BACKGROUND

The abundance of natural resources and a favourable climate of Malaysia make it

possible to have commercial cultivation of crops such as oil palm. Up to the year of 2008, the
total plantation area of oil palm in Malaysia was approximately 4487957 ha and it was
reported that a total of 423 palm oil mills could be found in Malaysia in 2005 with a
production capacity of about 89 million tonnes of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) per year. The
processing of palm oil leads to wastes which include palm oil mill effluent (POME), decanter
cake, empty fruit bunches, seed shells and fibre from the mesocarp. These wastes have to be
properly treated in order to avoid any environmental damage. Thus, it is crucial to determine
the best way of treating the wastes and since the wastes are originally organic, they can be
turned into organic compost as they are rich in plant nutrients.
Organic compost is a type of compost prepared using organic sources. Organic compost
is safe to be used in organic gardening and it is easy to produce, making it possible to be
produced at home or on a commercial scale. Commercial organic compost however, is more
expensive than conventional compost and this is due to the fact that commercial organic
compost requires more work and attention when being produced as to ensure that the
compounds or materials in the compost are truly organic. One of the ways of producing
organic compost is by using palm oil mill wastes. As mentioned before, palm oil mill wastes
that are suitable to be used to form organic compost consist of palm oil mill effluent (POME),
decanter solids (DS), empty fruit bunches (EFB), palm kernel shell (PKS) and also fibre from
mesocarp.
POME is rich in nutrients making it suitable to be made into organic compost that could
be used in plantations. This compost has the ability to increase the yield of the plantation
which leads to more income and profits to the farmers. It is also possible to use POME as
land application to provide nutrients for plantation. Table 1.1 below shows the characteristics
of POME that make it suitable to be turned into organic compost:

Parameter

Concentration

Oil & grease

BOD
COD
Total solids
Suspended solids
Total volatile solids
Total Nitrogen
Nitrate
PH

(mg/L)
4,000
25,000
50,000
40,500
18,000
34,000
750
35
4.7 (no unit)

Element
Potassium
Magnesium
Calcium
Phosphorus
Iron
Boron
Zinc
Manganese
Copper

Concentration
(mg/L)
2,270
2
439
180
46.5
7.6
2.3
615
0.89

Table 1.1: Characteristics of Plam Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

Figure 1.1: Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME)

Besides POME, decanter solid can also be used to produce organic compost. Decanter
soild contains high nutrients and is suitable as an organic fertilizer. The experiment done by
Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB) showed that fertilizer produced from decanter solid has
approximately the same quality and effectiveness as the standard inorganic fertilizer. Another
palm oil mill waste that is suitable to form organic compost is empty fruit bunches (EFB).
Generally, in order to produce organic compost from EFB, aerobic composting method can be
applied. Aerobic composting is a controlled biological decomposition of organic materials
which produces organic fertilizers. It requires a large amount of oxygen especially in its early
stage and low oxygen supply might result in slow decomposition. Table 1.2 below shows the
characteristics of EFB, showing the elements and their concentration present in EFB:

Element

Concentra-

Element

Concentra-

Total

tion
43.70%

Phosphorus

tion
0.05%

Carbon
Total

0.52%

Iron

Nitrogen
Potassium
Magnesium

1.34%
20ppm

Boron
Zinc

Calcium

0.19%

Manganese

Element

Concentration

Moisture

70%

649ppm

Holocellulose

19.65

4ppm
21ppm

Lignin
Hot
water

6.36%
1.65

0.07%

soluble
Alcohol

1.23%

Benzene
Sulfur

0.07ppm
Copper
13ppm
Table 1.2: Characteristics of Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB)

Figure 1.2: Decanter Solid

Figure 1.2: Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB)

In addition to POME, DS and EFB, palm kernel shell and fibre from mesocarp are also
suitable to be made into organic compost due to the presence of high nutrients for plantation.
The detail information on how these palm oil mill wastes are turned into organic compost
will be discussed in the later sections of this report.

Figure 1.3: Palm Kernel Shell

Figure 1.4: Palm Oil Mill Waste Fibre

There are of course some reasons as to why organic compost is widely used and some
comparison between organic compost and inorganic compost can be made. One of the
benefits of using compost as an organic fertilizer is its low production cost. As mentioned
earlier in the report, organic compost is easy to produce and doesnt require complicated
equipments or machineries. Thus, making organic compost becomes easy, cheap and
sometimes free as it can also be made at home using the home wastes. Apart from that, since
organic compost is rich in nutrients, it definitely helps to improve soil structure, texture and
aeration. Organic compost also stimulates healthy root development and improves the
environment as it is natural-source compost. A compost pile is an excellent means of
disposing of organic debris, leaves, food wastes, grass clippings and many more. Besides

that, organic compost may also help to increase yield and directly fertilize plants and at the
same time, improves the biodiversity or soil life as well as long-term productivity of soil.
However, organic compost also has some disadvantages. One of the advantages is that
transporting large amount of organic compost will require high cost due to the fact that it is a
dilute source of nutrients which makes it difficult to be transported. In addition, organic
compost tends to have a more complex composition and variable compared to that of
standardized inorganic compost. It is also important to note that improperly-processed
organic compost might contain some pathogens that might be harmful to the living life. Thus,
proper composting is crucial in order to avoid any damage that might be caused by the
pathogens.
As for inorganic compost which is produced by synthetic chemicals and minerals, it has
quite a number of problems. Firstly, inorganic compost shows trace mineral depletion over
time. Many inorganic composts do not restore or replace trace mineral elements in the soil
which in the end leads to mineral depletion. Secondly, too much of inorganic compost might
result in a drying out of the roots or even leads to the death of the plant. Thus, it is important
to know the suitable amount of inorganic compost that should be used or applied to the
specific plant. The production of inorganic compost will in the end produce ammonia. The
production of this synthetic ammonia consumes high energy from the global natural gas
which is quite costly. So it can be seen that the production of inorganic compost requires a
higher cost compared to that of organic compost. Comparing these two types of composts i.e.
organic and inorganic compost, it is seen that organic compost nutrient content, nutrient
release rate and solubility is basically lower than that of inorganic compost. Thus, it can be
concluded that organic compost might be preferred than inorganic compost due to its
advantages and benefits. However, it is also important to bear in mind that organic compost
also has some disadvantages which can be prevented.

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