19 Apr How to manage oil palm during hot weather conditions?
गर्म मौसम की स्थिति के दौरान तेल ताड का प्रबंधन कैसे करें? Oil palm is a humid tropical crop which requires a very high annual rainfall of more than 2000 mm well distributed @150 mm per month. In India, very few locations receive rainfall throughout the year and it is not sure that the amount will exceed 150 mm per month or not. That is why oil palm is grown and promoted as irrigated crop in India except in few pockets of high rainfall areas. This crop requires around 150 to 200 litres of water per day per palm during juvenile phase and around 200 to 250 litres per day per palm for adult plantations. What happens if water requirement is not met? If the palm does not get enough water, the number of spear leaves increases as it hinders the opening of spear leaves and finally leaf production gets affected. Further continuance of drought conditions results in necrosis of older leaves, young leaves and ultimately roots. In juvenile palms, photosynthetic activity gets affected, leaves become yellow and leaf tips bronze coloured. In some cases, rolling of lower leaflets also can be seen. In matured palms, rolling of leaflets of mature leaves, reduction in photosynthesis and finally wilting and drying of leaves. These symptoms finally end...