In big plantations the forest trees are pulled up with
the help of big machines.
But often the grower cannot use these machines.
Begin by marking out the boundaries of the plantation.
Next, cut down as many trees as you can around the
plantation and take all the trees away, so that the
fire cannot burn down the whole forest.
This is called making a firebreak.
Then set fire to the plantation site.
When the fire is over, the soil is bare.
You must protect the soil against the sun, for the sun
burns the soil and destroys the humus.
At the beginning of the rainy season, sow a cover crop;
a mixture of Pueraria javanica
Centrosema pubescens, and
Calopogonium muconoïdes.
Sow 4 to 6 kilogrammes of seed per hectare.
When the soil of the plantation has been well cleared by fire, peg out the places where you will plant your seedlings.
To be sure to plant at the right density, you must peg
out carefully before planting.
Then you will be sure of having always the same
distance between rows and in each row the same
distance between oil palms.
To get a good yield, you must plant the oil palms at
the right density.
If the oil palms are planted too close together, the
roots get in each other's way, and the leaves do not
have enough air and sun: the yield will be low.
If the oil palms are not planted close enough together, each separate tree produces much, but the roots do not use all the soil: the yield per hectare will be low.
How to peg out the planting pattern
Trace lines across the slope and put in your pegs in
straight lines; leave 7.8 meters between rows and 9
metres between pegs.
In this way you can plant 143 oil palms per hectare;
this is the best density.
Pull out tree stumps and remove fallen trees close to
the pegs, because these stumps and trees would interfere
with the oil palms.
Planting pattern for a plantation
One month before planting, dig a hole at each place
where you have put a peg.
The hole should be 0.60 metre long and wide, and
0.80 metre deep.
When you are digging the holes, cut any roots that you
find in the soil.
Do not mix the soil from above and the soil from
below.
A few days later fill in the holes with the earth you
have dug out.
At the bottom of the hole, put the soil you have dug
out from the top, and at the top put the soil you have
dug out from below.
Fill the hole well, so that no saucer shape forms on
top.
Lifting the seedlings from the nursery
The right time to plant is the beginning of the rainy
season.
In this way the young plants can develop their root system before the dry season arrives.
Choose the biggest and the best-grown seedlings.
Leave in the nursery any seedlings that are small or
badly grown.
Cut away all the dry leaves and the tip of leaves that
are too long.
Put grease over the cut ends where you have removed
leaf tips.
Tie the leaves together.
Do not lift the seedlings long before you plant them.
Lift and plant them in the course of a single day.
In order to keep a big ball of earth around the roots, lift and plant the palm oil seedlings with a plant setter.
If you use a Socfin plant setter, place the seedlings after lifting into a wooden box in order to carry them to the plantation.
If you use a Java plant setter, leave the seedling
inside the plant setter when you carry it to the
plantation.
The seedling is tied into the plant setter.
Seedling in wooden box
Make the holes for planting in the plantation, with the plant setter you use for lifting the seedlings from the nursery beds.
Do not make the holes several days before planting.
If you make the holes too long before planting, the
rain may wash earth from the sides into the hole, or
the sun may dry out the earth on the sides.
The ball of earth around the roots must be level with
the soil of the plantation.
The earth must not form a hollow around the crown.
Fill in with earth the space between the sides of the
hole and the root ball.
Remove with a little stick all the earth that has fallen
on the leaves.
Certain animals may eat the young oil palm seedlings. To protect the seedlings, surround them with wire netting.
Leave the wire netting in place for about 18 months.
When you have put your wire netting in place, spread
a mulch 20 centimetres thick around the seedlings.
This mulch prevents the soil from drying out, and
prevents weeds from growing.
Use dry herbage, and spread it 15 to 20 centimetres
thick at a distance of 30 to 40 centimetres around the
crown.
A few months after planting, apply fertilizers.
The right time to apply fertilizers is near the end of
the rainy season.
The recommended dose of fertilizers for each plant is:
250 to 500 grammes of ammonium sulfate and 250
grammes of potassium chloride.
Spread the fertilizers in a ring underneath the longest
leaves.
After you have spread the fertilizer, cover it with a
little earth. If there is a mulch around the seedlings,
remove the mulch before applying the fertilizer. Afterwards
spread a fresh mulch of dry herbage.
