ISHS Acta Horticulturae 1018: I International Symposium on Organic Matter Management and Compost Use in Horticulture
EVALUATION OF THE FERTILIZING CAPACITY OF COMPOST IN NURSERY OIL PALM (ELAEIS GUINEENSIS JACQ.) |
| Authors: | A. García, J. Angulo, V. Gutiérrez, M.M. Martínez |
| Keywords: | compost, fertilization, organic matter |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2014.1018.37 |
| Abstract:
Compost is the product of the transformation from organic residues to stable organic matter by the action of several organisms, which provides nutrients, improves the structure, porosity and water retention of the soil and increases the plant resistance to diseases. The objective of this research was to determine the fertilization capacity of the compost in oil palm seedlings. For this, firstly, two treatments were set (addition of compost 2% (w/v) of compost/nursery bag, and 50% of its concentration with 50% of the chemical fertilization traditionally applied on the plantation) and a control (traditional chemical fertilization), evaluating for 8 months the physicochemical characteristics of the soil, the net height, the height to branch, bulb diameter, the plant nutrition by foliar analysis and the percentage of plants that reached the optimal selection characteristics to be transplanted into the field. After the evaluation, it was possible to determine that the compost can offer the plant required amounts of phosphorus (P) and boron (B), so it can substitute this element in the fertilizer, but not the nitrogen (N) fertilization because higher statistically significant values were obtained in the control for the net height: p=<0,0001, the height to branch: p=0,0002 and bulb diameter: p=0,0001; therefore, the final selection of control treatment plants had the lowest percentage of discarded plants (15%), followed by treatment of 50/50 of compost and traditional fertilization (39%) and finally, by the compost treatment alone (77%). Thus, it was possible to conclude that the evaluated compost did not provide all the nutritional elements necessary for optimal plant development and therefore, it becomes a complement but not a substitute for chemical fertilization in oil palms at nursery stage. | |
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