The Growth of One Year-Old Oil Palms Intercropped with Soybean and Groundnut

Abstract

The objective of this research was to determine appropriate annual food crops in the areas of a year-old oil palm. Field trials were arranged in a single factor of randomized completely block design. A factor to be tested was the species of annual food crops, namely, soybeans and groundnuts. Controls in this study were monocultures of oil palm, soybean and groundnuts. The results showed that soybean and groundnut could give high yields when planted between rows of one year-old oil palms, which were similar to the yield of those crops in the monoculture system. In addition, the presence of soybean and groundnut between the rows of one year-old oil palms was found not inhibiting the growth rate and development of oil palms as the main crop. On the contrary, there was a tendency that the oil palms planted with soybeans and groundnut to grow faster than those planted in monoculture.