Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation

Currently, in the Malaysian oil palm plantation, fertilizer is applied manually or mechanically at uniform rate without due consideration to nutrient variability. Excessive application of this fertilizer contaminates ground water and raises its mineral contents above WHO limit for safe drinking wate...

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Main Authors: Ishola, Tajudeen Abiodun, Yahya, Azmi, Mohamed Shariff, Abdul Rashid, Abd Aziz, Samsuzana
Format: Conference or Workshop Item
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia 2012
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/50683/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/50683/1/_TechnicalPapers_CAFEi2012_183.pdf
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author Ishola, Tajudeen Abiodun
Yahya, Azmi
Mohamed Shariff, Abdul Rashid
Abd Aziz, Samsuzana
author_facet Ishola, Tajudeen Abiodun
Yahya, Azmi
Mohamed Shariff, Abdul Rashid
Abd Aziz, Samsuzana
author_sort Ishola, Tajudeen Abiodun
building UPM Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Currently, in the Malaysian oil palm plantation, fertilizer is applied manually or mechanically at uniform rate without due consideration to nutrient variability. Excessive application of this fertilizer contaminates ground water and raises its mineral contents above WHO limit for safe drinking water. However, Variable Rate Technology (VRT) fertilizer applicator promotes reduction in excessive fertilizer application, land degradation and pollution through leaching and volitization. A VRT fertilizer applicator for band application of granular fertilizer on tree crop was designed, developed and tested. Using RFID reader and LabVIEW computer program, the VRT fertilizer applicator detects the RFID code of the tag on each tree, relates the information to the database and triggers the control system to discharge the right amount of fertilizer to the required tree. The distribution uniformity test resulted in Coefficient of Variation (CV) range between 6.51 and 10.94 %. The VRT applicator has a field capacity of 7.22 ha/h and 7.71 ha/h with field efficiencies of 0.54 and 0.52 at the travelling speed of 4.43 km/h and 4.92 km/h, respectively. It is expected that the use of RFID technology will serve as alternative for tree crops where tree canopy has hindered proper application of GPS-based precision agriculture practices.
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format Conference or Workshop Item
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institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T10:25:09Z
publishDate 2012
publisher Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling upm-506832017-03-02T06:20:43Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/50683/ Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation Ishola, Tajudeen Abiodun Yahya, Azmi Mohamed Shariff, Abdul Rashid Abd Aziz, Samsuzana Currently, in the Malaysian oil palm plantation, fertilizer is applied manually or mechanically at uniform rate without due consideration to nutrient variability. Excessive application of this fertilizer contaminates ground water and raises its mineral contents above WHO limit for safe drinking water. However, Variable Rate Technology (VRT) fertilizer applicator promotes reduction in excessive fertilizer application, land degradation and pollution through leaching and volitization. A VRT fertilizer applicator for band application of granular fertilizer on tree crop was designed, developed and tested. Using RFID reader and LabVIEW computer program, the VRT fertilizer applicator detects the RFID code of the tag on each tree, relates the information to the database and triggers the control system to discharge the right amount of fertilizer to the required tree. The distribution uniformity test resulted in Coefficient of Variation (CV) range between 6.51 and 10.94 %. The VRT applicator has a field capacity of 7.22 ha/h and 7.71 ha/h with field efficiencies of 0.54 and 0.52 at the travelling speed of 4.43 km/h and 4.92 km/h, respectively. It is expected that the use of RFID technology will serve as alternative for tree crops where tree canopy has hindered proper application of GPS-based precision agriculture practices. Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia 2012 Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/50683/1/_TechnicalPapers_CAFEi2012_183.pdf Ishola, Tajudeen Abiodun and Yahya, Azmi and Mohamed Shariff, Abdul Rashid and Abd Aziz, Samsuzana (2012) Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation. In: International Conference on Agricultural and Food Engineering for Life (Cafei2012), 26-28 Nov. 2012, Palm Garden Hotel, Putrajaya. (pp. 520-534). http://cafei.upm.edu.my/download.php?filename=/TechnicalPapers/CAFEi2012_183.pdf
spellingShingle Ishola, Tajudeen Abiodun
Yahya, Azmi
Mohamed Shariff, Abdul Rashid
Abd Aziz, Samsuzana
Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation
title Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation
title_full Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation
title_fullStr Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation
title_full_unstemmed Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation
title_short Variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation
title_sort variable rate technology fertilizer applicator for oil palm plantation
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/50683/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/50683/
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/50683/1/_TechnicalPapers_CAFEi2012_183.pdf