The rainy season has arrived in Indonesia and Malaysia. While rain is a lifeline for palm oil plantations, it also brings an unwelcome threat: Ganoderma Boninense. This deadly fungus thrives in wet conditions, attacking oil palm roots and creeping up to the base of the trunk. By the time the symptoms appear. Yellowing leaves, stem rot, and collapsing trees, and the damage is irreversible.
Year after year, plantation owners watch in frustration as infected trees die off, production drops, and replanting costs soar. The worst part? There’s no cure. Once Ganoderma takes hold, it’s impossible to stop. The only real solution is prevention, strengthening the plantation’s natural defenses before the infection spreads.
But how do you fight something you can’t see? Most plantations only react to Ganoderma after it’s too late, removing infected trees one by one. But Ganoderma isn’t a tree-by-tree problem. It’s a soil problem. And if the soil is sick, every new tree planted in it will suffer the same fate.
This is why a proactive strategy is critical. Managing Ganoderma isn’t about fighting what’s already infected; it’s about creating conditions where the fungus can’t thrive in the first place. And that starts with Trichoderma, a beneficial fungus that acts as Ganoderma’s natural enemy.
How to Fight Ganoderma and Save Your Palm Oil Plantation
Apply Trichoderma to Strengthen the Plantation’s Defenses
Ganoderma spreads in plantations where its natural enemies are missing. The presence of Trichoderma changes that. When applied properly, Trichoderma colonizes the soil and palm roots, outcompeting Ganoderma and reducing its ability to infect trees. But timing and coverage are everything.
Applying Trichoderma only to infected trees is a mistake. By the time symptoms appear, the fungus has already spread underground. Instead, the key is to apply it before the infection reaches the trunk, treating not just infected trees but the entire plantation, especially the healthy trees still at risk.
Think of it like a wildfire. You don’t wait for the flames to reach your house before acting, you create firebreaks in advance, stopping the fire before it spreads. In the same way, Trichoderma treatments should be applied proactively, creating a biological shield around the plantation before Ganoderma has a chance to take over.
But even Trichoderma isn’t enough on its own. Soil health must be improved long before replanting to create an environment where Ganoderma struggles to survive.
Rebuild the Soil: The 10-Year Plan to Prevent Future Outbreaks
Fighting Ganoderma is a long game. It’s not just about saving today’s trees. It’s about making sure future generations don’t face the same problem.
This is where the T-10 strategy comes in. It’s a decade-long preparation process to restore soil health before replanting.
The moment plantation yields start to decline, about 10 years before replanting. Soil health should become the priority. Organic material, like jangkos (empty fruit bunch biomass), should be added to enrich the soil. Bio-based fertilizers should replace chemical ones to encourage microbial life, ensuring that when replanting finally happens, the soil is full of beneficial organisms, especially Trichoderma that suppress Ganoderma naturally.
Without this step, replanting is just starting over on bad soil, repeating the cycle of infection and tree loss. But with proper soil preparation, the next generation of palm trees will grow in an environment where Ganoderma struggles to survive.
However, treating vast areas of land with Trichoderma and organic fertilizers is no small task. Traditional methods are slow, expensive, and often inconsistent. That’s where spraying drones for Ganoderma changes everything.
How Spraying Drones for Ganoderma Make Prevention Faster and More Effective
The Terra Agri E16 spraying drone is designed specifically for blanket spraying in Ganoderma-prone plantations, making it ideal for maintaining large areas, especially during pre-planting. Its ability to cover a swath of 4 meters per flight means it can efficiently treat substantial sections of land in a short amount of time. Each flight covers 0.33 hectares, and for every hectare, the spraying drone for Ganoderma requires 48 liters of liquid, ensuring consistent and thorough application.
In terms of efficiency, the E16 spraying drone can complete a flight in just 5 minutes, allowing for quick treatment of extensive areas. The drone operates at a height of up to 2 meters above the crop, ensuring that the spray, whether Trichoderma or bio-based fertilizers, is precisely delivered to the target area. This precision minimizes drift and maximizes effectiveness, directly addressing Ganoderma at its root cause while improving soil quality.
This combination of swath width, flight speed, and coverage per flight makes the Terra Agri E16 a game-changing spraying drone for Ganoderma prevention in large-scale palm oil plantations. It enables quick, precise, and cost-effective application over vast areas, breaking the cycle of infection and protecting future yields.
