Comparison of productivity of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) grown on tertiary sand and swampy area of Southern of Côte d'Ivoire

Over the past several years, there has been a decrease in rainfall, resulting in an increase in the water deficit in the forest area of Côte d'Ivoire. It is with the aim of looking for new areas suitable for the cultivation of oil palm that experiments have been conducted on the hydromorphic soils of La Mé and low-bottom divo. The objective of this study is to compare the productivity of oil palm grown on tertiary sands and in marshy areas. The experiments were carried out on the CNRA stations in The South-East and Divo and on the Palmci production plantation in Divo, in the south-central area. The methodology is based on the time between initiation and maturation of diets. It takes 3 years between the initiation of the female inflorescence and the harvest of the diet. This evolution of inflorescence is influenced by rainfall and water deficit. The parameters measured were rainfall heights, water deficit, number of diets, average diet weight and performance. The results showed that the rainfall was higher at the Me compared to that recorded in Divo. During the four campaigns, yields were significantly higher on plantations on the hydromorphic soils of the Me and Divo lowlands than on those on the soils of the Me and Divo plateaus. The yield obtained during the 2005 season on the various plantations was 22,000 kg/ha/year in the hydromorphic zone of the Me, 20,500 kg/ha/year in the lowland zone of Divo, 13,000 kg/ha/year on the Mé plateau and 12,500 kg/ha/year on the Divo plateau. Therefore, the choice of hydromorphic zones is currently an interesting solution for improving and increasing the productivity of oil palm in Côte d'Ivoire.