This article follows on from an earlier one about the same experiment in 2014. A range of various planting distances (from 7.5 to 9.5 metres) between oil palms was tested using an equilateral triangle design. The current planting density experiment was set up in an oil palm plantation in Nigeria. The climatic conditions are quite stable, with two seasons and around 2000 mm of annual rainfall. The soil is of the desaturated ferralitic type, sandy on the surface, deep and without coarse elements. After twelve years of continual monitoring and extrapolation of the results obtained up to the end of the cycle, we concluded on an optimum planting density of between 143 and 160 oil palms per hectare in a monospecific, equilateral triangle planting design (i.e. a distance of 8.5 to 9 metres between palms). It will take another few years of yield recording to fine-tune the result. For 12-year-old palms, this density range corresponds to a Leaf Area Index of 3.5 to 4, a light interception percentage of 89 to 90 and a foliage overlap percentage of 51 to 68. A thinning treatment was included in the protocol. Thinning at eight years has not led to any advantage after four years.
-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. Keywords:Oil palm / planting density / spacing / thinning / yield Résumé -Premiers effets de la densité de plantation sur les variables végétatives et de production du palmier à huile en Afrique de l'Ouest. Une gamme de différentes distances de plantation entre palmiers à huile (7,5 à 9,5 m) a été testée dans un dispositif en triangle équilatéral. L'expérience de densité de plantation a été établie dans une plantation de palmier à huile au Nigéria. Le climat est très régulier, à deux saisons avec environ 2000 mm de précipitations annuelles. Le sol est de type ferralitique désaturé, sableux en surface, profond, sans éléments grossiers. Un premier bilan a été établi à huit ans après plantation. Des signes d'effet dépressif des fortes densités de plantation (180 et 205 p/ha) sur le rendement ont été mis en évidence. Cet effet dépressif n'est toutefois pas assez fort pour contrebalancer l'augmentation du nombre d'arbres à l'hectare, de sorte qu'il existe un gradient de rendement (tonnes de régimes à l'hectare) croissant avec la densité. Un éclaircissage des palmiers à huit ans est inclus dans le protocole.L'effet concurrentiel entre palmiers va augmenter avec le temps dans les fortes densités, de sorte que le point de compensation devrait être atteint dans quelques années. Mots clés :Palmier à huile / densité de plantation / écartement / éclaircissage / rendement
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