Field investigation: For laboratory investigation, peat soil was sampled from the Klang, Peninsular, West Malaysia. These soils are transported to their present position by rivers and streams. Secondly, many tropical peat soils, such as those in Sarawak, have wood fragments in the soil solum. Tropical peats are, however, different from temperate peat as wood is often present. In order to rectify these problems, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in collaboration with The results in Table 1 show the opinions of the five  experts after their critical evaluations of the problems stated. on: function (event, callback) { They are found in peatlands (also called bogs or mires). Aim of this study is to determine physical and mechanical properties of tropical peatland in West Malaysia. Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund (MPOWCF). Sometimes, they can occupy as much as 50% or more of the soil layers. Figure 1: Peat soil distribution map in Sarawak, Malaysia [2] 2.0 Several researchers have studied on the soft or peat soil TEST MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY Different types of peat soils were collected from six different locations (e.g., L 1 to L 6) in Matang area (from 0.40 to 0.80 m depth) designated as M 1 to M 6, respectively. Oil palms are cultivated on peat on a large scale since the mid fifties. Temperate peat deposits are also known to be derived from bryophytes and small shrubs while tropical peat deposits are derived from various tree species with root penetration up to several meters  (Wust, 2003). Paramananthan S, Zauyah S, Lim CP, Chan YK, Boaklan D (1984) Proposals for a unified classification of organic soils in Malaysia. Deep acid peat provides an interesting nutritional complexes to agronomists. Most oil palm roots are concentrated in the top 50 cm of the peat soil. Upon drainage (Table 2), liming and decline in C:N ratio and higher N availability. Farming is a major economic activity which has been successfully carried out on peatland in Malaysia; starting with planting of vegetables and cash crops such as pineapples and tapioca or cassava during the second half  of the 20th century. are overlain with substantial formations of peat soils, almost unrivalled when compared to other parts of Malaysia. SITEMAP IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). However, over the years, as development progressed, more and more mineral ( non organic)  soils were used up and the borders of the peat swamps were reached. Sample chemical analysis of peat from Jalan Kebun Peat Research Station, West Selangor, Malaysia. Basically, the drainage system consists of a network of field, collection and main drains (Figure 1), the dimensions of which are: The intensity of drains depends on the topography of the field and planting density but the primary objectives is to keep the water levels at 50 to 75 cm from the surface at most times. } A high groundwater table management was designed to slow down peat decomposition, reduce CO 2 emission, minimize peat drying and protect the oil palm fronds against desiccation. Peatlands cover about 3% of the earth’s land mass; they are found in the temperate (Northern Europe and America) and tropical regions (South East Asia, South America, South Africa and the … The high water table and the soft nature of the soil  make peat soils soggy and it is not easy to walk on an undrained peat soil without sinking down. The completed operation leaves a 9.5 to 3 times over them. Problem Soils: Managing Deep Peat. Catena 118,179-185. No 2, Jalan 51A/223, Section 51A, Peatlands are used as an alternative option for future development due to lack of suitable lands and expensive cost. 7th Floor, Menara Axis, Much of the peat areas were marked as  swamp areas for this reason. The amount of drainage is another critical factor that determines CO2 emission; a higher emission is linked to deeper or more intense drainage. wbmaster@mpoc.org.my, HOME Peat covers approximately 8" of the land or about 3 million ha. Tropical peat has not been well studied. In Malaysia, virgin lowland peat areas are often flooded and swampy. (1987). Agus,F., Henson,I.E., Suhardjo,B.H., Harris,N., van Noordwijk,M., Killen,T.J. New classification systems for tropical organic rich deposits based on studies of the Tasek Bera Basin, Malaysia, Catena 53,133-163. There occurs a wide variety of tropical wood. Malaysia will introduce to Indonesia the application of tube wells in peat soil areas to stop the perennial haze problem affecting countries in the region. Palm Oil Trade Fair And Seminar (POTS) 2020 Announcement, Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar (POTS) 2020 – Announcement. (2013). during the early Malaysian reconnaissance soil surveys. While total N content can be high (1.3 to 1.5%), its availability is low due to high C:N ratio (Table 1). CONTACT US Besides, when wood fragments are present, the amount of sapric, hemic or fibric organic soil materials which are decomposable are reduced. Soc. This emission is 4.4 times larger than the emission reported in temperate and boreal peat, which is 15,944 tonnes ha-1year-1 (Oleszczuk, 2008). Malaysian Palm Oil-Green Gold or Green Wash? The Soil Division of Sarawak (Malaysia) has adopted a definition for organic soil that is based on profile partition, i.e. Peat is also deficient in Cu, Zn and B. There are diverse opinions on the suitability of peat soils for general agricultural use Coulter (1957) at one extreme, suggested that peat in peninsular Malaysia should be disposed of as rapidly as possible by removal, burning or deep drainage with the ultimate aim of using the underlying mineral subsoil for growing wet rice. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat.  Friends of the Earth (2008) estimated the CO2 emissions to be 70  tonnes ha-1year-1 under oil palm cultivation. The completed operation leaves a 9.5 to 11.5 m wide area free of timber and compacted to a depth of 40 to 50 cm (Figure 2). Periodic flushing of the acidic and excessive storm water during the rainy season is also carried out. Oil palm has been grown on wet, organic peatlands for decades, but such cultivation has taken its toll on the land, leading to productivity loss and drainage. CO2 is emitted when carbon rich peat soils are disturbed for cultivation. He said construction of roads on peat soil poses great engineering challenges to Sarawak, as compared to road construction in Peninsular Malaysia where peat soil is almost non-existence. As such, mapping virgin peat soil areas is not liked by many soil surveyors. Peat swamp forests are typically surrounded by lowland rain forests on better-drained soils, and by brackish or salt-water mangrove forests near the coast. Most of researchers conducted investigations on the dynamic loading of soft soils such as sand and clay, but only a few had discovered the behaviour of peat in terms of static and dynamic loadings. EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency). Peat, in its natural state, contains excessive amount of water due to its low physiography and water holding capacity of 20 to 30 times its own weight. Based on this concept, there are probably six groups of problem soils, namely, deep peat; shallow acid sulfate soils; saline soils; shallow lateritic soils; podzols or spodosols, and; sandy soils (quartzipsamments) Each group of soils requires its own specific soil … Hooijer,A.,Page,S.,Jauhiainen,W.A.,Lee,X.X.,Idris,A.,Anshari,G.(2012). Tropical peat materials, just like temperate peat materials  can be differentiated based on the stage of decomposition.  There are 3 stages of decomposition, namel. They are also soft as they are organic (made up of mainly rotting plant materials) in nature. Thus, it is often doubted that this can be done since the factors of peat formation in temperate areas are different from that in tropical areas and the peat will be  different morpho-genetically (Paramanathan,2008; Yew et al., 2010). Impacts of agricultural utilization of peat soils on the greenhouse gas balance IN Maria Streck (Editor): Peatlands and climate change, International Peat Society, 70-97. In some parts of Malaysia, particularly Sarawak, there is not much option as to what type of land to use as the state has large areas of its land mass as peat. (2012). Proc. Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the use of tube wells in the country had been proven effective in dealing with peat soil fires which contributed significantly to the haze problem. MALAYSIA A larger degree of breakdown quickly takes place in a soil with fibric materials when drained, resulting in higher CO2 emission. ARCHIVE Hard wood, for example,  is very recalcitrant and can take a long time to break down and emit CO2 during the process. Land subsidence is a serious problem in Sibu Town with frequent refilling and repairing being carried out to reinstate structures, platforms and There are 2.4 million hectares of peat in Malaysia, with 1.5 million hectares occurring in Sarawak alone. This is a major problem for infrastructure development as the geotechnical properties of peat soils are lower than mineral soils. Peat is form by disintegration of plant and organic matters. Yew, F.K., Sundram, K., Yusof, B. Oil palm plantations keep a high water table at 50-70 cm by following RSPO’s Best Management Practices for oil palm cultivation on peatland so as to obtain better yields. This is alleviated by periodic flushing of the drain water, especially during rainstorms, and liming. Malaysian peat is a tropical peat (Andriesse, 1988). Moreover, it has low K, Cu, Zn and B and high acidity of pH less than 4.0 (Gourmit et al., 1987). Planting density is also increased to 160 palms ha-1 to attain optimum leaf area index of 6.0 for production by the 10th year on this poor growing medium. Table 1. Thus the priority is to provide high N rate (up to 1.2 kg urea palm-1 yr-1) in the initial immature phase and subsequently reduce it during the mature phase (0.5 to 1.25 kg urea palm-1 yr-1). Rehabilitation and alternative use can still save this rich soil, however. 603 - 7806 4097 Later, these soils were planted with rubber but the venture was not successful due to badly leaning trees which made the tapping of the trees to extract latex very difficult. International Palm Oil Sustainability Conference. In total, Malaysia alone is estimated to have 9 Gt of carbon contained in its peatlands. Paramananthan,S.(2010). Radiah Othman, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Head of Land Management Department, Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia. According to Huat (2004), there are 3 million hectares or 8% area in Malaysia covered with peat. This has been a consequence of the general lack of information and experience with tropical peat. Table 2: Type of peat and expected CO2 emission when drained, .tableizer-table td{color:#000000; border: 1px solid #ccc;}. Maintenance of correct water levels is also important since hyperacidity seems to occur only during prolonged dry spell. New information (Veloo et al., 2014 ) obtained from soil survey and soil classification research carried out in Sarawak, Malaysia is confirming that tropical peat soils are indeed different from temperate peat soils with many of the tropical peat soils containing wood materials in the soil solum. This is achieved through a series of stops, weirs and watergates. callback: callback Compared with rocks, soils are softer in terms of strength and more compressible, thus giving more problems to engineering works as compared with rocks. RSPO manual on best management practices for existing oil palm cultivation on peat,pp214. The planting of  sago palms and oil palms on peat soils were then tried and found to be economically feasible. The result: dangerous, destructive peat fires that produce greenhouse gases and endangering human life and animal habitats. In Malaysia, peat, add' sulfate soils, soil on sandy beach deposits, saline soils and soils on ultrabasic rocks are commonly referred to as problem soils. Although it has high total N content, it also has high C:N ratio, rendering a slow availability of N to the plant. They were left untouched and not used for farming. There are 2.4 million hectares of peat in Malaysia, with 1.5 million hectares occurring in Sarawak alone. Thus, peat soils are also known as organic soils. This research investigated the compressibility of natural peat soil and peat soil improved with polyurethane foam. As such, mapping virgin peat soil areas is not liked by many soil surveyors. This research was conducted from November, 2007 to February, 2008. Large areas of these forests are being logged at high rates. Oil palms are cultivated on peat on a large scale since the mid fifties. The problems with deep peat lie in its physical and chemical characteristics. Alluvial soils are also known as fluvial soils or alluvium. [addw2p name=”problemSoils”] Gondang. (function() { Nevertheless, the results in Table 1 pointed to the fact that the CO2 emissions should range between 40 to 95 tonnes ha-1year-1. Opinions from 5 experts on CO2 emissions in tropical peat drained for oil palm cultivation*, .table-s{border: 1px solid #cccccc;}
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