Water management in peat zones of oil palm estates : Validation of a decision support software for drainage network management

Gavoty Eglantine. 2004. Water management in peat zones of oil palm estates : Validation of a decision support software for drainage network management. Montpellier : ENSAM, 36 p. Mémoire : Ecole nationale supérieure agronomique de Montpellier

Résumé : This course took place under a partnership between the PT SMART Company, one of the world's leading palm oil producers, and CIRAD. Bottomlands, particularly peat zones, cover a not insubstantial area of the oil palm estates belonging to PT SMART. However, some doubt the suitability of these zones for oil palm cultivation due to excess water that accumulates in the soil during the rainy season. A study was therefore conducted to optimize management of the drainage system in plantings on peat. The study zone located in the Naga Mas estate is a peat zone in which a network of open drains and canals improves natural drainage in the rainy season. As the network has water gates to control the height of water in the canals, it also makes it possible to maintain the water table at an acceptable level in the dry season, so as to limit the water stress suffered by the oil palms. A decision support software for drainage network management was created in 2001, based on an empirical model of water table kinetics. It was developed from field observations to ensure more dynamic and selective management of the water gates depending on the topography, rainfall, etc. During this course, the software was validated in two dimensions. Temporal validation was carried out using piezometric and rainfall data gathered between 2001 and 2004. Spatial validation required completion of the measuring network existing in the estate, in order to cover a more representative area of the zone. Following this validation, the decision support tool will be installed at Naga Mas and the estate manager will be trained how to use it. So that this type of software might be used in other oil palm estates in peat zones, or in bottomlands, an initial more functional approach was launched. This approach will have to take into account oil palm evapotranspiration and the physical properties of the soil in order to gain an understanding of water dynamics in this environment.

Auteurs et affiliations

• Gavoty Eglantine, CIRAD-CP-PALMIER (FRA)

Source : Cirad - Agritrop (https://agritrop.cirad.fr/525692/)

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