ARTICLE IN PRESS

IMAGE-SCANNING APPROACH IN MONITORING OIL PALM ROOT PRODUCTION ON PEAT

ELISA RUMPANG1*; NIK SASHA KHATRINA KHAIRUDDIN1; TIARA NALES NYAWAI1; IZZATI MOHAMAD NOOR1; NUR MAISARAH JANTAN1; LAW MEI CHING1; NORLIYANA ZIN ZAWAWI1 and SIM SIONG FONG2

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21894/jopr.2026.0004
Received: 5 September 2024   Accepted: 13 October 2025   Published Online: 13 January 2026
ABSTRACT

Understanding root mortality and production is critical for creating a uniform strategy for root growth estimations and modelling. Several approaches have been devised to assess root development and behaviour of oil palms in peat soil. There are two types of existing techniques: Traditional (destructive) methods and non-destructive approaches. However, due to the complexity of soil characteristics and circumstances, there is no precise method to date for assessing different root morphological features, particularly in tropical peat soil. The root dynamics performance of oil palms in peat soil was measured using a non-destructive, in situ scanning approach in this study. This study discusses the possibility of utilising image-scanning technology for investigating rhizosphere activities such as root development and turnover, root morphology and belowground interactions.

KEYWORDS:


1 Malaysian Palm Oil Board,
6, Persiaran Institusi, Bandar Baru Bangi,
43000 Kajang, Selangor, Malaysia.

2 Faculty of Resource Science and Technology,
Universiti Malaysia Sarawak,
94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia.

* Corresponding author e-mail: elisa@mpob.gov.my