A large fraction of palm-environment interactions occurs below-ground in the rhizosphere. This includes palm roots and the portion of the soil and soil microbes that are influenced by roots. Unfortunately, rhizosphere processes are nearly invisible from the surface and destructive root excavations could modify the physiological processes. Main Researcher: Dr Mohd Haniff Harun     Email: mhaniff@mpob.gov.my

Oil palm yield potential is a function of inherent soil fertility status and very dependent on nutrient use efficiency. The soil fertility status would involve the understanding of interacting factors such as soil depth, soil structure, soil pH, soil organic matter and quantity of soil micro fauna and flora. In many cases, the nutrient use […]

Conventional methods of assessing foliar nutrient content of oil palm are costly, time consuming and involve frond destruction. Recently, the availability of modern technologies such as global positioning system (GPS), remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) have created an opportunity to revolutionize the method of assessing oil palm foliar nutrient content. Main Researcher: […]

Phosphorus (P) deficiency is a major limiting factor in many acid Malaysian soils. The amount of P in these soils are either inherently low or are fixed in forms that are unavailable to plants. Most studies demonstrated that more P is required on inland soil than the coastal soils in order to achieve a reasonable […]

The rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros is a major pest of oil palm in Malaysia. As the replanting activities increase over recent years, infestation of oil palm with Oryctes correspondingly increases. The entomopathogenic Oryctes rhinoceros virus was discovered 40 years ago in Malaysia (Huger, 1966). It was then successfully introduced into many South Pacific countries to […]