Bureau of Agricultural Research, Philippines - AGFISHTECH Online

[harrieshc]

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[Mike Foale]

Dear Hugh

The Agfishtech online guide to coconut production would be a useful aid to anyone beginning to learn about the industry. The list of coconut varieties is extensive and a useful reference. Under “Intercropping” however there is a misleading comment that soil in the zone between rows of palms beyond 2 metres from the row is not utilized by the palms. My experience over many years with numerous fertilizer trials was that there is active uptake by the palms of minerals from the soil even at the centre of the inter-row. Secondary and feeder roots explore at least the top-soil layer for a great distance from the trunk. While primary roots might not be visible across the inter-row the palm is still drawing upon nutrients and water from that zone. This does not preclude inter-crops from being productive, but they will have some impact on the productivity of the coconut palms. The limiting factor for productivity for intercrops when there is ample nutrient and water supply will be the proportion of solar radiation that reaches the inter-crop. A vigorous young plantation of coconut might only allow only 20% of radiation to penetrate to the soil surface while a plantation more than 40 years old might allow 50% to get through, and more as the palms get older still. Inter=crop productivity will be affected accordingly.

Mike Foale

 

 

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[PK Thampan]

Dear Dr.Mike Foale, I agree in full with your observations on nutrient absorption by plams from the inter-row space. While it is correct that the effective root zone is concentrated within a radius of 2m from the bole of the palm the possibility of absorption by the roots that spread beyond the effective zone cannot be precluded.Perhaps, the satisfactory performance of some palms growing under conditions devoid of external application of nutrients could be attribuetd to their capacity to exploit soil and water resource from a wider area.This is one of the reasons why possible competition by palms and intercrops for nutrients and moisture in an intercropping system is often reiterated. Depending on the shade effect of coconut palms at different stages of growth suitable intercrops are to selected and grown.By growing intercrops the complementary effects on the system such as the addition  of both the above ground and below ground biomass to the soil carbon stock, availability of surface cover that minimises the damaging effects of splash erosion and surface flow, amelioartion of microclimate etc.are also to be taken into account in addition to the expected economic returns.    Regards, Yours Sincerely, P.K.Thampan President Peekay Tree Crops Development Foundation MIG-141, Gandhi Nagar, Kochi-682 020, Kerala, India. --- On Fri, 7/24/09, Mike Foale <m.f...@uq.edu.au> wrote: