Analysis of The Growth of Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) Exposed by Aluminum Toxicity and Silica as an Amelioration

Abstract

Aluminum (Al) contained in acidic soil could become an obstacle for plant growth. The Al toxicity could inhibit root growth, water and nutrient absorption. One of the solution to overcome Al toxicity was by applying Silica (Si). The aim of this research was to study the impacts of Al to the growth activity of oil palm and to know the effects of Si to the growth activity of oil palm contaminated by Al. The factorial treatments were arranged in a complete random design with two factors. The first factor was Al toxicity, i.e. with and without Al, while the second factor was the application of Si that consisted of four levels (0, 32, 64, 96 gram per plant). some of variables included leaf area ratio (LAR), leaf area, net assimilation rate (NAR), relative growth ratio (RGR), plant height, and plant dry weight were observed. The result showed that Al toxicity decreased the LAR, leaf area, NAR, RGR, plant height, and plant dry weight. The application of Si 32 gram per plant increased leaf area ratio and was not significantly different from the application of 96 gram Si per plant. However, the application of Si to oil palm contaminated with Al did not affect to relative grow rate, but its application to normal plant would increase the relative growth ratio.

The growth analysis of soybean cultivars on the application of banana pseudo-stem bokashi in Samas Coastal Land, Yogyakarta

“…NAR of plants in each growth period was positively correlated with RGR (r= 0.720** at period of 4-6 weeks and r= 0.927 ** at period of 6-8 weeks). The positive correlation between NAR and LPR (r= 0.97) was also reported by Ratnasari et al (2017) on the growth of oil palm plants that experienced aluminum poisoning stress. NAR that increases for a certain period of time will be followed by an increase in long-term plant LPR, followed by an increase in RGR.…”

The tolerance of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) seedlings to Al stress is enhanced by citric acid and natural peat water

“…high Al concentrations in soils are the main limiting factors for plant growth and development. Al toxicity reduced leaf size, plant height, and total dry weight of oil palm seedlings (Ratnasari et al 2016), primary root length, and sugar content in shoots and roots (Supena et al 2014). In fact, one of the varieties planted in oil palm land with an Al saturation above 75% shows high flower and fruit abortion so that the productivity achievement is only about 70% of its potential.…”

Metabolic activities of eight oil palm progenies grown under aluminum toxicity

“…The redyellow podzolic characteristics are high acidity level, a predominance of acid reacting cations, and deficiency of alkaline reagent cations. The dominant acid reagent cations are aluminium (Al), iron (Fe), and manganese (Mn) (Alam et al 2020;Febriani et al 2017;Irawan and Putra 2019;Khoiriyah et al 2016;Nurmalasari et al 2016;Ratnasari et al 2017;Utami et al 2019).…”

“…If the growth of oil palm is disturbed in the long term, it will lead to the low productivity of oil palm plantations in the long run. The low productivity of oil palm occurs for two reasons: the smaller number of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per stand and the smaller FFB size (Utami et al 2019;Ratnasari et al 2017;Khoiriyah et al 2016).…”

“…The impact of high Al availability on red-yellow podzolic directly causes poisoning to oil palms, which begins with stunted growth and root damage. Plant roots become stunted and tend to be short, so that their ability to absorb water and essential mineral nutrients is not optimal (Utami et al 2019;Ratnasari et al 2017;Khoiriyah et al 2016). Al with a high level of availability in red-yellow podzolic causes plant roots to accumulate these ions at high levels.…”