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21:35, 10 October 2016 [[Image:SNV logo.png|right|100px|link=http://www.snv.org/]]
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[[Image:oil-palm-4.8-figure21.png|thumb|right|200px|Figure 21: This fertiliser should be spread better.]]
Download: [http://intothefield.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Module-4-3rd-edition-2016-08.pdf Module 4: Fertiliser Application]
===Goal===
* Provide oil palms with sufficient potassium to produce optimum yields;
* Limit the loss of potassium to the environment.
===Standard===
Potassium fertiliser is applied according to the 4R principle: right type, right amount, right place, right time.
===Timing===
'''Not''' during very wet periods.
===Frequency===
* Most soil types: 2—3 doses per year (once every 4—6 months);
* Very sandy soils and peat soils: 3—4 doses per year (once every 3—4 months).
===Labour time required===
2—4 hours per hectare.
===Equipment and materials===
* Bucket, bag or wheelbarrow
* Kitchen scales
* Black marker pen
* Bowl of 1.5—2 L
* Fertiliser
===Dosage===
See: [[Sustainable Oil Palm Farming / Fertiliser recommendations | Table 4; Table 5; Table 6; Table 7]].
===Who===
Farmers and their families or hired labourers.
===How===
Apply potassium fertiliser by following these steps:
{| style="border: 1px solid #72CDFF" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|width="15%" valign="top"|'''Step 1.'''
|Before application, remove noxious weeds and slash ground cover to 50 cm height.
|-
|width="15%" valign="top" style="background:#f0f8ff;" |'''Step 2.'''
|style="background:#f0f8ff;" |Weigh the amount of fertiliser to be applied in a bowl or cup, using kitchen scales.
|-
|width="15%" valign="top"|'''Step 3.'''
|Mark the bowl / cup at the right amount using a black marker pen.
|-
|width="15%" valign="top" style="background:#f0f8ff;" |'''Step 4.'''
|style="background:#f0f8ff;" |Break up any fertiliser clumps into small pieces before application (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-4.8-figure21.png Figure 21]).
|-
|width="15%" valign="top" |'''Step 5.'''
|Apply the fertiliser in the following way:
* For palms younger than 7 years after planting, K should be applied evenly in the weeded circle;
* For palms 7—10 years after planting, K should be applied in a band around the weeded circle;
* For palms greater than 10 years after planting, K should be broadcast over the frond stack and in the inter-row, apart from the harvesting path;
* Apply bunch ash in the weeded circle <ref>H. Othman, T.M. Ahmad, T.D. Mohd, Bunch ash: an efficient and cost-effective K fertilizer source for mature oil palm on peat under high rainfall environment, MPOB Information Series, 258 (2005).</ref>.
If palms are on the edge of a river, road or ditch, avoid applying fertilisers on the side of the palm closest to the edge (if fertiliser is being broadcast).
|}
===Data recording===
Every fertiliser application should be recorded in a log book as shown in the example below.
{|border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0"
|rowspan="2" |'''Date'''
|rowspan="2" |'''Time'''
|rowspan="2" |'''Location'''
|rowspan="2" |'''Activity'''
|rowspan="2" |'''Input type'''
|rowspan="2" |'''Input amount'''
|rowspan="2" |'''Input costs'''
|colspan="2" |'''Labour input'''
|rowspan="2" |'''Labour costs'''
|-
|'''People'''
|'''Hours'''
|-
|16/01/13
|<!--empty-->
|Field 3
|Fertiliser: K
|KCl
|150 kg
|840000
|1
|4
|40000
|}
===References===
<references/>
===Acknowledgements===
The material from ''Applying potassium (K)'' is sourced from Smallholder Oil Palm Handbook and put together by Lotte Suzanne Woittiez ([http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/wageningen-university.htm Wageningen Universit]) and Haryono Sadikin, Sri Turhina, Hidayat Dani, Tri Purba Dukan, and Hans Smit ([http://www.snv.org/ SNV]) in August 2016. See [http://intothefield.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Module-4-3rd-edition-2016-08.pdf Module 4: Fertiliser Application] for more information.
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