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LAND CLEARING & LAND PREPARATION - Coggle Diagram
LAND CLEARING & LAND PREPARATION
Objectives To prepare the land to receive the crop whilst at the same time shaping the land to fulfill the needs of plantation best practices and management. The land should be conducive for growth of seeds, seedlings, saplings, maintenance, production and harvesting. This is the 1st phase of physical plantation set-up.
Planning Phase - For the development of oil palm new plantations would involve the conduct for feasibility studies and an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) if the area to be developed is primary or secondary forest in excess of 500 hectares.
PHASES FOR OIL PALM PLANTATION DEV
PHASE 1: PLANTATION DEVELOPMENT
PHASE 2: NURSERY
PHASE 3: IMMATURE MAINTENANCE
PHASE 4: MATURE MAINTENANCE
LAND CLEARING: Involves -
The factors of freedom of access during actual planting/replanting operation
Subsequent upkeep and maintenance of crops such as cover crops, pruning, weeding, manuring and pest control.
Eventual crop collection and transportation point.
Primary consideration should be given on the drainage and road pattern to be established. Accessibility to crops and surrounding vicinity.
Establishing terraces, perimeter, blocks or plot.
Should also consider the provision of building sites to be established for administrative, management, storage, staff housing, workshop and factories and mills
Facilities and utilities: Electrical power, water supply, waste discharge area, also maybe internet, clinics, shops etc.
LAND CLEARING: Considerations -
Major land clearing exercise is the implementation of a planning process
Essential elements in land clearance is timing, identifying time periods for the various works and the interaction of these upon one another
Preparatory work of this nature materially assists the formulation of the correct alternative action plan in the event of delay
CLEARING OF JUNGLES or REPLANTING
Slash & Burn of Logged Forest or Replanting
Zero Burning of Logged Forest or Replanting
Procedures
Survey And Blocking (dividing plots)
a)Logged Road & Bridges
b) Drainage
Drainage System For Peat Soil Plantation
Failure to ensure adequate drainage and maintain its free flowing throughout the felling and clearing will give poor result and costly delay
Water courses must be kept clear and it requires regular supervisions
At low lying areas it is necessary to determine the flow of the drainage and to install main drains prior to clearing
Such drain should be put in hand 1 year before commencement of felling
In areas that is subjected to tidal influence, bunds are to be constructed to exclude water high tides
It must also have tide gates to allow agrees of drainage water at low level
c) Under brushing
The slashing of the undergrowth beneath the main stand of the remaining timber, defined as growth up to 8cm in diameter
Cutting should be as close as possible to the ground, not exceeding 15cm above ground
Should be done 3 months or so before the date of burning
The clearance will also facilitates access for the main felling workers
Usually requires 6-8 madness per hectare depending on local conditions
If mechanised felling is to be carried out, underbrushing is not a separate operation
Pruning, stacking and re-burning
The operations is to reduce the amount of unburned timber, leaving the ground clear for subsequent operations
Involves the cutting of timber that remains from the burn into manageable lengths and piling and burning these
Felling of dead trees that may not have been felled at that time of the main felling operation were also carried out
The remaining fire belts can also be dealt with at this juncture
The amount of work will depend on the degrees of success of the burn
The use of bulldozer to assist in pilling and burning can be considered if the ground conditions permit
Terracing, Road & Culverts or Bridges
On INLAND or undulating area, planting pattern and terracing needs are usually determined by the degree of slope present. Slope assessments should be made before any terracing and lining work is considered. To facilitate mechanization and to improve soil or water conservation mechanical terrace-paths, sometimes are constructed in between palm rows along the contour.
GROUND PREPARATION
Ploughing
In replanting operations the soil compaction brought about by the constant traffic may justify the use of ploughing prior to further planting operations
Deep tined chisel plough should be used to break the soil upwards
It will also brings up the roots of the previous crop, thus reducing the risk root disease by reducing the sources of inoculum potential
2 passes should be made, the second at right angles to the direction of the first
Harrowing
If the ground remains rough and cloudy, it can reduced by disk harrowing
It should be done at high speed with good bounce on the harrow to induce soil shatter
Rotovating
Used for the preparation of fine tilth seed beds over small areas
Rotovator draws power for cultivation from the power take-off of a tractor and thus the tractor proceeds slowly
A disc harrow, properly used will give an equally satisfactory result in the context of this type of land preparation at the fraction of the cost of use of a rotator
For Field Planting
Holing (digging hole for planting saplings)
Preparation of digging hole of planting using hole digger attached to PTO tractor
Planting should be done early morning or late in the evening
Holing size can be 45x45x60 cm square or 45cm diameter and 60cm deep or for other crops should be 10 cm more from polybag size
Careful handling and avoid planting stress and shock
-Telok Sengat Estate method (tractor-mulcher)
KLK method (excavator-mulcher)