Experimental determination of the optimum oil palm planting density in Western Africa

Abstract

This article follows on from two articles published in 2014 and 2018 on the same trial conducted in an oil palm plantation in Nigeria which was aimed at assessing a range of different planting distances between oil palms (7.5 to 9.5 m) in an equilateral triangle design. The climate in the region is very stable, with two seasons and an average 2000 mm of rainfall per year. The soil is of the desaturated ferralitic type, sandy on the surface, deep, and without coarse elements. After continually monitoring the experimental palms for 16 years, there is now enough hindsight to propose an optimum planting density for oil palms in Western Africa. A plateau has been reached at between 143 and 160 palms per hectare for Pobè C1001F material in the aforementioned pedoclimatic context.