THE EFFECT OF FERTILIZER DOSES ON VARIATIONS IN AGE OF PALM OIL PLANT

Abstract

To produce quality oil, proper plant care is essential, with fertilization being key to maintaining high productivity. As the plant ages, the required fertilizer quantity decreases, which can impact production outcomes. To assess the effects of reduced fertilization, observations were made on oil palm plants with decreased fertilizer quantities. These observations focused on plant health and oil palm production results. Analyzing plant health can be done in various ways, one of which is by using remote sensing technology. Remote sensing analysis of plant health can be conducted using Sentinel 2A satellite imagery, accessible and downloadable via Google Earth Engine. NDVI analysis is used on Sentinel 2A imagery to assess plant health. The analysis results show consistent health classification across different planting years (0.72-1), indicate a very healthy classification, demonstrating that reducing the quantity of fertilizer does not affect the NDVI values in different planting years. However, reducing the quantity of fertilizer does impact the productivity of oil palm plants. These findings provide an important contribution to fertilizer management, particularly in oil palm plantations.