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Nitrogen Fertilization and its Effect on Boron Uptake and Distribution in

Young Oil Palm

Conference Paper · September 2013

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 Nitrogen Fertilization and its Effect on Boron Uptake
and Distribution in Young Oil Palm
Suzie Haryanti Husain¹. Adzmi Yaacob¹. Goh Kah Joo²
¹Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology, Universiti Technology Mara (UiTM), Malaysia.

²Applied Agricultural Resources (AAR), No 11, Jalan Teknologi 3/6, Taman Sains Selangor 1, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Introduction The photos below support this findings

Boron (B) deficiency is a frequent issue in the oil palm plantation. The symptoms can be observed in the leaf
Heart rot
malformations namely hook leaf (Figure 4), crinkle leaf (Figure 5), transient leaf, (Figure 6), fish bone leaf and
stump leaf form. These symptoms (Figure 1) of leaf malformation are due to leaf lamina development
interference which leads to reduction of photosynthetic activity. As B deficiency increases, leaf area and yields Bud rot
Figure 5. Crincke leaf in Elaeis guineensis leaf,
slowly decreases and in severe cases no fruit is produced. The common belief that B is not an important moderate symptom of B deficiency.
nutrient in the early growth stage of oil palm is actually a misconception. Theoretically, continuous supply of B Credits: IPNI

is necessary to prevent the occurrence of deficiency symptoms at an early growth stage of oil palm. Due to its
essentiality to the crop and the lack of attention given to this micronutrient this research has been initiated to
establish a relationship between B and N fertilization. It is hoped that the outcome of this research will lead Figure 1.The normal B deficiency symptoms
usually observed in oil palm (Rajaratnam, 1972).
to new approaches on effective B management in oil palm. Credit: IPNI

Literature review
Planting vigorous healthy oil palm seedling will ensure good survival and growth of the crop in the field. A
balance fertilizer application which differs according to the different growth stages of the palm will lead to a
highly productive oil palm plantation. Nitrogen is a major nutrient that is essential for promoting leaf
production, leaf area and net assimilation rate resulting in improve the number of bunches and bunch weight.
Over application of N however could lead to increase in male inflorescence and a decrease in female
Figure 2.Nitrogen deficiency begins as a uniform light Figure 3.Healthy oil palm seedlings
inflorescence which reduces the sex ratio. The high rate of N application has also been linked to suppression green discoloration of the oldest leaves.
Figure 4. Elaeis guineensis with "hookleaf", a mild
symptom of B deficiency.
of B for some crops such as citrus (Chapman & Vanselow, 1955), celery (Yamaguchi, Howard, & Minges,
1958), cotton (Lancaster et al., 1962) orange (Jones et al., 1963), broccoli, brussels sprout, cauliflower (Gupta
& Cutcliffe, 1973), barley, wheat (Gupta, Macleod, & Sterling, 1976), lucerne (Willet et al., 1985), table beets
(Mack, 1989), canola (Moradi-Telavat, Siadat, Nadian, & Fathi, 2008), and corn (Sh, Nemati, & Silspur, 2013).
A recent study of oil palm nutrition has also indicated a possible link of high N fertilization rate to B
suppression (Goh et al., 2007) resulting in B deficiency symptoms. As B is categorized as trace element, a
small amount of B can make a great difference in oil palm growth form. A sufficient amount of B will
produce a healthy well form palm fronds and canopy head. A slight overdose of B may lead to a decline and
deformation of palm canopy and may eventually kill the palm. B toxicity although is rare especially in high
Figure 7. Chronically B deficient
rainfall areas may occur if too much B fertilizer is applied. The respond of B on different rate of N Figure 6. B deficient Elaeis guineensis showing transient Adonidia merrillii showing little-leaf and trunk bending
Figure 8. Transverse translucent
streaking symptoms of B deficiency Syagrus romanzoffiana.
leaf shapes, acute symptom of B deficiency. symptoms.
application in oil palm has not been critically tested in Malaysia so far. Hence a study has been initiated to Credit: T. Broschart (2007)
Credit: T. Broschart (2007)

look into the behavior of B uptake and distribution in young oil palm when applied with different dosages of
N.

Objectives
To determine the effects of nitrogen on Boron (B) uptake and distributions of young oil palm.

Methodology
Figure 9.Crumpled leaf (“Accordion leaf”), a symptom of Figure 10.Inflorescence necrosis in Syagrus
A three-month old oil palm seedlings obtained from Sime Darby Research Sdn Bhd are planted in the Figure 8. Corrugated leaflets in Butia capitata caused
by mild B deficiency. severe B deficiency in Heterospathe elata. omanzoffiana caused by B deficiency.
Credit: T. Broschart (2007) Credit: T. Broschart (2007)
greenhouse of Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM). The Credit: T. Broschart (2007)

experiment is conducted in a 4x4 factorial Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with six
replications. The treatment comprised of four N and B levels (zero, insufficient, recommended, and luxury).
A total of 96 three month old oil palm seedlings are planted in black polythene bag. Nutrients are added
according to the recommended fertilizer program for oil palm seedlings (Gillbanks, 2003). Boron and
nitrogen are applied in the form of disodium octoborate tetrahydrate (20.5% B) and ammonium sulphate
(21% N). Potassium and magnesium are applied in the form of muriate of potash and kieserite. Weeding
and irrigation are carried out manually for all the pots. Using the same method, another set of experiment
is conducted separately using six-month old oil palm seedlings. Both sets of seedlings are left to grow for
three months to allow the uptake of nutrients. At the end of three months, destructive sampling is carried
out for both sets of oil palm seedlings. Plant samples are separated into rachis, roots, leaves (young and
older), which are then oven dried at 70˚C until a constant weight is achieved. The dry weight of the
samples is measured using the analytical balance. The samples are then ground to pass through 1mm sieve
and analysed for their total nitrogen and boron. For B analysis, the Azomethine-H method is used (John et
al., 1975). The ability of the oil palm seedlings to take up the applied N and B is evaluated from the total
N and total B in each plant parts. All these parameters will be compared with the dry matter yield. Two
ways Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using SPSS version 20.0 will be used in the analysis.
REFERENCES
Chapman, H. D., & Vanselow, A. P. (1955). Boron deficiency and excess. California Citrogr., 40, 455.
Cutcliffe, J. A., & Gupta, U. C. (1980). Effects of Added Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium on Leaf boron Concentration of three Vegetable Crops. Canadian
Journal of Plant Science, 60(April), 571–576.
Gillbanks, R. A. (2003). Standard agronomic procedures and practices. In T.A.H. Fairhurst (Ed.), Oil Palm: Management for large and sustainable yields (pp. 115-
150). Singapore: PPI/PPIC and IPI.
Goh, K. J., Gan, H. H., Kee, K. K., Chew, P. S., & Teoh, K. C. (2007). Boron requirement and distribution in the oil palm ( Elaeis guineensis Jacq .) and some
implications on manuring practices. In G. S. (Eds) Xu. F., Goldbach H.E., Brown P.H., Bell R.W., Fujiwara T., Hunt C.D (Ed.), Advances in Plant and
Animal Boron Nutrition (pp. 189–202). The Netherlands: Springer.
Gupta, U. C., & Cutcliffe, J. A. (1973). Boron nutrition of brocolli, Brussels sprout, and cauliflower grown on Prince Erdward Island soils. Canadian Journal of Soil
Science, 53, 275.
Gupta, U. C., Macleod, J. A., & Sterling, J. D. . (1976). Effects of boron and nitrogen on grain yields and nitrogen and boron concentrations of barley and wheat.
Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 40, 451.
Jones, W. W., Embelton, T. W., Boswell, S. B., Steinacker, M. L., Lee, B. W., & E.L. Barnhart. (1963). Nitrogen control programs for oranges and high sulphate
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Lancaster, J. D., Murphy, B. C., Hurt, B. C., Jr., Arnolds, B. L., Coats, R. E., … Walton, L. (1962). Boron now recommended for cotton. Miss. Agriculture
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Mack, H. J. (1989). Effects of nitrogen, boron and magnesium on boron deficiency, leaf mineral concentrations, and yield of table beets (Beta vulgaris L.).
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Moradi-Telavat, M. R., Siadat, S. A., Nadian, H., & Fathi, G. (2008). Effect of nitrogen and boron on canola yield and yield components in Ahwaz, Iran.
International Journal of Agricultural Research, 3(6), 415–422.
Rajaratnam, J. (1972). Observations on Boron-deficient Oil Palms ( Elaeis guineensis). Experimental Agriculture, 8(02), 339. Retrieved from
http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0014479700005135
Sh, S., Nemati, N., & Silspur, M. (2013). Effect of nitrogen fertilizer and spray the element boron some agronomic traits of corn ( Zea mays L .) hybrid ( SC704 )

Expected result
in Varamin , Iran. Annals of Biological Research, 4(3), 37–40. Willet, I. R., Jakobsen, P., & Zarcinas, B. A. (1985). Nitrogen-induced boron deficiency in
lucerne. Plant and Soil, 6(86), 443–446.
Willet, I. R., Jakobsen, P., & Zarcinas, B. A. (1985). Nitrogen-induced boron deficiency in lucerne. Plant and Soil, 6(86), 443–446.
Yamaguchi, M., Howard, F. D., & Minges, P. A. (1958). Brown checking of celery, a symptom of boron deficiency. III. Effects of boron, potassium, nitrogen and
It is hoped that the outcome of this research will shed some light to new approaches on effective B and N boron in culture solution on the physiological disorder and nutrient uptake. Proceedings Am. Social Horticulture Science, 71, 455.
Zaharah, A. R., Husni, M. H. A., & Akmar, A. S. N. (2012). Evaluation of Nitrogen Uptake Efficiency of Different Oil Palm Genotypes Using 15 N Isotope
management in the oil palm nutrition. Labelling Method. Pertanika Journal Tropical Agricultural Sciences, 35(4), 743–754.

Acknowledgements
Zin, Z. Z., & Tarmizi, A. M. (2007). Efficient use of urea as nitrogen fertilizer for mature oil palm in Malaysia. MPOB Information Series, 362.

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