Abstract—Urea-coated fertilizers were invented to reduce ammonia volatilization and act as slow-release fertilizers in the oil palm field. This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of three types of urea-coated fertilizers namely Urease Inhibitor-coated urea 25% N (UICU), resin-coated urea 43% N (RCU), Sulphur-coated urea 32% N (SCU), uncoated urea 46% N (UU) and uncoated AS, (SOA) 21%N on oil palm early growth. The trial commenced from planting of the new oil palms until 36 months after planting (MAP). The fertilizer rates were applied with equivalent nutrient content of conventional compound fertilizer, NPKMg (9/9/12/4+0.5%B-AS based) as Control (Co) treatment. From the analysis, RCU showed significantly bigger girth size over UU and UAS by 13%, respectively starting at 18 MAP and 24 MAP while SCU recorded significant performance over UU by 8% at 36 MAP. The result also showed that SCU produced significantly longer fronds over Co, UU and UAS by 9%, 13% and 10%, respectively at 30 MAP. The similar performance was shown by SCU which produced bigger petiole cross section (PCS) and higher leaf dry weight over UU and Co at 30 to 36 MAP respectively. Foliar analysis found that higher leaf-N was recorded at the SCU plot and exceeded the UU by 18% and over the critical level by 7% at 24 MAP. From the results, it indicated that SCU had consistent performance over UU on girth size, frond length, PCS, leaf dry matter and leaf-N content. Even though there was no significant difference between the other types of urea coated fertilizers, SCU was able to produce more vigorous vegetative growth. Therefore, SCU fertilizer can be used as an alternative source of urea to improve immature oil palm growth especially in dry regions where high volatilization rate occurs.

Index Terms—urea-coated fertilizer, ammonia volatilization, oil palm replanting

Cite: M. N. A. Rasid, T. C. Chek, and A. F. Redzuan, "Effectiveness of Urea-Coated Fertilizer on Young Immature Oil Palm Growth," Journal of Advanced Agricultural Technologies, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 56-59, June 2014. Doi: 10.12720/joaat.1.1.56-59