Micronutrients Concentrations in Leaves of Oil Palm Trees Fertilized with Phosphorus, Potassium, and Magnesium

Abstract

The management of micronutrients in oil palm trees in the Brazilian Amazon is still underdeveloped; thus, information on plant demands and their interactions with other nutrients is required to create adequate management procedures. The objective this work was to evaluate the effects of phosphate, potassium, and magnesium fertilization on micronutrient concentrations in leaves of oil palm trees. The experiment was carried out in the Brazilian Amazon in a randomized block design in a 4 x 2 x 3 x 2 factorial scheme, using four phosphorus levels, two phosphorus sources (natural phosphate and triple superphosphate), three potassium levels and two magnesium levels. Phosphate fertilization increased the concentrations of boron, chlorine, and iron in leaves, while copper and manganese concentrations in leaves decreased with increased doses of phosphorus. Among the phosphorus sources, triple superphosphate provided higher chlorine concentrations in leaves. Potassium fertilization increased only chlorine concentrations in leaves, while magnesium supply did not alter micronutrient concentrations in leaves. Thus, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are essential to provide adequate micronutrient concentrations in leaves of oil palm trees.

A new approach to the nutritional status of manganese in oil palm plants cultivated in the eastern Amazon

“…Mn was identified as one of the most deficient micronutrients in commercial oil palm crops in Pará (Matos et al, 2016). In a study conducted by Viégas et al (2021) with palm plants in Pará State, it was observed that the concentrations of this micronutrient in the shoot (leaves) reduced from 499 to 415 mg kg -1 of when the phosphorus (P) doses increased.…”

“…The nutritional needs of oil palm are large and vary widely, depending on yield, planted genotype, spacing, palm age, type and soil cover conditions, climate, and other environmental factors (Woittiez et al, 2017). About the micronutrients, there are few long-term studies developed with oil palm plants, however, some reports are found in the literature (Viégas et al, 2019;Viégas et al, 2020;Viégas et al, 2021). The evaluation of commercial oil palm nutrition in Pará pointed to Zn and Mn as the most deficient micronutrients in this palm tree (Matos et al, 2016).…”