Breeding and Genetics of the Oil Palm

Published Date
Palm Oil
2012, Pages 31–58, doi:10.1016/B978-0-9818936-9-3.50005-8

Author 

• Aik Chin Soh

Publisher Summary

The African oil palm (Elaeis quinensis), which produces the palm oil for international trade, is endemic to tropical Africa, although its centers of origin diversity are concentrated in west and central Africa. The American oil palm (E. oleifera) is endemic to Latin America stretching from the Amazon to northern Mexico. Both occur as lowland semi-wild forest groves near river fringes and are often associated with native settlements or their migratory activities. The oil palm plantation expansion was spurred on by private plantation companies becoming interested in commercial hybrid seed production and investing in oil palm breeding. Mixed T or D × P hybrids have been the dominant commercial planting materials until today. The oil palm, being the highest yielding oil crop and its versatile oil uses besides food would play an increasingly important role, especially with new countries venturing into planting oil palm. The challenge is to be able to produce more palm oil sustainably in the future scenario of depleting suitable land, energy, environment, and, in certain acute situations, human resources. In terms of breeding, it is in the development of more efficient palms with the ideotype traits: high biomass production from high density planting of dwarf genotypes with high HI, NUE, WUE, and added value products and easily harvestable trees with light mechanical tools. Concerted efforts in broadening the oil palm genetic base and the development of improved biotechnological/genomic tools to assist breeding would contribute greatly toward meeting the challenge.

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Copyright © 2012 AOCS Press. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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