Impact of cessation of manuring on coconut performance
1997
Goh, H. S.
Eleven year old mature MAWA palms were completely not manured after the succesful completion of 4 2 NK factorial fertilizer experiment in 1991. The palm`s performance were monitored in terms of production of fronds, bunches, nuts and copra/nut in addition to foliar nutrient (N,K and Mg) content from 1992-95. N1K4, N2K2 and N4K1 plots were chosen for this study. Front production showed an insignificant decline after 4 years of fertilizer deprivation. Both nut and bunch production declined significantly by 45% and 36.4%, respectively. The production of nuts was more sensitive to fertilizer cessation than bunch production as the number of nuts bunched/bunch adjusted to the lower nutrient status. weight of copra/nut significantly with time. The order and rate of decline were related closely to the quantum of fertilizer applied in the previous experiment. Foliar K content in N1K4 plots fell from a higher plane than N4K1 plots. This trend was also seen for nitrogen. Palms previously well fertilised with nitrogen, N4K1 plots showed a lower rate of decline in yield production than N1K4 plots. Total fertilizer deprivation certainly decreased crop performance and yield, but the quantum of decline is less for palms which previously were well manured and have a higher nutrient reserve in their vegetative parts and soil. hence, a consistent manuring schedule over a long period of time for tree crops is advisable.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by Universiti Putra Malaysia