It’s been about 6 months since I last brought down the oil palm tree at the farm. Over time, I noticed little sprouts of newly germinated oil palm growing from within the cracks in between the fronds. It was a sore sight to behold as this could only mean trouble in due time. Furthermore, the oil palm tree stump left behind was directly in the path of a route that I frequently use to traverse the terrace.
Given all these circumstances, I have no choice but to hire an excavator to remove it. Of course, the excavator was to do a number of other things and I timed it such that it coincided with this event. Initially, I almost thought the task was impossible. The excavator had trouble grappling with this big guy for some time. I was also surprised at the depth of its root.
Eventually after digging 5 feet underground and loosening up a little more than a 1 metre radius from the stump (a durian seedling was dangerously close just out of the 1 metre plus kill zone), the stump was defeated. The excavated soil was dump back into place and compacted.
I quickly and roughly made a series of makeshift gentle steps to even out the steep slopes. But these are just temporary. Only after 6 months to a year when the slope has stabilised, will I proceed to carve into the terrain and make permanent steps. I’m not able to do that now as the soil is too loose and I would be risking erosion.
Further inland about 3-4 feet from the slope edge, I dug a ditch into the ground like a mini swale to prevent water from washing over downhill, thus potentially weakening the loose slope soil. I finished with a light sprinkling of dried leaves as ground cover – a quick fix, albeit temporary.
What did I do with the oil palm tree stump? It’s sitting pretty about 6 metres away to rot at a corner. The fibrous core of an oil palm tree is especially good mulching material. It is also very effective in soaking up large amount of water which would prove helpful for newly planted seedlings.
