Growth parameters of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) tree seedlings in response to fertilizer types

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Research Paper 01/07/2016
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Growth parameters of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) tree seedlings in response to fertilizer types

Tchatchoua Dorothy Tchapda, Ngoe Ngoe Oscar
Int. J. Agron. Agri. Res.9( 1), 55-62, July 2016.
Certificate: IJAAR 2016 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is a perennial crop whose by-products are used for food, non-food and medicine worldwide. Cameroon has over 42% of its total land surface suitable for oil palm cultivation however, production remains low due to poor management options. This research investigates the effect of fertilizer types on growth parameters of oil palm seedlings. The experiment was carried out in the South West region of Cameroon using five different treatments: T1 (bunch waste), T2 (poultry droppings), T3 (urea), T4 (bunch waste + poultry droppings + urea) and finally T5 (control) with three replications on hybrid seedlings of Tenera. Growth parameters recorded were; survival, plant heights, leaf lengths, leaf width and stem girth after twelve weeks of planting. Result showed that T2 and T3 had no significant difference between each other for heights, second leaf length (SLL) and second leaf width (SLW) with T3 being the highest in all the above parameters. T2 was significantly higher than T3 for the stem girth (SG). From these results, inorganic fertilizer (urea) best support the proper growth and development of oil palm seedlings, but can equally be substituted by organic fertilizer (poultry droppings) which showed a significantly bigger stem girth than urea after twelve weeks.

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