Nutrient Demand of Oil Palm Hybrids in Tropical America
Nowadays there are several oil palm regions in Latin America with plantings of the OxG material, which is a cross of Elaeis oleifera (American oil palm) with E. guineensis (African oil palm). There are no studies in the agronomy or nutrition of the OxG hybrid. This study tries to evaluate the minimum nutritional requirements for two OxG crosses in Colombia.
IPNI-2010-COL-16
11 Mar 2012
2011 Annual Interpretive Summary
Nutrient Demand of Oil Palm Hybrids for Tropical America, 2011
This study examines the nutrient demands of the OxG hybrid oil palm and the most adequate tools to calibrate crop fertilization (e.g. foliar critical levels for different nutrients). The nursery phase was initiated in 2010 with two sets of plantlets growing in two locations of Colombia. In each location two parallel studies were carried out with rates of: 1) N, P, and K; and 2) Mg, Ca, and B. Plant growth, nutrient absorption, and leaf physiology were evaluated. The first phase of the study involved independent studies on nursery plants (before transplanting) at two locations. The nursery experiments were carried out in Tumaco (southwest Colombia) having alluvial, relatively high organic matter soils and continuous rainfall; and Meta (center east Colombia) having low organic matter oxisols and seasonal raining. The OxG materials used were accessions obtained from crosses made with Elaeis oleifera collected in Brazil. Two different crosses were evaluated in each nursery experiment.
In general the phase I results showed that N controlled the growth of plantlets for the two materials tested in both locations. But for the other nutrients, the response was specific for each OxG material tested, for instance, the demand of K and B in one of the tested materials was larger than the recommended rate for E. guineensis, but the second OxG accession had similar requirements of the African oil palm. As well, the calculated nutrient demand for P and Ca were material specific. The use of K, Mg and B did not produce significant decreases or increases in plant growth (leaf number, leaf area, plant height) in the nursery phase. In the case of B, slight increases were found with the largest quantities used; again, this response was material-specific.
In summary, these results suggest very specific demands of the crop as a function of the material planted, which in practical terms means that each plantation or region may need to develop site-specific studies to fully understand the actual demands of the different OxG materials. The experimental design used may serve as a model for further nursery studies. The second phase of the study was initiated with the transplant of independently managed plantlets at three locations: the Astorga (Tumaco), Hacienda La Cabaña (Casanare), and Unipalma de los LLanos (Meta) plantations. Columbia-16