Asian Journal of Research in Crop Science

The effects of mulching materials on the growth of oil palm seedlings in sandy soil amended with empty fruit bunch (EFB) compost was carried out at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research screen house, Benin City from December 2024 to August 2025. The study aimed to evaluate the effects of EFB, sawdust and black polythene mulches on growth parameters in oil palm seedlings. Moisture management is essential in oil palm seedlings production. The experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) consisting of four mulching materials in 32 pots/polybags replicated three times giving a total of 96 pots/polybags. Three months old oil palm seedlings were then transplanted. Plant growth parameters were obtained at 6, 9 and 12 months after planting (MAP). The data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and the means separated using Duncan multiple range test. The findings showed that plant height, stem girth and leaf number in EFB mulch had no significant difference with black polythene but differ significantly (p<0.05) from sawdust and control at 12 months. However, significant difference in leaf area was observed in all the mulching materials at 12 months. The highest plant height, stem girth, leaf number and leaf diameter was observed with EFB mulch at 12 MAP with means of 139.05 cm, 16.89 cm, 13 leaves and 0.52 respectively. The lowest plant height, stem girth, leaf number and leaf area at 12 MAP was recorded in the control with a mean values of130 cm, 14.08 cm, 12 leaves and 0.25 cm² respectively. At every MAP, EFB and black polythene had the highest effects(p<0.05) on oil palm seedlings growth while the control had the least. While the growth of oil palm seedlings using the different mulching materials was relatively good probably due to amendment of the soil used with EFB compost, for optimal growth of oil palm seedlings, EFB and black polythene mulches are best recommended for use.