ISSN: 2329-8863

Advances in Crop Science and Technology
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  • Research Article   
  • Adv Crop Sci Tech 2017, Vol 6(2): 345
  • DOI: 10.4172/2329-8863.1000345

Growth, Dry Matter Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Oil Palm Seedlings (Elaies guineensis Jacq.) as Affected by Different Soil Ammendments

Ofosu AKB1*, Ofosu-Budu GK2, Norman JC2 and Amoah P3
1School of Graduate Studies, University of Ghana, Ghana
2College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
3International Water Management Institute, , West Africa, Ghana
*Corresponding Author : Ofosu AKB, School of Graduate Studies, University of Ghana, Ghana, Tel: 020 513 6904, Email: oboatister@gmail.com

Received Date: Feb 09, 2018 / Accepted Date: Mar 05, 2018 / Published Date: Mar 12, 2018

Abstract

The use of quality growth medium can enhance growth and development of oil palm seedlings as the continual use of soil alone in oil palm nursery operations is becoming environmentally unsustainable. Organic materials such as biochar and compost have been found not only to reduce the amount of top soil used in the nursery but also have the potential to provide adequate nutrients for oil palm seedling growth. The aim of this study was to evaluate different growing media (soil only, soil amended with rice husk biochar (RHB) and compost (CO); at different ratios (1:1), (1:1:1), (1:1:2) and (1:2:1). The effect of type of growing media on the physico-chemical properties were monitored. In addition, the vegetative growth parameters, dry weight of seedlings and plant nutrient uptake of the seedlings were measured. Water holding capacity of the media increased with an increase in compost while increasing the RHB did not reflect any direct pattern in the water holding capacity of the growing medium. Generally, organic materials (biochar, compost) based growth media treatments recorded higher and significant differences in the parameters monitored compared to the treatment that did not receive any organic amendments. The soil+RHB +CO, 1:1:2 growth media recorded the highest vegetative growth and nutrient uptake compared to the control (Soil only).

Keywords: Rice husk biochar, Compost, Vegetative growth, Nutrient uptake

Citation: Ofosu AKB, Ofosu-Budu GK, Norman JC, Amoah P (2018) Growth, Dry Matter Yield and Nutrient Uptake of Oil Palm Seedlings (Elaies guineensis Jacq.) as Affected by Different Soil Ammendments. Adv Crop Sci Tech 6: 345. Doi: 10.4172/2329-8863.1000345

Copyright: © 2018 Ofosu AKB, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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