Assessment of CO2flux from peat soil under simulated groundwater level and monthly rainfall for sustainable water management in a tropical oil palm plantation

Sustainable production of oil palm plantation in tropical peat land is determined by ground water level and rainfall as the important factors controlling the carbon balance. It is not easy to set up a stable groundwater level (GWL) in the field and even more impossible for the monthly rainfall (MRF) to get CO 2 flux data as the basis for determining technical aspects of water management. This research was aimed to obtain basic CO 2 flux data under simulated stable GWL and MRF from tropical peat materials of an Indonesian oil palm plantation. The experiment was conducted by applying CRD with those 2 factors as the treatments for 3 months period of greenhouse experimentation. There was no significant interaction effect of the GWL and MRF treatments. The single effect of GWL treatment at −40 cm produced the significant lowest monthly CO 2 flux with an average of 18.26 t.ha − 1.year −1 after 3 months experimentation, while that of MRF at 300 mm.month −1 resulted in the significant lowest CO 2 flux of 24 t.ha −1 .year −1 after 2 months experimentation. It can be recommended that the GWL should be set up in the field at around –40 cm to get the best control on CO 2 flux.