The rapid expansion of the oil palm industry and the depletion of prime land for oil palm cultivation have caused planters to resort to the marginal areas such as peat. Peatland with an area totaling approximately 2.6 million hectares is considered a problematic soil in Malaysia, but has potential for oil palm cultivation.

The poor inherent physical properties of peat such as low bulk density, high water-table and rapid subsidence rate make its development for oil palm cultivation difficult and costly as compared to mineral soils. Through research and development carried out by various research institutions including the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), planting of oil palm on drained peat has been successful and oil palm yield on peat is comparable to those from mineral soils. Various aspects of work or disciplines have been covered especially on land preparation techniques, drainage and water management, planting density and fertilizer requirements.

The adoption of the results obtained over time has resulted in the better performance of oil palm especially on deep peat. From recent achievements, oil palm yields on peat are equal if not better than those from some of the mineral soils. This article discusses MPOB’s experiences in planting oil palm on peat at the MPOB Research Station at Sessang, Sarawak.

Kekurangan tanah yang sesuai serta kepesatan pembangunan industri sawit telah menyebabkan usaha penanaman sawit di tanah marginal seperti tanah gambut. Di Malaysia, tanah gambut dengan keluasan hampir 2.6 juta hektar merupakan tanah bermasalah tetapi berpotensi untuk penanaman sawit.

Ciri-ciri fizikal tanah gambut seperti kepadatan pukal yang rendah, paras air tinggi dan susutan tanah menyebabkan usaha penanaman sawit menjadi sukar dan memerlukan perbelanjaan yang tinggi berbanding dengan penanaman di tanah mineral. Hasil penyelidikan yang dijalankan oleh pelbagai pihak termasuk Lembaga Minyak Sawit Malaysia (MPOB) telah berjaya meningkatkan pengeluaran hasil sawit di tanah gambut ke tahap setanding dengan di tanah mineral.

Kejayaan penanaman sawit di tanah gambut, khususnya gambut dalam sangat bergantung pada tahap perlaksanaan teknologi yang diperkenalkan, terutama dari aspek kaedah penyediaan kawasan, teknik dan jarak penanaman, pengurusan air serta pembajaan sawit. Artikel ini membincang pengalaman MPOB dalam usaha penanaman sawit di tanah gambut di Stesen Penyelidikan MPOB Sessang, Sarawak.