Harvest Palm Oil

In general, plants that grow lush palm can produce fruit ready for harvest and the first at the age of approximately 3.5 years if calculated from the planting of seed germination in the nursery. But if the count began planting fruit trees and lapaangan then ready to be harvested at the age of 2.5 years. Fruit formed after pollination and fertilization. The time required from pollination to fruit ripe and ready to harvest approximately 5-6 months.

Palm oil plantations resulting in an average of 20-22 fruit bunches / year. In the older plants that productivity has declined to 12-14 bunches / year. The number of pieces contained in one bunch depends on genetic factors, age, environment and cultivation techniques. The amount of fruit on the plants enough pertandan old reached 1600 units.

Oil palm fruit ripening process can be seen in the fruit skin discoloration. The fruit will turn red orange when ripe. At the ripe fruit, the oil content of the flesh of the fruit has a maximum. If too ripe, the fruit of palm oil will come loose and fall from the stalk tandannya. Fallen fruit is called membrondol.

The process of harvesting oil palm fruit bunches cut jobs include cooking, brondolan picking and transporting the fruit to shelters results (TPH), and to the factory. Implementation of harvesting is not done arbitrarily. Need memperhatikam certain criteria for the purpose of oil palm harvesting is to obtain a high yield of oil with a good quality oil. Criteria to be considered are harvested ripe harvest, how to harvest, crop tool, crop rotation, cropping systems and crop quality.

1.                  Understanding of Palm Oil

Harvest is a series of activities ranging from cutting bunches of ripe harvest mature crops suitable criteria, collecting and taking fallen fruit and laying somewhere collecting bunches (TPH).

Purpose of harvesting is to harvest all the ripe fruit harvest with consistently good quality so that the potential oil and palm kernel oil with a maximum achieved. Therefore, in the event there are no terpanen ripe fruit, fruit quality that does not fit the criteria to harvest ripe fruit harvested can not be immediately delivered to the factory, to immediately find a solution.

Management in charge of the garden to harvest all the fruit that is ripe and sent to the factory at the time of optimum fruit quality to get quality oil and palm kernel maximum. Fruits are harvested today should reach the factory today.

2.                  Harvesting System

Harvesting are two rack systems, ie systems sleigh and fixed systems.

·      System Leads

In this system, if a rack has been completed harvest, harvesting, moving to the next rack that has been designated by the foreman, and so on. This system facilitates the supervision of the work of harvesting and the harvest more quickly to the TPH and factories. However, there is a tendency harvesters will pick the easy fruits bunches harvested so there are left behind or brondolan because pemanenannya use a contract system.

·      system Fixed

The system is very good diterapakan the plantation area is narrow, open or steep topography, and with different planting years. In a system of harvesting given broad shelf with a certain and not moving. It is secure the TBS with optimal maturity. produced oil contents were high. But the weakness of the system is slower pieces out so slow anyway up to the manufacturer.

A.           How to Harvest

Based on plant height, there are two common ways to harvest oil palm plantations. For plants aged <7 years old how to use the crop tool with a width of 10 to 12.5 cm sickel hands with handles iron pipe or a wooden stick. While the plants were 7 years old or over harvesting using Egrek spliced ​​with aluminum pipe or bamboo sticks. For ease of harvesting, should be supporting the leaf midrib pieces cut first and arranged neatly in the middle gawangan. Bunches of ripe fruit is cut as close to the base, up to 2 cm. Bunches of fruit that has been cut and laid regularly dipiringan brondolan collected separately from the bunches. Brondolan should be clean and not mixed with soil or other debris. Furthermore brondolan gathered in bunches and TPH.

B.            Criteria Ripe Harvest

Criteria harvest is ripe bunches yan condition requirements established for harvest. Criteria ripe harvest fresh Brondolan TBS ie 5 per bunch in the disc. Brondolan in a small dish size (partenocarp), dry or sore brondolan can not be the basis of a criterion ripe harvest. It is based on the following considerations:

·           The yield of palm oil and palm kernel oil yield and the total recovery of oil and palm kernel.

·           Lost brondolan in the field because it was taken or stolen, and is not quoted can be minimized.

·            Ease for harvesters in quotes so that is not quoted brondolan can be minimized.

When dipokok encountered munitions membrondol <5 grains harvested bunches yet. With no harvest bunches berondolannya <5 grains in the disc consequently the composition of fruits harvested kemantangan to MCC (millers) would be excellent. Similarly, the number of stem in prinsipal  48-56 strands can be maintained because the new stem scaled back after ripe bunches. Conditions such as these are very long-term effect on production.

C.           Crop rotation

Crop rotation is the time taken between the last harvest the next crop in the same place. Perkebuanan palm generally uses crop rotation 7 days, meaning a harvest area must be entered by harvesting every 7 days. Crop rotation considered good if not overly ripe fruit, using a system of 5/7. means that in one week there were 5 days of harvest and harvest each shelf was repeated the next 7 days. Harvesting is done continuously throughout the year.

3.                  Harvest density

Harvest density is a number that indicates the level of harvest mature tree density in an area. The goal is to get a bunch of mature crops. For example, crop density 1:5, meaning that every 5 trees will be found at least one crop matan munitions. To be more accurate in determining the density of the crop, can ditentikan for 1 day prior to harvest fruit. The calculation is done especially in the area of ​​the keesokanya be harvested.

To calculate the density of the harvest in one area, it can take a couple of trees to be used as an example of systematic, such as in a block taken as many as 10 rows of plants as an example of the tree row, then in every row is determined also by 10 trees for the sample calculation . Thus, within a block will be used 100 sample trees. Furthermore, on each tree calculation and recording the number of bunches are ripe harvest. If it turns out in one block is found as many as 25 bunches are ripe harvest the crop density is 1:4. This means an average of 4 trees will be found first harvest ripe bunches. This work should be carried out directly by the concerned supervisor so that the results would be more accurate.

4.                  Fraction TBS and Quality Harvest

Cluster fraction composition is usually determined at the factory greatly influenced early harvest treatment. Important factors that are influential enough fruit maturity and fruit transport rate to the mill. In this case, knowledge of the degree of maturity of the fruit is of significant importance as the number and quality of oil that is obtained is determined by these factors.

Determination of the time of harvest influence the content of free fatty acids (FFA) of palm oil is produced. If done in a state fruit harvesting over-mature, the resulting oil contains a high percentage of ALB (over 5%). Conversely, if the harvest was in an immature fruit, in addition to its low levels of ALB, oil yield obtained was also low.

Based on the above, there are several levels or fractions of FFB harvested. TBS fractions are greatly influence the quality of crops, including palm oil quality produced. Known there are five factions TBS. Based on the TBS fraction, degree of doneness is if clusters are harvested in fractions 1,2, and 3.

Ideally, by following the rules and criteria brondolan ripe harvest and gathering and transportation lancal the harvest will be obtained in a fraction of the composition of the cluster as follows.

·           Number brondolan at the factory about 25% by weight of the whole bunch.

·           Bunches are composed of fractions 2 and 3 at least 65% of the bunches.

·           Bunches are made ​​up of the fraction 1 a maximum of 20% of the bunches.

·           Bunches are composed of fractions 4 and 5, a maximum of 15% of the number of bunches.

5.                  Estimated Production of Palm Oil

The rate of production is affected crop quality, soil fertility, climatic conditions, plant age, plant maintenance and pest and disease attack. For example, the production of palm oil Dura types can be seen below:

a)        crop Age 4 years; yield of oil = 500 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 100 kg / ha

b)        Age of plants 5 years; yield of oil = 740 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 150 kg / ha

c)        crop Age 6 years; yield of oil = 1,000 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 200 kg / ha

d)       Age of plant 7 years; yield of oil = 1,300 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 260 kg / ha

e)        Age of plant 8 years; yield of oil = 1,600 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 320 kg / ha

f)         crop Age 9 years; yield of oil = 1900 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 380 kg / ha

g)        Age of the plant 10 years; yield of oil = 2,000 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 400 kg / ha

h)        Age plant 11 years; yield of oil = 2200 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 440 kg / ha

i)          Age of the plant 12 years; yield of oil = 2250 kg / ha, the core values ​​= 450 kg / ha