Yield Gap Analysis in Oil Palm Production Systems in Ghana

Yield Gap Analysis in Oil Palm Production Systems in Ghana

Emmanuel Ohene Afoakwa

Palm oil is the world’s most important edible oil crop, and in the Ghanaian economy, oil palm (Eleais guineensis) is the next most important perennial crop after cocoa. Since the early 2000s, the area under oil palm in Ghana expanded but average fruit bunch (FB) yields remained low at ~7 t ha-1 yr-1 in 2014, resulting in large yield gaps. Despite the pressing need to increase palm oil production and improve yields, knowledge of the underlying causes of poor yields in Ghana is lacking. The objective of this thesis was to analyse the factors that currently limit oil palm production on plantations and smallholder farms in Ghana and to assess opportunities to increase yields with improved agronomic practices. Using land suitability evaluation methods and yield gap analysis, a framework for yield intensification with ‘Best Management Practices’ (BMP) on existing mature oil palm plantings was developed. Data was …

Wageningen University and Research ProQuest Dissertations Publishing

2019

https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=EZuX1N8AAAAJ&cstart=100&pagesize=100&citation_for_view=EZuX1N8AAAAJ:9UF2BbDYXHIC

English