Discuss briefly a named oil crop under the following headings (a) climatic and soil requirements (b) planting date, seed rate and spacing (c) nursery practices (d) harvesting (e) processing and storage
Explanation
A named oil crop is oil palm (a) Climatic and soil requirement of oil palm include; Temperature requirement is 18°C while rainfall Is 150 - 250crn per annum. It requires a deep loamy soil rich in humus with a pH of 4.5 - 6.0
(b) Planting date: Pre-nursery is August - October. Nursery is nine months later while field planting is March - May a year later . Spacing: (i) Pre-nursery is 7.6cm x 7.6cm (ii) Nursery is 60cm x 60cm while (iii) Field is 7.8 x 9m
(c) Nursery practices; (i) Pre-nursery: Seeds go through certain processes of germination. Germination occurs 15 days later (ii) Nursery: Raised seed trays are used and seedlings are raised till four months later within which weeding, supplying, watering etc are done
(d) Harvesting: Oil palm matures after 3-5 years. Harvesting knives are used to remove mature bunch from the tree.
(e) Processing and storage: Fruits are boiled, Pounded and the seeds and fibres are removed. The thick liquid is later boiled and the oil is removed from the liquid. Oil palm is stored in containers made of Copper, zinc or aluminium