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Effect of Dry Season Drought on Uptake of Radioactive Phosporous by Surface Roots of the Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.)¹

The hypothesis that the feeding roots of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) die back because of the effects of pronounced dry season drought in Nigeria was tested using radioactive T as a tracer to study P uptake as influenced by different levels of soil moisture. Two trials were carried out in 1964 and 1965, respectively, with the three treatments being: (A) no irrigation during the dry season and T applied in solution to the soil; (B) one irrigation of 50.8 mm of water shortly before application of ³²P; and (C) irrigation at the rate of 50.8 mm of water per palm per week throughout the dry season and ³²P applied to the soil. Leaf samples were taken and the activity of T was determined. In both trials the uptake of ³²P in treatment C was significantly higher than either treatment A or B and supported the hypothesis that the lower activity was caused by the dieback of the absorbing roots during the dry season drought.

Key Words: Root system • Soil moisture • Root activity

² Research Agronomist, Regional Research Centre, University of the West Indies, formerly Soil Chemist, Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research, Benin City, Nigeria.

Received for publication November 29, 1971.