Relationship between saturation of Al, Mg, K and Incidence of bud rot in oil palm at east region of Colombia

Bud Rot is a disease affecting most of the oil palm materials planted (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) no matter the palm's age. In spite of the fact that in the Llanos Orientales, the disease is not of lethal nature, it has indeed become a serious economic constraint for this crop given the accumulated incidence has achieved levels of more than 90% in a short period of time and affected plots remain unproductive for many years. A study was conducted to help determine if the sub-region of San Carlos, located south of the Department of Meta and where the crop is as important as in other regions, presents similar conditions to those found in Cumaral and Bajo Upía with respect to soil conditions and disease. The mentioned study was carried out in 111.5 hectares of Los Araguatos plantation where the disease was at the highest progressive stage. The disease's dynamics was established through time (June 1999 to December 2004) and in space by means of epidemiological studies. The physical and chemical characteristics of the first soil horizon were studied, by means of a systematic sample in a fixed grid, each quadrant representing 1.27 hectares. The Stepwise multiple linear regression models and the analysis of major components were used to establish the degree of association between the disease's growth rate and each one of the assessed edaphic variables. The soils were grouped in five taxonomic sub-groups and the disease growth rate was found to be different among them; the lowest disease progress rates were found in an Oxic Dystrudept and the highest ones in an Aquic Dystrudept. Aluminum (Al) saturation was found to be one of the properties highly related to disease growth rate with a positive linear relationship (R2 = 0,60). Mg and K saturation were other parameters found that were highly related to Bud Rot growth rate, which were described by negative linear regressions (R2 of 0.97 and 0.80 respectively). These results confirm the relationships between the soil and the disease progress found by the same research group in other areas of the Llanos Orientales

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cristancho R., José Á., Castilla C., Carlos E., Rojas M., Maricela, Munevar M., Fernando, Silva Ch., José H.
Format: Digital revista
Language:spa
Published: Fedepalma 2007
Online Access:https://publicaciones.fedepalma.org/index.php/palmas/article/view/1209
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