The impact of land application of palm oil mill effluents on some soil chemical characteristics in The District Karang Tinggi, Bengkulu Tengah Regency, Province of Bengkulu

¹ Program Study of Soil Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Indonesia
² Program Study of Forestry Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Bengkulu, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: sukisno@unib.ac.id

Abstract

Palm oil mill effluents are envisaged as fertilizer alternatives in palm oil plantations. This research aimed to estimate the impact of the land application on soil some soil chemical characteristics in the District of Karang Tinggi, Bengkulu Tengah Regency, Province of Bengkulu, Indonesia. The implementation of Land applications of POME was carried out by flowing it from palm oil mill effluent ponds on the ditches (roraks) of palm oil plantation land. The soil sample was collected from the soil with land applications, soil between land applications, and soil without land applications. The result showed that land applications of POME contributed to the increasing soil acidity (pH), K, Ca, Mg, KTK, and base saturation in the soil, with the value tend to decline in soil depth. The land applications of POME also contributed to the increasing phosphor and oil/fat in the topsoil.