Nutrient composition of coconut Leaves and its relationship to Nut yields in Tanzania

Abstract

The use of foliar analysis as a tool for the diagnosis of nutritional deficiencies in crops is now well recognized. In oil palms it was first introduced by Chapman and Gray (1949) and further worked out by Broeshart (1956), Prevot and Ollagnier (1956) and later by several other workers. In the case of coconut, considerable\'\'ork has been done in many parts of the world, particularly in India, (Devi and Pandalai, 1968), Ceylon (Salgado, 1955) and I.R.H.O. Paris (Prevot and Bachy, 1962. Zillerand P'reVlOlt 1962). Reviewing ,the results of 20years research carried out by I.R.H.O. in different coconut growing centres, Fremond el af(1966) fixed the critical levels of foliar N, P, K,Ca and Mg as 1.8 to 2, 0.12, 0.8 to 1.0, 0.5and 0.3 per cent of dry matter respectively. Smith (1969) studying the results of a fertilizer experiment done on two Jamaican soils reported that the yield of coconut was related to the ratios between N and K in the leaves. He, however, disagreed with the concept of fixing independent critical levels of major nutrients