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Dry-matter production and nutrient content of plantation oil palms in Nigeria

I. Growth and dry-matter production

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Summary

Seventeen palms selected as representative of six age-groups ranging from 7 to 22 years were cut down, split into their component parts and the dry weights obtained. Data on plant composition and dry-matter accumulation since planting are given together with estimates of annual production expressed as dry matter per hectare (crop-growth rate) and on the basis of leaf area (net assimilation rate). The results are discussed in relation to productivity of other plants in temperate regions and in the tropics, and reasons are suggested for the comparatively low rate of dry-matter production (1.95 × 104 kg/ha/annum) in adult palms.

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Author notes

  1. A. R. Rees

    Present address: Glasshouse Crops Research Station, Rustington, Littlehampton, U.K.

  2. P. B. H. Tinker

    Present address: Brooms Barn Experimental Station, Higham, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, U.K.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. West African Institute for Oil Palm Research, Near Benin City, Nigeria

    A. R. Rees & P. B. H. Tinker

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  1. A. R. Rees
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  2. P. B. H. Tinker
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Rees, A.R., Tinker, P.B.H. Dry-matter production and nutrient content of plantation oil palms in Nigeria. Plant Soil 19, 19–32 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01347859

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01347859

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