Early impact of oil palm planting density on vegetative and oil yield variables in West Africa
A range of various different planting distances (from 7.5 to 9.5 m) between oil palms were tested using an equilateral triangle design in a plantation density experiment which was settled in an oil palm commercial plantation in Nigeria. Climatic conditions were quite st...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
EDP Sciences
2014-07-01
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| Series: | Oilseeds and fats, crops and lipids |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/ocl/2014009 |
| Summary: | A range of various different planting distances (from 7.5 to 9.5 m) between oil palms
were tested using an equilateral triangle design in a plantation density experiment which
was settled in an oil palm commercial plantation in Nigeria. Climatic conditions were
quite stable, with two seasons and around 2000 mm of annual rainfall. The soil was of
desaturated ferralitic type, sandy on the surface, deep and without coarse elements. The
early impact of plantation density was analysed at eight years after planting. Some early
signs of depressive effect on yields were found for high planting densities (180 and 205
p/ha). Such a negative impact was not severe enough to counteract the effects of a higher
number of palms per hectare. As a consequence, a gradient could be observed as yields (in
tons of bunches per hectare) increased with density. We can anticipate that the
competition effect between palms will increase over time with high densities, so that the
counteracting point ought to be reached in a few years. A thinning treatment has been
included in the protocol. Thinning was carried out at the end of the eight-year period. |
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| ISSN: | 2272-6977 2257-6614 |