This is a practical guide which general and specific practices in oil palm nurseries to produce healthy, vigorous and uniform plants ready for field planting. Oil palm is the world's top oil crop.

• Nursery Practices in Oil Palm: A Manual
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
  • 1.1 History of Oil Palm Nursery Practices
  • 1.2 Importance of Nursery Best Management Practices
  • References
• 2 Health and Safety Considerations
  • 2.1 The Importance of Health and Safety
  • References
• 3 Nursery Set-up
  • 3.1 Site Selection
    • 3.1.1 Water supply
    • 3.1.2 Topography (terrain)
    • 3.1.3 Area
    • 3.1.4 Accessibility and nursery roads
    • 3.1.5 Drainage
  • 3.2 Nursery Preparation
    • 3.2.1 Nursery tools and materials
    • 3.2.2 Clearing the site
    • 3.2.3 Fencing the site
    • 3.2.4 Irrigation preparation
      • Components of drip irrigation
      • System layout
      • Emitter type
      • System capacity
      • Design flow rate
  • 3.3 Single- or Double-stage Nursery
    • 3.3.1 Single-stage nursery
    • 3.3.2 Double-stage nursery
    • 3.3.3 General recommendations
  • 3.4 Trial Material
    • 3.4.1 Labelling
    • 3.4.2 Preparation for ramets
  • 3.5 Off-site Facilities
  • References
• 4 Pre-nursery Activities
  • 4.1 Materials and Tools
  • 4.2 Preparation
    • 4.2.1 Bed preparation for sowing germinated seed
    • 4.2.2 Filling planting bags
    • 4.2.3 Shade construction
  • 4.3 Practices for Planting Germinated Seeds and Ramets
    • 4.3.1 Steps in planting germinated seed
      • Step 1
      • Step 2
      • Step 3
      • Step 4
      • Step 5
      • Step 6
      • Step 7
      • Step 8
      • Step 9
      • Step 10
    • 4.3.2 Planting of clonal plantlets (ramets)
      • Steps in planting the ramets: Step 1
      • Step 2
      • Step 3
      • Step 4
      • Step 5
    • 4.3.3 Transfer to main nursery and potting-on
  • 4.4 Steps in Setting up a Pre-nursery for Subsequent Field Trialling
    • Step 1: Design of beds
    • Step 2: Labelling
    • Step 3: Potting-on
  • References
• 5 Main Nursery Activities
  • 5.1 Materials and Tools
  • 5.2 Preparation
    • 5.2.1 Nursery area
    • 5.2.2 Filling large planting bags with soil medium
      • Precautions in preparing soil medium
      • Steps in filling planting bags with soil: Step 1
      • Step 2
      • Step 3
      • Step 4
      • Step 5
    • 5.2.3 Spacing the planting bags
      • Steps in planting bag spacing: Step 1
      • Step 2
      • Step 3
      • Step 4
      • Step 5
      • Step 6
      • Step 7
    • 5.2.4 Holing
  • 5.3 Practices
    • 5.3.1 Transplanting to the main nursery
      • Steps in potting-on seedlings from small to the large planting bags: Step 1
      • Step 2
      • Step 3
      • Step 4
      • Step 5
      • Step 6
      • Step 7
      • Step 8
    • 5.3.2 Supply palms
    • 5.3.3 Transport to the field
  • 5.4 Plant Production for Field Performance Trials
    • 5.4.1 Placement of plants for trial work
    • 5.4.2 Steps in planting bag placement for subsequent trial work: Step 1
      • Step 2
      • Step 3
      • Step 4
      • Step 5
    • 5.4.3 Supply palms for trial work
    • 5.4.4 Transport to the field for trial work
      • Steps in transporting young palms in bags to the field for trial work: Step 1
      • Step 2
      • Step 3
  • References
• 6 Fertiliser Programmes
  • 6.1 Considerations for Fertiliser Programmes
  • 6.2 Fertiliser Programmes for Pre-nursery
    • 6.2.1 Considerations in applying fertiliser to pre-nursery and rametry plants
  • 6.3 Fertiliser Programmes in the Main Nursery
  • 6.4 Fertigation
  • 6.5 Care in the Use of Fertilisers in the Nursery
  • References
• 7 Watering
  • 7.1 Watering Systems
    • 7.1.1 Increased beneficial use of water
    • 7.1.2 Crop water requirements
  • 7.2 Sprinkler Irrigation
    • 7.2.1 Watering in pre-nursery
    • 7.2.2 Watering in main nursery
      • Maintenance of sprinkler irrigation system
  • References
• 8 Culling
  • 8.1 Considerations for Culling
  • 8.2 Culling in the Pre-nursery
  • 8.3 Culling in the Main Nursery
  • 8.4 Culling Ramets
  • References
• 9 Weeding
  • 9.1 Materials and Tools
  • 9.2 Chemical Weeding
  • 9.3 Manual Weeding
  • Reference
• 10 Pests and Diseases
  • 10.1 Common Pests in the Nursery
  • 10.2 Common Diseases in the Nursery
  • 10.3 Pest and Disease Management Control
    • 10.3.1 Control of pests
    • 10.3.2 Control of diseases
  • References
• 11 Pre-field Genotypic Screening and Selection
  • 11.1 Traits to be Scored
  • 11.2 DNA Extraction
  • 11.3 DNA Testing
  • 11.4 Future Pre-field Screening
  • References
• 12 Quarantine Nurseries
  • 12.1 Pests and Diseases in the Nursery
  • 12.3 Pest and Disease Control
  • 12.4 Location: Isolation and Observation (Singmat Area)
    • Closed facility
    • Open facility
  • 12.5 Location for Intervention Treatments
    • Fumigation location
  • 12.6 Heat Treatments
    • Air heat treatment
    • Vapour heat treatment
  • 12.7 Location for Control Actions
  • 12.8 Inspection
  • References
• Index