Plantation Crops

Soil and climatic requirement

Soil
•  Deep permeable soil rich in humus. Depth should be at least 1 m ( > 1m)
• Optimum PH = 6.5 to 7.5
•  Avoid heavy soils with poor drainage, highly alkaline soils and soils with more of gravel and sand with poor water holding capacity.

Climate : Oil palm is categorized as a humid tropical palm.
•  Sun light :It is a sun loving plant , Requires bright sunshine of more than 5 hours . Solar radiation below 350 cal /cm2 /day affects the growth and yield of the palm
•  Temperature : Prefers hot humid equatorial climate with a mean annual temperature of 20º C to 27 º C, and temperature of more than i.e., > 33 º C inhibits photosynthesis.
•  Altitude /Elevation : Oil palm can be grown upto 900 m. ASL. But below 450 m ASL it’s performance is better.
• Rainfall : Well distributed rainfall of 2500 to 4000 mm. It can with stand high rainfall and 3 to 4 dry months in a year. However, dry period affects yield adversely with poor sex ratio.
Hence, cultivation of oil palm under rain-fed situation may not be profitable .