Soil texture and watering impact on pot recovery of soil-stripped oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) seedlings

• Published in: Heliyon Vol. 6; no. 10; p. e05310
• Main Authors: Anaba, Bienvenu Désiré, Yemefack, Martin, Abossolo-Angue, Monique, Ntsomboh-Ntsefong, Godswill, Bilong, Eloi Gervais, Ngando Ebongue, Georges Frank, Bell, Joseph Martin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2020; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agricultural soil science; Crop biomass; Oil palm; Plant growth; Plant seedlings; Pot plant recovery; Soil hydrology; Soil science; Soil texture impact; Soil-stripped seedlings; Watering impact; Soil-stripped seedlings; Soil hydrology; Plant growth; Plant seedlings; Soil science; Watering impact; Agricultural soil science; Oil palm; Soil texture impact; Crop biomass; Pot plant recovery
• ISSN: 2405-8440; 2405-8440
• DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05310

The transportation load of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) seedlings from the nursery to planting sites is a crucial problem facing the extension of smallholder plantations in Cameroon. This load can be considerably reduced by removing soil from the roots, which in turn exposes the plants to water and nutrients stresses. A greenhouse pot experiment was carried out to evaluate the recovery performance of such soil-stripped seedlings as a function of watering frequency and soil texture. Plant recovery potential was monitored on 360 nursery seedlings aged 4 months, under two soil types (sandy clay soil with 46% fine particles and sandy loam soil with 19% fine particles) and two watering frequencies (daily and two-days). Three monthly measurements were taken on morphological plant growth parameters including Plant height, Foliar surface, Collar diameter, Root length and Plant weight. Within and between groups analyses of variance and means separation showed the greatest variability for collar diameter, foliar surface and plant weight. All the parameters showed a greater variability and an almost-constant growth from one month to another, except for plant weight that did show a highly significant (p = 0.000) increase between the first measurement and the second. Soil type, watering and their interaction explained 97–99.5% of the variations of all parameters. Except for root length, all other parameters were more sensitive to the effect of soil texture, explaining 83–95% of the total variation. Only plant weight and root length showed slightly greater values under daily watering, other parameters did not show any sensibility to the two watering frequencies proposed in this experiment. Our results showed a low response of plant growth recovery on the low clay sandy loam soil, revealing that a careful selection of a soil texture is crucial for the survival of seedlings and further establishment of the plants following drought stress. It is therefore strongly recommended to many tropical countries where oil palm is an economically important crop, to take this into account during the selection of soil type for oil palm seedlings nursery. Oil palm; Plant seedlings; Pot plant recovery; Soil-stripped seedlings; Soil texture impact; Watering impact;Agricultural soil science; Crop biomass; Soil science; Soil hydrology; Plant growth.