Academic literature on the topic 'Ivory nut palm'

SUMMARYThe results of research on the water relations and irrigation needs of coconut are collated and summarized in an attempt to link fundamental studies on crop physiology to drought mitigation and irrigation practices. Background information on the centres of origin and production of coconut and on crop development processes is followed by reviews of plant water relations, crop water use and water productivity, including drought mitigation. The majority of the recent research published in the international literature has been conducted in Brazil, Kerala (South India) and Sri Lanka, and by CIRAD (France) in association with local research organizations in a number of countries, including the Ivory Coast. The unique vegetative structure of the palm (stem and leaves) together with the long interval between flower initiation and the harvesting of the mature fruit (44 months) mean that causal links between environmental factors (especially water) are difficult to establish. The stomata play an important role in controlling water loss, whilst the leaf water potential is a sensitive indicator of plant water status. Both stomatal conductance and leaf water potential are negatively correlated with the saturation deficit of the air. Although roots extend to depths >2 m and laterally >3 m, the density of roots is greatest in the top 0–1.0 m soil, and laterally within 1.0–1.5 m of the trunk. In general, dwarf cultivars are more susceptible to drought than tall ones. Methods of screening for drought tolerance based on physiological traits have been proposed. The best estimates of the actual water use (ETc) of mature palms indicate representative rates of about 3 mm d−1. Reported values for the crop coefficient (Kc) are variable but suggest that 0.7 is a reasonable estimate. Although the sensitivity of coconut to drought is well recognized, there is a limited amount of reliable data on actual yield responses to irrigation although annual yield increases (50%) of 20–40 nuts palm−1 (4–12 kg copra, cultivar dependent) have been reported. These are only realized in the third and subsequent years after the introduction of irrigation applied at a rate equivalent to about 2 mm d−1 (or 100 l palm−1 d−1) at intervals of up to one week. Irrigation increases female flower production and reduces premature nut fall. Basin irrigation, micro-sprinklers and drip irrigation are all suitable methods of applying water. Recommended methods of drought mitigation include the burial of husks in trenches adjacent to the plant, mulching and the application of common salt (chloride ions). An international approach to addressing the need for more information on water productivity is recommended.

Vascular wilt is the most destructive disease of oil palm in Africa and causes severe losses in some areas. Symptoms include initial wilting followed by desiccation of the fronds, which finally break and hang around the trunk. Internally, characteristic browning of the vascular elements is seen both in adult palms and in seedlings. Two disease syndromes are commonly seen in the field in adult palms—“acute wilt” where the palm dies within a few weeks and “chronic wilt” where the palm may remain alive for many months and even years but becomes progressively stunted. The pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. elaeidis) is a soilborne fungus and the perennial nature of the crop ensured that, in the past, disease management was difficult. Over a period of 30 to 40 years, screening for resistance at the nursery stage was introduced in many plantations and research stations, and successful breeding programs in West Africa, notably in Ivory Coast, have resulted in more resistant oil palm material becoming available. The disease has not yet been detected in South East Asia (largest producer of palm oil) and rigorous quarantine measures have been imposed to prevent introduction of the pathogen into these highly productive areas.

Ivory nuts, bioproducts from South American palms, possess a hard, water-insoluble, and microporous endosperm with a strong resemblance to elephant ivory. The nuts sustainable appeal made them popular as eco-friendly substitutes to ivory and, more recently, microbeads. However, their hygroscopicity and mannan composition impart susceptibility to deterioration by microbes and insects. Cold plasma treatment has been widely investigated as a clean and cost-effective procedure for seed disinfection and surface modification. Hence, in this work, ivory nut endosperm was treated by an air plasma jet to modify wettability. Plasma treated samples were characterized by the water contact angle, AFM, and Raman imaging. Water contact angle results presented an increase from (31.5 ± 8.7)º to (78.9 ± 5.4)º, demonstrating surface hydrophobization. This result was attributed to the modification of surface chemistry by migration and repolymerization of extractives promoted by plasma treatment. AFM results evidenced the formation of a heterogeneous layer containing lamellar features similar to plant epicuticular waxes. Besides, principal component analysis of Raman imaging results highlighted spectral contributions from wax, xylan, mannan, and lignin. These results demonstrate that atmospheric air plasma jets can be employed for ivory nut hydrophobization with no need for additional precursors, altering surface chemistry by crosslinking endosperm native substances.

The oil palm plantation can be found throughout West Africa and palm oil has contributed significantly towards the Nigerian exports. However, the palm oil industry in Nigeria was declining to 36.4% in 1969 and 13.2% in 1974 in spite of being the largest global exporting country at the beginning of 20th Century. Since then, domestic consumption has increased, slow growth in palm oil production and low output was delivered. The equipment of production is considered obsolete, the plantations are aging, the technology access is very little, and financing is insufficient. This indicated a threat and inefficiency of Nigerian palm oil industries to cater for the needs of people regardless of the increase in oil demand locally as the palm kernel oil is becoming important food and raw materials. Due to this problem, Nigeria remained to receive palm oil from Malaysia even though the seedlings was originated from Nigeria. Other large importers include from Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo. This issue has caused Palm oil production in Nigeria to be more expensive and not competitive if compared to other countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Hence, the objective of this paper explores the challenges facing palm oil industry in Nigeria using qualitative data through document and thematic analysis. The semi-structured interview was analysed by utilizing Atlas ti 8 software. The findings of the paper shows that there are challenges facing palm oil industry in Nigeria such as lack of good planting materials, poor funding, improper milling and lack of technology. From this, it is confirmed that there are numerous challenges facing palm oil industry in Nigeria which requires aids from the government from allocation of huge amount of its budget to agriculture and establish better policies for the palm oil industry that will attract more public and private investment. Keywords: Oil Palm, Palm Oil, Palm Oil industry in Nigeria, Challenges

A long-term study on the response of ‘Laguna’ tall (LAGT) palms and coffee intercrop to coconut leaf pruning (CLP) was conducted at the PCA-Davao Research Center from 1993 to 2001 to determine the effect of coconut leaf pruning on the productivity of coconut + coffee cropping system. The coconut leaf pruning technique did not significantly affect the yield and nutrition of coconut in all the years of observation. However, lower number of nut and weight of copra per tree were observed on palms with CLP than those without CLP, but with a slight improvement in copra weight per nut. Likewise, CLP did not affect the coffee yield and leaf nutrient levels. Among the coffee varieties tested, the Excelsa had the highest green bean yield. The Robusta (Ivory Coast and Philippine strains) and Arabica had similar yield and crop nutritional status. While they had similar leaf N, K and B contents that were higher than that of Excelsa, they also had lower leaf levels of Ca, Cl and S. Coffee needs, 1,000-3,000 foot-candles of sunlight, which is within the available light transmission (1,750-4,050 foot-candles) under palms with and without CLP. Hence, CLP is not necessary anymore in coconut with coffee intercrop.

Among terminally ill figures of speech, the cliché of rosy cheeks, ruby lips, and snow-white skin may be counted downright deceased. Even in medieval and Renaissance love poetry, roses in the cheeks, lips like cherries or rubies, skin like ivory, lilies, or snow were stiffly conventional: freshness of complexion prompted no freshness of metaphor. The mistress's red-and-white face was relentlessly emblazoned, “red and white” becoming a short-hand notation for feminine beauty: “With lilies white / And roses bright / Doth strive thy colour fair” (Wyatt 65); “Fair is my love … / A lily pale, with damask dye to grace her” (Passionate Pilgrim no. 7); “Thou art not fair for all thy red and white” (Campion 264). The mistress in Spenser's Amoretti has “ruddy cheekes” and “snowy browes” (no. 64); the bride in his Epithalamion is a vision in red and white—cheeks like sun-reddened apples, lips like cherries, forehead like ivory, “breast like to a bowle of creame uncrudded, / Her paps lyke lyllies budded, / Her snowie necke”; when she blushes, “the red roses flush up in her cheekes, / and the pure snow with goodly vermill [vermillion] stayne, / Like crimsin dyde” (Il. 172-7, 226-8).

Here we describe a new species of the mycoheterotrophic genus Thismia (Thismiaceae), T. brunneomitroides, discovered during a botanical survey in Khao Luang National Park, Peninsular Thailand. Thismia brunneomitroides resembles Thismia brunneomitra from Brunei Darussalam in that both species possess inner tepal lobes that are connate to form a mitre with three projections at the apex and large lateral appendage of the connective. However, it differs in having ivory flowers with twelve pale orange to brownish orange vertical stripes on the perianth tube and slightly dentate lateral appendage of the connective which does not exceed apical part of the connective. Descriptions, illustrations and a key to the 13 species of Thismia in the Thai-Malay Peninsula are provided.

One of the agricultural development income is through agribusiness activities oriented to increasing competitiveness and sustainable economic development of the community, which is carried out within the framework of autonomy to strengthen the regional economy. Cocoa is a strategic commodity in case, firstly, Indonesia is the number two cocoa producer in the world after Ivory Coast, with production of 809,586 tons in 2012. In 2012, this commodity has contributed foreign exchange of US $ 1.1 billion, which is the third foreign exchange earnings spread after oil palm and rubber. Secondly, this product involves 95% of smallholder farmers with increased land ownership of 0.5-2 ha. Thus, the development of the cocoa business will directly or indirectly affect the microeconomics. This study aims to determine the performance and the level of satisfaction of the cocoa certification program in one of cocoa production center in Polewali Mandar. This study uses Importance Performance Analysis (IPA). The results of this study indicate that the achievement of the performance of the cocoa certification program has been running quite well, but there are still some that have not worked optimally where the level of satisfaction of the cocoa certification program that 78.03% are satisfied with the program's performance cocoa certification and 21.97% farmers were not satisfied with the performance of the cocoa certification program carried out in Polewali Mandar.

While Oscar Wilde's attraction to Pre-Raphaelite art has been well documented, surprisingly little attention has been paid to his career-long fascination with Elizabeth Siddall (1829–62). This essay will demonstrate that Wilde's deep and abiding interest in Siddall reverberates across his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), to an extent that has not been considered. I will specifically argue that the suicide of Dorian Gray's lover Sibyl Vane was inspired by Elizabeth Siddall's untimely overdose. The very name Sibyl echoes Siddall, who is best known as the model for John Everett Millais's Ophelia and Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Beata Beatrix. I want to suggest that Siddall, long dead by the 1890s, may have been coded as Celtic across turn-of-the-century Irish literature in ways not hitherto considered. Although Siddall was not born of Irish parents, she served ‘as a model for “a fair Celt with red hair”’ for the Pre-Raphaelite painter William Holman Hunt, perhaps owing to the fact that she was copper-haired, ivory-skinned, Welsh, and working class. As such, Siddall ­– who has not previously been read in a Celtic context – might serve as a signifier of the young, pale, passive, red-haired Irish maiden romanticised across popular culture as a symbol of the Irish nation. Indeed, it is plausible that the Dublin-born Wilde was attracted to Siddall because of her resemblance to the aisling figure derived from the eighteenth-century Gaelic tradition and popular in turn-of-the-century Irish culture. The essay will examine closely the nods to Elizabeth Siddall in The Picture of Dorian Gray and ultimately will propose that the Pre-Raphaelite musings in Wilde – whose engagement with feminism and with his native Ireland have always been complicated – effectively, if not intentionally, silence the figure of the fin-de-siècle New Woman as she appeared across the British and Irish Isles.