5. CONCLUSIONS
The study concludes that the distribution of particle size of the soils
studied did not vary significantly because they were formed from the
same parent material (basement complex rocks). Nutrient mining in
plantations is possible as continuous cultivation has been observed to
minimize major and minor plant nutrients. Heaping palm fronds were found
to yield some advantages over time in terms of carbon content, but could
not provide enough nutrients to substitute what the crop used. The rate
of decomposition of organic materials increased with high temperatures,
and the release of nutrients was faster than plants could quickly absorb
and use, and was often subject to losses associated with erosive
precipitation. As pruned fronds and cut plants continue to boost the
structure of the soils to a point that soil bulk density values are
relatively low, the impact of organic matter addition to soils was seen
to be beneficial. The study recommends that the accumulation of organic
residue on the floor of plantations should be championed as it will help
sustain increasing levels of organic matter. It is important to promote
more research on how to efficiently use pruned fronds for compost to be
spread around the oil palm trees.