11,75ab 8,28bc 7,95

6,99c 9,41abc

Description: *) Numbers followed by unequal letters differ significantly according to Duncan 0.05 multiple test (lowercase)

**) Numbers not followed by letters are not followed by Duncan's multiple range test.

Application of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar (t/ha)

0 5 10 15 20 25

Total Population of Soil Microbes

10,74

10,25 10,08 10,31 10 10,05*

Description: *) Numbers not followed by letters are not followed by Duncan's multiple range test. Note: The population value

used is the logarithm value of the TP at dilution 10

-9

Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Potential as Ameliorant for Acid Soil

341

The decline of the total microbes population of

this soil is occur due to lack of food, as seen in the

initial soil data that the C concentration of soil is

only 0,93% thus by multiply 1,724 it is obtained the

percentage of organic matter only 1,60 %.

Meanwhile, if only expect of OPEFBB given as

source of carbon will be difficult for microbes to

immediately to decayed or to decompose it in a short

time, because the ratio of C and N of the OPEFBB is

still very high that 37,90:1 is rounded to 38:1. This

fact should be something to consider soil organic

matter in the use of biochar into the soil as it is

known on the basis of existing theory that while

microbes soil consumes C at the very time requires

enough nitrogen, if not will create the

immobilization of N [40]. Material with nitrogen

content of less than 4% while the carbon content is

very high then this material can not be considered as

fertilizer, but merely just a matter of soil amendment

(Lawn Care Academy, 2016).

Figure 3. Effect of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunches Biochar Application to to Total Population of Soil Microbes.

4 CONCLUSIONS

Based on screenhouse test result obtained can be

drawn some conclusions such as: The application of

OPEFBB as a renewable resource to acid soil is

highly significant to increased pH. The increase in

soil pH occurring from 0,2 units in the application of

OPEFBB equivalent to 5 t/ha up to 1,12 units of pH

in equivalent to 25 t/ha. The application of 10 t/ha

has been able to secure the Al in the soil with a soil

pH of 5,75, as it was previously known that the soil

pH of 5,5 was safe enough to prevent the dissolution

of Al in the soil, but to makes acid soil become an

optimal for soybeans growth with pH 6,15 is needed

to 15 t/ha. The OPEFBB is highly significant

increase soil available K, the application 5 t/ha reach

1.1 m.e/100 g (high) and the highest up to 2,48

m.e/100 g (very high) on equivalent to 25 t/ha

compared to control with 0,59 m.e/100 g (medium).

The application of OPEFBB as a renewable resource

to acid soil is highly significant to increased sum of

basic cations as well as base saturation. For the

levels of Ca, Mg, and P of acid soil are increased

with the of OPEFBB but statistikically not

significant. No significant effect OPEFBB

application to the exchangeable Al of soil. The water

volume of soil increased significantly but

simultaneously resulted in a significantly decrease in

percentage of air filled pores but not for bd and

porosity. The effect of OPEFBB application to total

population of soil microbes is not significantly and

has tendency to decline.

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