Early impact of oil palm planting density on vegetative and oil yield variables in West Africa

Xavier Bonneau,Pieter Vandessel,Charles Erhahuyi,Maxwell Buabeng

doi:10.1051/ocl/2014009

Abstract

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.

Highlights

The spacing between oil palms is considered as a major contributor to oil yields under planting designs following an equilateral triangle model as used in various monocultures (Prévot et al, 1955; Smith, 1972)
The plantation density must fit between too large a spacing that makes inadequate use of incident radiation and too small a spacing that leads to excessive competition between palms with an anticipated depressive effect on oil yields
The beneficial effect of high planting densities (180 and 205 p/ha) at the beginning of the oil palm cultivation cycle recorded in the present experiment comes from the fact that the drop in yields per palm when density is increased does not yet counterbalance the increase in the number of palms per hectare within the range of spacing studied

Summary

Introduction

The spacing between oil palms is considered as a major contributor to oil yields under planting designs following an equilateral triangle model as used in various monocultures (Prévot et al, 1955; Smith, 1972). The plantation density must fit between too large a spacing that makes inadequate use of incident radiation and too small a spacing that leads to excessive competition between palms with an anticipated depressive effect on oil yields. There are several recent studies describing the impact of planting density in oil palm plantations (Henson et al, 2003; Breure, 2010; Palat et al, 2012; Rafii et al, 2013). It was found useful to set up a planting density trial, using a widely used type of planting material on a very widespread soil type in West Africa

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion