Author : Mohd Ali Bin Aman

Summary : The growth of agro-based industry in recent years has created a strong competition against the traditional use of oil palms fronds purely to mulch frond avenues in oil palm plantations. Meanwhile, increased mechanization continues to cause oil compaction in harvesting paths which act as sub-agricultural roads. Approximately, 50 percent of an oil palm area is made up of harvesting paths, thus the resulting soil compaction could have a serious impact on palm growth and yield in the long term. Therefore, the objective of this research was to study the decomposition of oil palm fronds placed on the harvesting path and its effect on soil physical properties.