Page 38 - sr_2012.pdf

reductionof chemical footprint
organic fertilisers and
planting legume cover crops
Before the planting of oil palms, or when the trees are still in the
immature phase, our estates are planted with Legume Cover Crops
(LCC) to prevent soil erosion. LCC helps to aerate, structure and
moisten the soil and fixes atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients
for the trees. This allows us to reduce the use of fertilisers and
subsequently, our chemical footprint. As LCC also suppresses the
growth of rhinoceros beetles (Oryctes rhinoceros), we are able to
reduce the use of pesticides.
The LCC species planted on our estates are Calopogonium caeruleum
(CC), Calopogonium mucunoides (CM) , Centrosema pubescens
(CP), Pueraria javanica (PJ) , and e. Mucuna bracteata (MB). The
coverage of LCC on our estates varies. Some plantations are fully
covered with LCC while other areas, like the new estates in South
Sumatra, are still cultivating LCC on the estates.
In Riau, we have been using Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) as soil
mulch since the mid 90s, and together with the use of Palm Oil
Mill Effluent (POME) in land application, we have been able to
reduce the need for inorganic fertilisers by 14% annually. We are
now moving towards co-composting the EFB and POME, which can
potentially replace up to 30% of the inorganic fertilisers annually.
The graph above represents our inorganic fertiliser usage between
2010 and 2012. Through the use of LCC and recycling of palm
oil mill by-products as organic fertilisers, we are able to reduce
the use of inorganic fertiliser in our plantations. A site-specific
fertilisation scheme is developed for each plantation to create a
balanced nutrition for our crops based on yield, field inspection,
analysis of leaves, soils data and land and climatic characteristics
of each site.
pesticides and bio-pest controls
The monitoring of pest population is a critical process in preventing
pest outbreak. We constantly assess the degree of pest damage
and estimate the pest population through observation and census
on the plantations.
Biological and integrated controls are applied when necessary.
Biological control is always preferred to chemical treatments as
an effective treatment of pests. Only in limited circumstances,
and as a last resort, are chemical pesticides used to control pest
populations.
We also cultivated the natural enemies of pests as an integrated
approach to minimise the use of pesticides and our chemical
footprint. We have been particularly successful in the use of
entomopathogenic agents of viral origin in nettle caterpillar and
the breeding of barn owls (Tyto alba) as natural predators of rats.
In 2012, 547 kg of viral material of infected nettle caterpillars was
sprayed over 3,874 hectares of our Riau plantations. The stock
of viral material was obtained by collecting infected caterpillars
directly from the field after a treatment.
Inorganic Fertiliser Consumption Chart
Q 2010
Q 2011
Q 2012
18,000
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Urea Potash; or MOP Rock Phospate Dolomite Kieserite Borate NPK
Tonnes
Organic Fertiliser Consumption Chart (not include POME)
Q 2010
Q 2011
Q 2012
180,000
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
Empty Fruit Bunches Composting Wet decaner solids
The data is based on RSPO certified estates only, covering 54,769 hectares.
Tonnes
Indofood Agri Resources Ltd.