Land preparation #

Virtually all lands in Nigeria, especially East and West is suitable for palm tree survival and proper yield. Get a good quantity of land in acres in a good location. If you are not certain about the suitability of the soil, whether it is fertile for palm tree plantation or not, you can take the sample to Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR). They will be able to analyse and make recommendation. You can get much more additional information from them as regard your venture and the merits. https://www.wealthresult.com/agriculture/palm-oil-tree-plantation-nigeria. Establishing a new date plantation requires certain activities that must be implemented to ensure the long term success of the plantation. One of these activities involve the initial land preparation which should be done before planting materials (offshoots or tissue culture-derived plants) are transplanted. The purpose of land preparation is to provide the necessary soil conditions which will enhance the successful establishment of the young offshoots or the tissue culture plants received from the nursery. Considering the nature of the date palm, one cannot “save” on this operation and hope for long term sustainability of the plantation. http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y4360e/y4360e0a.htm. Tractor Soil Pulverisers to loosen the soil, pulverize, and level packed or encrusted soils. Remove hard roots in preparation for palm seedlings, making the soil well suited for planting. Before preparing the land, you have to get the palm nursery ready. You have two options, either to germinate your own seeds or buy already germinated seedlings. https://www.wealthresult.com/agriculture/palm-oil-tree-plantation-nigeria.

Critical factors to consider during this planning exercise are summarised as follows:

• Availability and quality of irrigation water;
• Field selection;
• Mechanical actions to be implemented;
• Chemical needs for pre-plant soil improvement;
• Tools and equipment needed for date cultivation;
• Labour needs;
• Irrigation design and installation;
• Leaching schedule;
• Hole preparation;
• Financial requirements and
• Time schedule.

Field selection: Land area selected for the establishment of the date plantation can influence the cost of land preparation to the extent that it may not be viable to proceed with the development at all. Things you must observe during field selection are

Water availability: Although not always realised, the date palm requires a rather large quantity of water for sustainable growth. Critical factors regarding water for irrigation purposes are:

• the sustainability of the water source,
• the quantity of water available for irrigation,
• the distance to the fi eld, and
• the quality of the water.

Physical land preparation

Once a suitable area for establishing the plantation is selected and the planning operation is finalised, the actual preparation can be activated. These activities are divided to structure and pace the implementation process in order to be ready for planting at the most suitable time, according to the specific regional climatic conditions.

 

Mechanical field preparation

The mechanical or initial soil preparation concerns mainly the preparation of a field for further detailed preparation such as irrigation system installation, hole preparation, etc. Actions, if applicable to the area, include:

• debushing/bush clearing;
• removal of stones and rocks;
• ripping; and
• levelling of the soil.

Irrigation system installation: The type of irrigation system to be used will be determined by the availability of water, topographical and soil conditions.

 

 

 

Depth of soil

In time date palms grow very tall and become top heavy especially during the fruit bearing stage. They therefore need sufficient room for proper root development to support the palms. Besides the importance of root development, soil depth also influences drainage and leaching possibilities. Any obstructive layers must be evaluated to determine whether they will influence root development and whether they can be corrected.

 

Soil quality

Date palms can grow and produce in different types of soil in both hot arid and semi-arid regions. Adaptation could go from a very sandy to a heavy clay soil. The soil quality is related to its drainage capacity mainly when soils are salty or the irrigation water is characterised with a high salt content. Sandy soils are common in most date plantations of the old world. Rare cases of clay soils (i.e. Basra-Iraq) with drainage systems are found allowing the culture of date palms. The optimum soil conditions are found where water can penetrate to at least 2 m deep. Plant growth is influenced by either saline or acid soil conditions which, in the end, will result in a loss of potential yield. Saline and alkaline soils are common in date plantations and are characterised by a high concentration of soluble salts, and exchangeable sodium, respectively. Soluble salts present in these soils belong to cations: sodium, calcium and magnesium and to chloride and sulphate anions. Saline and alkaline soils are usually the result of:

• an increase of the underground level caused by excessive drought situations (high evaporation);
• the use of high salt content water, and
• very poor drainage system.

Where date palm grows in climates of little rain, but great heat and much evaporation, irrigation or flood water evaporates quickly, and its salts are left on the surface of the soil. When evaluating the soil quality, attention must be given to:

• the soil texture which will influence the water retention capacity, and
• the nutrient content to determine the corrective measures necessary for soil improvement.

 

 

Soil improvement

The scheduling of the soil improvement programme will depend on the date grower; as certain applications could be combined with the initial actions of soil preparation. Due to the long waiting period, planting to first production, it is a trend to establish date plantations on new soils, with the exception of areas where date palm is used for intercropping. If new soils are considered, the soil improvement programme will mostly deal with:

1. Organic material: In general, most soils are poor in organic matter content and the improvement of this situation plays an important role in soil fertility. Some of the advantages of a higher humus content in the soil are summarised as follows:

• Enhances crumb formation which improves the respiration of the roots;
• Increases the water infiltration rate;
• Increases the water holding capacity;
• Lowers soil compaction and crust formation; and
• Limits the harmful effects of alkalinity and improves the leaching of salts.

1. Hole preparation: The actual digging of the hole is one of the last actions before planting takes place, but it must be emphasised that this is not the final preparation for the planting operation itself. This is the point where the required inputs such as gypsum and organic materials are worked into the soil and a start is made with the leaching programme. The reason why the leaching is only applied at this stage is because of the relatively small area that is occupied by the date palm. If the total area had to be leached, it would become very costly with little or no benefit in the long run. It is recommended that a hole of 1 m³ be prepared and that the soil from the hole be mixed with the organic material and gypsum. The soil mix is then put back into the hole, where after the site is clearly marked for positioning of the small date palm plants. At this stage, once the hole has been prepared and closed, it is irrigated and a leaching programme implemented. The water supply will then enhance the leaching of excessive salts and contribute to the fermentation process of the organic material. Subsequent irrigation, several times (2 to 3) before planting, will also allow the mixed soil to settle in the hole. In most soils, the early and rapid growth of the date plant is better when the holes are prepared one to two months before planting. Well-rotted manure can also be used in holes prepared and irrigated shortly before planting, but extreme care must be taken to put the manure (and fertilisers) deep enough to allow a layer of soil at least 15 to 20 cm thick to be placed between the manure and the roots of the date plant.

Seed variety

The fruits of all oil palms are not the same.

• They are not all of the same size.
• The pulp is not equally thick in all of them.
• The shell is not equally thick.
• Some kernels have no shell at all.

There are different varieties of oil palm:

• durapalms have kernels with a thick shell;
• pisiferapalms have kernels with no shell;
• tenerapalms have kernels with a thin

Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/t0309e/T0309E01.htm

 

Planting operation

This is probably the most critical phase in the establishment of a new date plantation. Mistakes at this point may lead to a poor survival rate of offshoots or tissue culture-derived plants, regardless of the efforts put in during the preparation phases. The aim is to assist the date grower to execute the planting operation in a way that will ensure a high transplanting survival rate in the newly established plantation. The planting operation is divided into different activities which will be discussed separately.

Germinate Your Own Seeds

You can get high yielding seed from the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research or any other places you can find it and make it germinate. Taking care of the seeds will make it germinate on time. In order to achieve this, the seeds are kept in a very hot room. This makes the seeds to germinate in about 90 to 100 days. When the seeds are germinated, you transfer them into small plastic container with black loam manured oil. They will grow new leaf every month. The young seedlings will stay in the container for 4 to 5 months. Start transplanting to the nursery when the seedling begins to bring out new leaf with two points (bifid leaf).

The seedlings will stay in the nursery for 1 year. By that time, they will have about 15 green leaves. Then you finally transplant them into your prepared farm land. The overall period it will take before the seedlings are transplanted into the farm is 15 to 17 months old. Or you can just go to the agricultural institute to buy already prepared seedling at about N120 per seedling. If you are planting 10,000 palms, you will have to have 120 x 10,000 = N1.2 million. So, germinating your own seedling is less costly but takes some times.

Planting Your Seedlings

Plant with proper spacing, taking into cognizance grown period when the palm frond will be spread all over the place. Your palm needs to be planted preferably at the rainy season when it will have enough water in the soil for sustaining the young palm. It is also important to plant at the right density, therefore, to be sure of the right density before planting, you must peg out the area properly. The distance must be the same between rows and in each row should also be the same distance between oil palms. If the oil palms are planted too close together, the roots get in each other’s way, and the leaves do not have enough air and sun: the yield will be low. If the oil palms are not planted close enough together, each separate tree produces much, but the roots do not use all the soil: the yield per hectare will be low.

Source: https://www.wealthresult.com/agriculture/palm-oil-tree-plantation-nigeria

Plant spacing: It is difficult to prescribe a definite plant spacing but there are specific factors influencing the spacing such as:

• to allow for sufficient sunlight when palms are tall;
• to allow for sufficient working space within the plantation; and
• provide sufficient space for root development.
• Previously, the general assumption for a commercial date plantation was to use a plant spacing of 10 m × 10 m (100 palms/ha). It has, however, changed over time and a plant spacing of 9 m × 9 m (121 palms/ha; Israel) or 10 m × 8 m (125 palms/ha; Namibia), is used in modern plantations.
• The planting density also depends on ecological factors (mainly humidity) and on varieties. In general, commercial plantations use 10 m × 10 m, 9 m × 9 m or 10 m × 8 m, for all varieties except for Khadrawy (dwarf variety with a small canopy) which could be planted at a higher density. The tendency to plant more closely is found when the prevailing wind is dry and extremely hot and strong. The 10 × 10 is desired in areas where humidity during the date ripening period (Coachella valley-USA, Elche-Spain and Coast of Libya (Zliten)) is high (Dowson, 1982); This wider spacing is to allow sun and wind to counteract the humidity’s influence. According to Nixon (1933), wide spacing is also recommended whenever there is considerable danger of rain damage to dates during the ripening season.

Time of planting

The critical factor is to transplant the young tissue culture date palms or offshoots at that time of the year that will ensure a good survival rate and proper establishment before the beginning of a “hard” season. In most of the date regions in the northern hemisphere, spring and autumn are preferred for the planting out of tissue culture-derived date plants or offshoots. Spring avoids the cold of winter and takes advantage of the warm weather that encourages rapid growth, while autumn gives the young shoot a longer time to establish itself before the heat of summer. Each of the two seasons, however, has its corresponding disadvantage; spring, the early approach of the great heat, and autumn, the early approach of the cold.

In the southern hemisphere the best time of establishment is during autumn (February/March) because of the following reasons:

• Winters are relatively frost free,
• Very high summer temperatures,
• Strong, dry winds during August-January, and
• Sand storms during the summer.
• In areas without extreme dry, hot summers and with severe frost during winter it is recommended to plant during August/September or at a time safe from the occurrence of frost.

Transplanting stage

Research has shown that the best field survival rate, as well as early plant development, is obtained when the date tissue culture plantlets are transplanted at the four (4) plus pinnae leaf stage. Plants received from a tissue culture laboratory normally only have juvenile leaves or one pinnae leaf at the most. These plants are thus too small to be transplanted into the field. It is therefore necessary to include a hardening-off phase for plant development which also allows some time for plants to adapt to local climatic conditions. This results in the young plants being kept in the farm nursery for a period (approximately 8-12 months), until the sufficient number of pinnae leaves have developed before transplanting takes place.

In a field test at the Eersbegin project (Namibia), tissue culture plants with 4-6 pinnae leaves were transplanted and the results indicated that the initial plant development, after transplanting, was better when the plants were transplanted at the 4-pinnae leaf stage than at the 5-6 pinnae leaf stage. Regarding offshoots, it is highly recommended to ensure their rooting in the nursery after separation from the plant mother (at least 10 to 12 months). It is not recommended to plant an offshoot directly after its separation.

Planting time and depth

Planting should always be initiated early in the morning to limit stress on the date plantlets and also to allow sufficient time for adaptation (from the plastic bag to the soil). Bags are to be removed with care and the plant, with most of its surrounding substrate, to be planted carefully. Planting is probably the area where most people make the vital mistake of planting the plant too deep. The planting depth is critical because the “heart” of the plant should never be covered with water. Once the plant is covered with water the growing point rots and the plant dies off. If a date plant is planted too shallow, its roots will desiccate and die. The golden rule is to ensure that the greater diameter of the bulb of the plant is at the same level as the soil surface after transplanting and to ensure that water does not go over the top of the date plant.

 

Basin preparation

Immediately after transplanting, a basin is prepared around the palm to prevent run-off and to ensure a sufficient supply of water to the plant. When using a micro irrigation system, it is recommended to have a basin of approximately 3 m in diameter and 20 to 30 cm deep. The basin should have a slight downward slope towards the plant to allow the water to reach the root system of the young plant.

 

Mulching

The benefits of organic material were highlighted when land preparation, as part of the plantation development, was discussed. The mulching is done by putting a layer of organic material (e.g. wheat straw) around the base of the palm. Mulching of the basin has the following advantages:

• Limits water loss from the soil through evaporation;
• Prevents crust formation;
• Allows better water penetration into the soil:
• Limits weed growth around the plant; and
• Improves the humus content of the soil.

Irrigation

Immediately after transplanting, the palm should be irrigated to limit transplant stress. Once the plantation is established, a frequent irrigation schedule is to be followed to allow sufficient water supply to the young date palm. The irrigation frequency, is soil type dependant, but on very sandy soils it requires daily irrigation during the first summer. Heavy soils will require irrigation once a week, while in most soils, irrigation is required every second or third day. During the first six weeks, the date growers should inspect their planted date palms to verify that the surface soil does not dry and shrink away from the plant.

 

Protection

Tissue culture-derived plants and young offshoots should be protected from harsh climatic conditions (sun and wind during the first summer and cold the following winter) and against some animals (rabbits, etc.). The use of a hessian wrapping, a shade net cover, or a tent of date leaves is recommended. The top is to be left open so that new growth may push out.

 

Aftercare

Beside irrigation applications, the annual fertilisation schedule, weeding and mulching, the date grower should, for at least the first 10 to 12 months, keep an eye on the plantation in order to detect and consequently correct any adverse situations.

 

The Proper Pegging Measurement

Trace lines across the slope and put in your pegs in straight lines; leave 7.8 meters between rows and 9 metres between pegs. In this way you can plant 143 oil palms per hectare; this is the best density. Pull out tree stumps and remove fallen trees close to the pegs, because these stumps and trees would interfere with the oil palms. Having done your part of setting up your oil palm plantation in Nigeria, the next is to maintain it and wait for your yield. Palm tree starts yielding fruits just two years after planting. From that moment onwards, you will be harvesting cash all year round for generations.

Source: https://www.wealthresult.com/agriculture/palm-oil-tree-plantation-nigeria

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Fertilisation requirements #

The initial land and orchard preparation aims at preparing the soil for establishment of the young tissue culture date palm or offshoots, but does not ensure proper establishment and growth after transplanting. A fertilisation programme should be included in the date plantation establishment phase for optimum growth.

 

Functions of nutrient elements and their availability in relation to soil conditions

Date palm has similar fertiliser requirements to other cultivated crops. Nutrient elements necessary for plant growth and production (but not absorbed from the air), i.e.: boron, calcium, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulphur and zinc, are all needed at different rates by the date palm culture.

 

Nitrogen

Nitrogen plays a major role in plant life processes such as photosynthesis, vegetative growth and the maintenance of genetic identity. This ensures high yield at the end of the season. Nitrogen is freely available to plants within the pH range of 5.5 to 8.5. When the soil pH is below 5.5 or above 8.5, the availability decreases to the extent that plants are not able to take up any nitrogen from the soil profile.

 

Phosphorus

Phosphorus also plays a role in processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, vegetative growth, reproduction and maintenance of the genetic identity. It is also associated with cell division, root development and flowering. Phosphorus is freely available to plants within the pH range of 6.0 to 8.0 and above 8.5. When the soil pH is below 5.0, phosphorus is, for all purposes, not available to plants. At a pH of around 8.0 to 8.5, phosphorus is relatively unavailable to plants, but from approximately 8.5 and above it becomes freely available again.

 

 

 

Potassium

Potassium is found in cell sap and plays a role in the transport of nitrogen in the plant and the promotion of photosynthesis. This nutrient helps to strengthen fi bre and has an infl uence on the opening and closing of the stomata. Potassium is also associated with resistance to drought, cold and the improvement of fruit quality. Potassium is freely available to plants within the pH range of 5.5 to 7.5 and above 8.5. When the soil pH is below 5.0, potassium, is for all purposes, not available to plants. At a pH of around 7.5 to 8.5, potassium is relatively unavailable to plants but from approximately 8.5 and above it becomes freely available again. Hence, measures are needed to adjust the soil pH to ensure the availability of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for plant utilisation.

Boron

Boron is an essential nutrient in pollination and the subsequent reproduction processes, i.e. the formation and growth of flowers and fruits. It also plays a role in the uptake of calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Source: http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/y4360e/y4360e0a.htm