A field experiment was conducted to assess the effectiveness of palm oil mill effluent (POME) as a soil ameliorant for the production of food crops. The POME was incorporated into the top 0-30 cm of Batang Merbau soil (Typic Kandiudult) prior to seeding with maize. Following maiz£, groundnut ivas grown. POME was applied at 0, 5, 10, 20 and 40 t h a 1, both in the presence and absence of 2 t dolomitic limestone ha1. Exchangeable Ca, Mg and Al, and pH (0.01 M CaCl2) in the topsoil prior to application of the treatments were 0.36, 0.19, 1.50 cmolf kg1 and 4.1, respectively. The average fresh cob yield of maize was 1.7 t ha1, and did not increase with application of POME at rates of up to 10 t ha'1. Increasing the rate of POME to 20 and 40 t ha1 resulted in fresh cob yield > 2.2 t ha 1. The increase in yield was attributed to improvement in the soil conditions for plant growth. Fresh cob yields in the presence of lime were > 2.2 t ha1 at all rates of application of POME,. Maize yield was significantly correlated with the exchangeable Al and Ca in the soil. Average pod yield for the first crop of groundnut was 3 t h a 1. Groundnut yield was not correlated with exchangeable Al, Ca or Mg in the soil.