The phenology of oil palm and correlations with climate variables

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the phenology of a natural population of Elaeis guineensis (oil palm), located on the Academic Unit Specialized in Agricultural Sciences UFRN in Macaíba, RN state, evaluating reproductive and vegetative phenological phases of plants and the climate. Phenological characteristics concerning leafiness, defoliation, blooming and fruiting, evaluated using the activity index and intensity of Fournier recorded biweekly from October 2012 to March 2014. The relationship between climate and the phenological phases was performed by Spearman correlation. Elaeis guineensis showed no emission of buds and flowers. The loss and leaf emergence occurred during the whole time. The activity of immature fruits showed significant positive correlation with temperature (r_s = 0.336, P = 0.03). The intensity and activity of mature fruits showed, respectively, a significant positive correlation with both humidity (r_s = 0.455, P = 0.004 and r_s = 0.416, P = 0.009) and with rainfall (r_s = 0.614, P = 0.00004 and r_s = 0.578, P = 0.0001), indicating that the higher humidity and precipitation, the greater the production of the ripe fruit is.

Keywords:
Fournier; Precipitation; Palm oil