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Oil Palm

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DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-394807-6.00176-3

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From Goh, K.J., Wong, C.K., Ng, P.H.C., Oil Palm. In Brian Thomas, Brian G Murray and
Denis J Murphy (Editors in Chief), Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, Vol 3,
Waltham, MA: Academic Press, 2017, pp. 382–390.
Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Academic Press
 Author's personal copy

Oil Palm
KJ Goh, CK Wong, and PHC Ng, Advanced Agriecological Research Sdn. Bhd., Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Ó 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
This article is a revision of the previous edition article by B.S. Jalani, A. Kushairi, S.C. Cheah, volume 2, pp. 960–969, Ó 2003, Elsevier Ltd.

Introduction lands developed for large-scale industrial cropping and

integrating with smallholder schemes.
Oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq., is a tropical, perennial crop In Southeast Asia, oil palm was initially planted as orna-
mainly cultivated for its vegetable oil, which is composed of mental palm and the first commercial plantings started in
both palm oil and kernel oil. Palm oil is derived from the 1911 from the descendants of four seeds from West Africa
mesocarp, whereas kernel oil is derived from the endosperm planted in Bogor, Indonesia, in 1848. The crop diversity policy
or kernel (Figure 1). Both vegetable oils from oil palm are in Malaysia in the late 1950s, which was later followed by Indo-
constituents of many foods, oleochemicals, medicinal and nesia in the 1980s, spurred the expansion and modernization
health products, household products, and industrial products. of the industry. The ongoing development of oil palm is further
About 16% of world palm oil is converted to biodiesel. driven by the demand for biodiesel and the needs of underde-
Oil palm thrives in the humid tropics and was harvested veloped nations for economic development and decent living
from about 15.7 million hectares in 2013–14 (Table 1). standards by increasing the capability of poor families to buy
However, it occupied only 5.8% of the land cultivated with food and basic necessities, promoting rural development by
oil crops but produced 29.8% of the world vegetable oils and creating vibrant local markets, and providing local employ-
fats. Worldwide, about 53% of the land planted with oil ment opportunities. Despite this, the crop has created much
palm is owned by smallholders and government institutions. controversy in relation to tropical forest conversion, biodiver-
Nevertheless, the more productive and profitable plantations sity, and land rights. Balancing these concurrent goals of devel-
are run by large companies where the best management prac- opment and conservation requires science-based information
tices are science driven; adequate infrastructure is installed to and perhaps, a paradigm shift.
manage, harvest, process, and export the produce; and basic
amenities such as housing, water, electricity, schools, health,
and recreational facilities are provided to attract workers and Origin and Distribution
their families to the plantations. Thus, countries with successful
oil palm industry, e.g., Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Colom- The oil palm genus, Elaeis (Arecaceae), has two species, E. gui-
bia, and Papua New Guinea, have at least 30% of their oil palm neensis (2n ¼ 32) and Elaeis oleifera (2n ¼ 32). The origin of

(a) (b)

(c) Mesocarp: palm oil

Epicarp

Thin shell
Endosperm: palm kernel oil

Figure 1 (a) Young mature oil palm with fruit bunches. (b) Mature bunch. (c) Cross-section of mature fruit showing two sources of vegetable oil,
i.e., palm oil from mesocarp and palm kernel oil from the endosperm or kernel.

382 Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, 2nd edition, Volume 3 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-394807-6.00176-3

Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, Second Edition, 2017, 382–390

 Author's personal copy
Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm 383

Table 1 World production of vegetable oils and harvested areas of most flowers are receptive (up to 82%) on the second day
various oil crops after anthesis, which would be the most suitable time for
pollination. Oil palm is essentially a cross-pollinated palm,
Production % of world Total harvested % of world
which is pollinated predominantly by the pollinating
Oil crop (million tonnes) production area (million ha) harvested area
weevils, Elaeis kamerunicus. This African weevil was intro-
Oil palm 58.5 29.8 15.7 5.8 duced to Malaysia in 1982 and has spread to other oil
Soybean 43.8 22.3 114.2 42.3 palm–growing countries. The other weevils of Elaeis sp. and
Rapeseed 25.7 13.1 35.7 13.2 thrips are minor pollinators of oil palm.
Sunflower 15.8 8.0 25.9 9.6 Oil palm grows to a height of 30–40 m and can live to more
World 196.4 100 270.2 100 than 150 years. It is a feather palm with its stem topped by
Source: Oil World, 2014. Oil World Annual 2014, vol. 1. ISTA Mielke GmbH,
35–60 pinnate fronds borne on a columnar stem. It produces
Hamburg, Germany. Up to 2013/14. about one to four fronds per month. Oil palm has an adventi-
tious root system. The primary roots grow from the base of the
stem and branch into secondary, tertiary, and quaternary roots.
the former lies in the tropical rain forest region of West Africa The last two types of roots are nonlignified and assumed to
along the coastal belt from Liberia and down south to Angola absorb soil nutrients. Most oil palm roots are found in the
and Zaire. The African oil palm grows in wild and semiwild top 45 cm of the soils but primary and secondary roots can
groves, and spread by people to a wider area ranging from descend below 2 m.
16 N to 15 S and eastward to Zanzibar and Madagascar.
There is a secondary distribution of oil palm growing in semi-
wild groves on the Atlantic coast of Brazil, predominantly in Fruits
Bahia, but it is believed that they were brought to Brazil
from Africa by slave traders in the seventeenth century. The fruit consists of epicarp, mesocarp, endocarp, embryo, and
Elaeis oleifera is native to tropical areas of Central and endosperm (Figure 1). The epicarp and mesocarp are
South America, growing wild with no commercial value composed of parenchymatous cells with only mesocarp having
compared with E. guineensis. This is partly due to its very oil droplets. The endocarp or shell consists of stone cells. The
low yield despite the high oil quality. However, the F1 hybrid, endosperm or kernel cells contain oil droplets, while the aleu-
E. oleifera  E. guineensis, is grown commercially in South rone grains have crystalloids.
America because of its tolerance to bud rot disease and it Fruits of E. guineensis are classified into the following three
may play a very important role in the future with respect to distinct forms based on shell thickness, which is monogenically
interspecific hybridization and biotechnology. inherited (Figure 2): (1) dura, homozygous dominant
The wide distribution of oil palm might be attributed to its (ShþShþ), which has a thick shell (2 to 8 mm); (2) pisifera,
adaptability to harsh environment being a pioneer forest homozygous recessive (ShSh), which is shell-less; and
species in its native ecosystem in Africa. It can be found in (3) tenera, heterozygous hybrid (ShþSh) resulting from
waterlogged areas, shallow lateritic or stony soils, very sandy a dura  pisifera (D  P) cross, which has a thin shell (0.5 to
soils, peat, dry region with moisture stress less than 4 mm). However, within each fruit form, considerable varia-
800 mm year1, steep terrain, and elevation of about 1300 m tion in shell thickness occurs under apparent polygenic control.
above sea level. However, it grows best in lowland areas below The pisifera is generally female sterile. Occasionally, there
500 m in the humid tropics between 10 N and 10 S and with may be fertile pisiferas but the fruit set is generally low and
annual rainfall between 2000 and 2500 mm with no dry oil-to-bunch ratio seldom exceeds that of tenera. However, its
season (moisture stress less than 100 mm year1), minimum male inflorescence produces viable, fertile pollen and thus is
air temperature above 20  C and maximum temperature below used as male parent to create tenera hybrids.
35  C, effective sunshine hours exceeding 5 h day1 or Fruit color (nigrescens, virescens, and albescens) can also be
6.5 GJ m2, soils with depth of 100 cm or more, sandy clay used to distinguish the types of E. guineensis but they have no
loam to sandy clay texture, friable and well drained soil, and difference in oil yield. Nevertheless, the ripe bunch of virescens
slopes less than 4 . fruit type is easier to recognize because of distinct color change
from green to orange when it ripens and therefore, reduces
error in the harvesting operation.
Botany

Oil palm is a single stem, unbranched monoecious plant, Crop Improvement – Development of Tenera
with both male and female flowers in separate inflorescences
borne on the same palm (Figure 1). The flowers are bisexual The primary trait of interest in oil palm is oil yield, which is
in origin, but in ‘males’ the stigmas are suppressed, whereas a product of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) and oil-to-bunch ratio.
in ‘females’ the stamens are underdeveloped. Each male Thus, the plant breeder’s ultimate aim is to raise the genetic
inflorescence produces a large quantity of pollen, averaging yield potential of the current planting materials toward the
30 g. Each female inflorescence has 700 to over 3000 flowers, potential oil yield of 18.5 t ha1 year1 (Table 2). Apart from
which are receptive for 36–72 h after anthesis. The flowers oil yield, other traits of interest are disease tolerance, e.g., basal
within an inflorescence open sporadically, taking up to stem rot, Fusarium wilt, and bud rot; oil quality, e.g., the abun-
4 weeks between the initial and the last flushes. Normally, dance of carotene and vitamin and the ratio of different fatty

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384 Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm

X
Dura Pisifera

Tenera

Figure 2 Different types of oil palm fruits: dura  pisifera ¼ tenera as commercial D  P planting materials.

acids; and management efficiency–related traits, e.g., long pisiferas are Dumpy-AVROS, Dumpy-AVROS-Yangambi,
bunch stalk, short height, and nonabscission. URT-AVROS, and URT-Cameroon (Table 2). The development
One of the major factors in yield improvement of oil palm of these derived pisiferas reflects the different emphases in the
leading to its utilization as a commercial oil crop is the exploi- breeding programs. For example, in Ulu Remis pisifera the
tation of genes causing shell thickness. The knowledge that emphasis is on yield improvement, Dumpy-AVROS pisifera
dura  pisifera shall yield absolute tenera oil palm that forms emphasizes both yield and short palm height, while Dumpy-
fertile bunches with fruits that are thin shelled leads to classical AVROS-Yangambi adds high bunch number and oil per bunch
breeding approaches that segregate to dura population and without compromising on yield and shortness (Figure 4).
pisifera population, supported by its cross-pollinated nature, Although oil palm has been established as a leading oil crop
in order to maximize hybrid vigor. The tenera hybrid vigor in the world, the lengthy breeding cycle is the key stumbling
improves the palm oil yield by about 40% from the oil-to- block to the production of true F1 hybrid, where every palm
bunch ratio of dura of about 23% to that of tenera of 33%. is genetically identical, produced from inbred lines of parents
Fruit type is only one of the components to oil yield that from different heterotic groups, hence homogeneous but
happens to be monogenically inherited. However, other heterozygous. The commercial oil palm planting materials,
components of oil yield, e.g., bunch number, bunch weight, however, are D  P hybrids at population level through
fruit-to-bunch ratio, and oil-to-wet mesocarp ratio, are sug- crossing between the selfed or sib-mated duras, generated
gested to be polygenically governed as the traits are observed from progeny-tested duras, with the progeny-tested pisiferas.
to be quantitative in nature. Recurrent selection, e.g., reciprocal Mechanistically, the dura female inflorescences are isolated
recurrent selection and/or modified recurrent selection using bags that are densely woven with pore size smaller
(Figure 3), is deployed in improvement programs for quantita- than a single grain of pollen. When the isolated inflorescences
tive traits, which relies heavily on the results of progeny testing. are receptive, the preharvested and processed pisifera pollen is
In addition to the perennial nature of the crop, the length of dusted onto the inflorescences. This is termed controlled polli-
one breeding cycle is compounded by the necessity to generate nation. When the inflorescences form into a mature bunch, the
and evaluate the dura and pisifera populations prior to progeny bunch is further process to obtain seeds. As oil palm seeds are
testing. considered to be recalcitrant seeds, dormancy breaking by heat-
Current dura breeding populations are almost exclusively ing at 38–40  C for 40–60 days is required, before soaking the
derived from the Deli dura population. Some other notable seeds to raise moisture for germination. Hence, planters
duras are Serdang, Elmina, Gunung Melayu, Dabou, Lofindi, commonly will either purchase heated seeds or germinated
Dami, Coto, and NIFOR. Introgressions among these duras seeds in order to reduce the complexity of required facilities
and other populations have resulted in some overlap between to break dormancy.
different breeding programs. Early research programs in Africa Riding on similar philosophy of F1 hybrid, via classical
concentrated on breeding and improvement of tenera popula- breeding approach, oil palm breeders conduct interspecific
tions and the improvement of tenera/pisifera in Southeast Asia crosses on the only two oil palm species, E. guineensis and
was largely based on the African elite pisiferas such as AVROS, E. oleifera, that combine relatively readily, with the objective
Yangambi, La Me’, and Ulu Remis. to gather useful traits from both species, e.g., high oil yield,
The introgression of different breeding populations in seed slow vertical growth, and oil with low melting point, high caro-
production, especially in most common sources of introgres- tene content, high vitamin E content, and disease resistance.
sions such as Deli dura with Yangambi pisifera and others, Although the two species combine relatively easy, the hybrid
has led to the ‘derived pisifera.’ The most prominent derived suffers from poor pollination, hence poorer oil-to-bunch ratio,

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Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm 385

Table 2 Yield performance of oil palm planting materials across with different growing media. The stages by chronological
time and spatial scales orders are explant inoculation stage, callusing stage, embryo-
genic callus stage, embryoid proliferation stage, shoot develop-
Year of Projected
ment stage, rooting stage, and plantlet acclimatization stage
planting/ Spatial oil yield
Planting materials/yield class recording scale (t ha1 year1) (Figure 5). The dominant media is usually semisolid gel
culture, whereas in the embryogenic callus stage, liquid culture
Maximum theoretical yield 1998 Single palm 18.5a might be used. The route of either entire gel culture or gel
Best individual palms 2003 Single palm 14.9b culture with liquid phase is genotype dependent.
Wild and semiwild groves – – 0.2b Genetically superior individuals could be mass selected
Improved natural groves 1940 – 0.8c from population with large genetic variance for micropropaga-
Intrapopulation crosses 1950 – 2.5c
tion meeting the genetic improvement desired – a shortcut
Interpopulation crosses 1960 – 3.3c
approach. Whether the genetic improvement from the tissue
Dura fourth selection cycle 1969 – 4.5d
Deli dura  CI/UA C/SP 1962 Small plot 4.9d culture micropropagation approach supersedes the classical
Deli dura  AVROS 1964 Small plot 7.3d breeding approach depends on the accuracy of ortet selection
Deli dura  AVROS 1968 Small plot 6.9d and the population. Breeders advocate selecting from advanced
Deli dura  AVROS 1970 Small plot 7.6d breeding populations that have high means and preferably low
Deli dura  DyAVROS 1979 Small plot 8.6d genetic variation, with selection emphasizing on traits with
Deli dura  AVROS 1979 Small plot 8.9d high heritability estimates, e.g., oil-to-bunch ratio. On average,
Deli dura  Yangambi 1988 Small plot 9.5b over the past two decades, tissue-cultured oil palms have 18%
Deli dura  Yangambi 1991 Small plot 10.8b higher oil yield per hectare per year than seeds.
Deli dura  Nigeria 1991 Small plot 11.5b
However, paradigm shift in oil palm crop improvement was
Felda materials 1990s Family 7.4a
not observed due to the occurrence of undesirable somaclonal
Felda materials 2000s Family 7.9a
Felda materials 2010s Family 8.1a variants among oil palm tissue culture ramets. These variants
Deli dura  DyAVROS 1990s Family 7.7a have abnormal reproductive organ, which is known as mantle,
Deli dura  DyAVROS  2000s Family 9.3a where the vestigial androecium develop into fleshy supernum-
Yangambi ery carpels surrounding the fruit, presenting a mantlelike object
Deli dura  Dy AVROS  2010s Family 9.7a (Figure 6). The mantle phenotype is suggested to be epigenetic
Yangambi/La me’ in nature, where a range of mantle severity is observed with
Malaysia 2014 Country 4.3e some affected ramets being revertible to the common solitary
Indonesia 2014 Country 4.1e fruit structure, typically on the less severely affected ones.
Papua New Guinea 2014 Country 3.7e
Severely affected ramets are commonly infertile where bunches
Colombia 2014 Country 3.5e
abort before ripening. With good housekeeping, efficient labo-
Thailand 2014 Country 2.8e
Nigeria 2014 Country 2.0e ratory management, and stringent quality controls, oil palm
World 2014 World 3.7e tissue culturists could keep the average somaclonal variation
to less than 5%.
Source:
a
In view of mantling, clonal seeds strategy was carried out as
Goh, K.J., Ng, P.H.C., Wong, C.K., Arif, S., 2014. Yield potential of oil palm and its
attainment in Malaysia. Planter 90, 503–520.
an intermediate step between the classical breeding strategy
b
Basri, M.W., Rajanaidu, N., 2004. Oil palm breeding and competitive approaches. and the tissue culture strategy. Superior parents are cloned to
In: Paper Presented at ABIC 2004, September 12–15, Cologne, Germany: Preprint, sexually propagate superior family, which is commonly bottle-
49 pp.
c
Basiron, Y., Jalani, B.S., Chan, K.W. (Eds.), 2000. Advances in Oil Palm Research, necked by the rare superior maternal parents and the limited
vol. 1. Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. inflorescences that each can produce annually. In 2000s,
d
Lee, C.H., Toh, P.Y., 1991. Yield performance of Golden Hope DxP planting commercial semiclonal seeds were available to the planters.
materials. Planter 47, 317–324.
e
Oil World, 2014. Oil World Annual 2014, vol. 1. ISTA Mielke GmbH, Hamburg,
Germany. Up to 2013/14.
Molecular Breeding

which subsequently affected its use as the dominant commer- As the science of molecular genetics advances and the promises
cial planting material. Commercial O  G hybrids are mostly from transgenic effort in other crops become evident, similar
exclusively planted in Central and South America as the attempts are being made in oil palm but with very limited prog-
E. guineensis shows little tolerance to bud rot, which is a devas- ress. Apart from the challenges related to being a tree crop, e.g.,
tating oil palm disease in South America that kills and spreads large planting area, the long breeding cycle (as multiple testing
speedily with no effective control measures. cycles are required for transgenic crop) and so on, the strong
resistance by consumers on transgenic crop in general, and
the consumers’ misperception of palm oil as a low-grade edible
Tissue Culture food, are also limiting factors.
Nevertheless, with the public availability of oil palm
The success of oil palm tissue culture for micropropagation re- genome sequence in 2013, further efforts to find molecular
ported in mid-1970s opens the avenue to fix genotypes that are markers for selection before flowering are made in many crop
superior, philosophically being the same as F1 hybrid produc- improvement programs to shorten breeding cycles speedily.
tion. The process of tissue culture is a series of culture stages In the same year, molecular biologists had successfully

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386 Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm

OIL PALM BREEDING PROGRAM

DxD TxT /P
HIP1
BD1 - BD7 BP1 – BP9
1980’s DxP Progeny Test
BT6, BT12, BT15,BT16
-
1990’s DxP Production
Year 2002

RP HIP2 RP
DxP Progeny Test
DxD DxD T/P x T/P TxT
BT10, BT17
3 - 4 way Selfs - Selfs - 3 - 4 way
BD9 HIP3 BP12
X’s X’s
BD8 Selfs – DxT Progeny Selfs – BP10,
1990’s BD13
BD11 Test BP13 BP11,
BT7, BT8, BT13 Sibs/ Self BP16
- s – BP15
DxP Production
2000’s From Clonal ,
Selfed / sibbed
parents
Year 2007

HIP 4
DxD DxD DxT Progeny Test TxT /P TxT
BT14 (2009)
(F2xF2 Selfs Selfs (F2xF2
DxP Progeny Test
x’s ) – – x’s )
BT18 (2010)
BD15 BD12 BP14 BP18
DxP Production 2018
2000’s BD14 BP17
DxT Progeny Test
- BT19 (2011)
NB.
2010’s HIP - Hybrid Improvement Programme Red: Terminated Purple: In Seeds
RP - Recombinant Programme Yellow: In field Pink: Crossing Program
Year - Expected commencement date Green: In Nursery Blue: Proposed

Figure 3 A modified recurrent selection scheme for oil palm breeding used by Advanced Agriecological Research (AAR). HIP, Hybrid Improvement
Program; RP, Recombinant Program; Year, expected commencement rate. Red indicates terminated; yellow, in field; green, in nursery; purple, in
seeds; pink, Crossing Program; blue, proposed.

Deli dura Deli dura Deli dura

x x x
Dumpy-AVROS-Yangambi Dumpy-AVROS AVROS

Figure 4 Effect of introgressing Dumpy (dwarf) and Yangambi (high bunch number) into the AVROS-derived pisifera on growth and bunch
characteristics of 5-years-old palms. Each marking on the pole is 30 cm.

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Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm 387

Leaf
explant

Young spear leaves

De-spearing the palm

Differenaon
Embryogenic
calli
Unrooted
shoot

Shoot regeneraon
Tissue cultured
oil palm - Ramet

Figure 5 The process of tissue culturing of oil palm and its different growth stages.

(a) (b)
Severe mantling
(a) Young palms
(b) Fully mature
palms. Noce
that the male
flowers are
also abnormal.

(c) (d)

Aborted mantled bunches

Mantled fruits (c, d & e) where (e)
vesgial stamens in the female
flowers develop into fleshy
carpels to form a mantle around Aborve mantled oil palm (b)
the fruit.

Figure 6 Mantled palms and fruits of tissue-cultured oil palms. Severe mantling will cause the bunch to abort.

elucidated the single point mutation causing the differences in Quantitative trait loci mapping and subsequently genome-
fruit type (dura, tenera, and pisifera) and fruit color (nigresens wide/genomic selection are approaches used toward the reali-
and virescens) that occurred in natural population, hence, the zation of marker-assisted selection for polygenic traits, which
availability of molecular markers. The markers that segregate currently are still at their early stage such as proof of concept.
palms bearing different fruit types could be applied as In addition, other genomic methods are being employed in
legitimacy checks in commercial seed production and oil palm including expressed sequence tags from various tissues
segregation of breeding palms for efficient and effective field and deoxyribonucleic acid microarray for profiling gene expres-
trial management. sion and production of high-value products.

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388 Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm

Agromanagement stand of normal oil palms in the field. It is common to cull

about 25% of the seedlings because of abnormal or runty
Oil palm growth and yield are highly responsive to the envi- forms, and most of these anomalies are disposed of at the pre-
ronment and management. The primary aim of best agroma- nursery stage. The seedlings are usually ready for field plantings
nagement practices is to obtain the site yield potential, when they are 12–14 months old.
which is the maximum realizable yield of planting materials Zero burn planting and replanting are now the norm in oil
at each site or field when all the agronomic and manage- palm cultivation. This practice leaves behind a large quantity
ment inputs, decisions, and actions are not limiting. Thus, of biomass, which decomposes naturally and sequesters C as
the site-specific agronomic inputs are implemented to soil organic matter in situ. Prelining for an oil palm density
ameliorate the growing environment toward the ideal condi- of 136–148 palms ha1, except in peat soils where
tions for oil palm, i.e., overcoming or alleviating any soil, 160 palms ha1 are usually planted, should be carried out.
water, and nutritional constraints. The site yield potential Terraces are constructed in hilly terrain above 10 to conserve
of oil palm is achievable on a large scale and it varies soils and water, and provide access to the palms. In flat terrain
between 30 and 43 t FFB ha1 year1 in most parts of Malay- with imperfect drainage, systematic drains are laid out to
sia except in marginal or degraded soils. These FFB yields lower the water table to about 75 cm at most times. An effi-
were obtained under different climatic zones, planting cient road system for transport of FFB, mechanization, and
density, and palm age. communication is absolutely necessary. In general, about
The best agromanagement practices start from preplanting 100–150 m of road per hectare of planted field is required.
where the choice of planting site and planting materials are The design of new plantings or replanting must take into
decided. If there is a choice in planting sites, those that have consideration the need for mechanization of all field opera-
high site yield potential, require less inputs, and have fewer tions including harvesting and collection in future. Errors
problems in crop recovery are preferred. Crop suitability make at this stage are difficult and costly to amend. Moreover,
surveys where the soils are checked, and input requirements sufficient labor for effective management of oil palm planta-
and management levels are assessed, are highly recommended tions is now a major constraint to achieving site yield poten-
especially in new situations where experience of the crop is tials in Malaysia and the more interior areas of Indonesia.
limited. Also, the environmental and socioeconomic impacts After land clearing and field planting of oil palm, legumi-
must be assessed and the local people’s opinions and consents nous cover crops such as 4 kg Pueraria javanica, 4 kg Calopogo-
sought prior to oil palm development. nium mucunoides, and 2 kg Calopogonium caeruleum per
The realities of commercial seed production are that very hectare mixed with the shade-tolerant Mucuna bracteata
large numbers of parent palms are used so that high variability (136–148 plants per hectare) must be established quickly
is inherent in the planting materials used. The exceptions are (Figure 7) to improve soil fertility and organic matter;
semiclonal seeds where limited numbers of mother palm are suppress weeds; conserve soils and water; enhance soil phys-
chosen for seed production and clones. Therefore, good nursery ical property, e.g., infiltration rate; reduce soil temperature;
practices are required to produce uniform, large, and well- and sequester C through their rapid growth (about
grown seedlings at planting out. This will minimize the effects 15 t dry matter ha1 year1). These benefits increase the site
of transplanting shock and pest attacks, and achieve uniform yield potential of oil palm by about 12%.

(a) (b)

(a) Planng a mixture of legume species to obtain full ground cover within 6 months aer planng.
Picture taken when the oil palm was 12 months old. (b) Picture taken of the same field when the oil
palm was 70 months old and palm canopy is fully closed. The shade tolerant legume, Mucuna brateata,
sll thrived in the interrow area.

Figure 7 Quick establishment of legume covers using a mixture of fast-growing legumes and shade-tolerant legumes to protect the soils and
improve soil fertility.

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Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm 389

Oil palm is a relatively easy crop to manage with its rela- area from rhinoceros beetle damage and leaf eating pests
tively low density per hectare and ecological adaptability. such as bagworm, nettle caterpillars, and grasshoppers; casualty
Thus, minimal maintenance practices are implemented except caused by termites in peat soil; and loss of FFB due to rat and
to supply adequate nutrients, retain soil moisture, reduce squirrel damage. Vigilance, early detection, and control
competition, and minimize pest and diseases. Since oil palm measures such as selective application of pesticides will mini-
is mainly rain fed, the retention of soil moisture involves mize these problems and keep the pests below their threshold
reducing soil moisture evaporation through good ground vege- levels. Other integrated pest management techniques are also
tation such as soft grasses and legumes, and mulching with by- practiced such as planting beneficial plants, e.g., Turnera subu-
products, e.g., empty fruit bunches, decanter cakes, and palm lata and Cassia cobanensis, and establishing barn owl. There
oil mill effluent; trapping rain water in the field through broad are only two major diseases infecting oil palm in Southeast
frond stacking and conservation terraces; and increasing water Asia and Africa, i.e., Ganoderma boninense and Fusarium oxyspo-
infiltration rate. rum Elaeis, respectively. Sanitation is used to control the former
Most tropical soils are highly weathered and have poor soil disease, while oil palms that are resistant to the latter are
fertility particularly in soil nutrients. Tropical soils are also very commercially available. In South America, there are more
diverse with wide-ranging soil properties. Thus, to sustain the diseases, e.g., bud rot and Marchitez or sudden wilt diseases,
oil palm growth and yield, site-specific fertilizer programs and pests, e.g., spider mites (Retracrus elaeis), Rhynchophorus pal-
tailored to meet the palms’ nutritional needs in a balanced marum weevil (red ring disease) and leaf defoliators, e.g., Loxo-
proportion are implemented. In general, the N, P, and K rates toma elegans.
are 40–190 kg N ha1 year1, 15–70 kg P ha1 year1, and In young palms where light is not limiting, the maximum
60–400 kg K ha1 year1. leaf area is very important for rapid growth and high early
The main competition to oil palm comes from noxious yields. First, systematic pruning should commence when the
weeds, which compete for nutrients and water and also lowest ripe bunches are about 60 cm above the ground. In
obstruct access to the palms particularly during the immature mature palms, the average number of fronds per palm should
phase when light is abundant. Selective interventions with be between 36 and 40 with no palm having less than 32 fronds,
appropriate herbicides are implemented to maintain the to maintain maximum leaf area for photosynthesis while
desired interrow vegetation. However, the area around the ensuring ease of harvesting.
palm base (palm circle) is kept clean to facilitate field operation With most of the precocious palms presently planted, har-
such as collection of loose fruits during harvesting. Another vesting could commence between 24 and 26 months after
source of competition is among the individual oil palms for planting. Good crop recovery is essential to realize the
light when they are planted too close. Selective thinning out maximum returns to investment. Maintenance of harvesting
of etiolated palms is then essential to address the problem. rounds and efficiency of cutting bunches at the correct stage
Oil palm in Southeast Asia and Africa is relatively free of of ripeness will optimize the oil-to-bunch ratios. Efforts should
pests and diseases. The most severe pest problems are losses be made to maintain 7- to 12-day rounds with 5–10 loose fruits
from mammalian pests in immature oil palm; loss of leaf per bunch before harvest, generally. Better supervision and crop

(a) (b)

Mg deficiency

Picture taken by UAV (d)

(c) Vacancies showing poor drainage
design without outlet
resulng in poor,
uneven palm growth,
vacancies and
Crowded stagnang water.
palms

Figure 8 Some applications of UAV in oil palm plantations. (a) Lounging UAV. (b, d) pictures taken by UAV showing poor growth due to Mg
deficiency and inadequate drainage. (c) automatic counting of palms, identifying vacancies and palm sizes.

Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, Second Edition, 2017, 382–390

 Author's personal copy
390 Tropical Agriculture j Oil Palm

recovery systems are required as the palms grow older and country. Better science-based information on oil palm, global
taller, and fresh fruit bunches become fewer and heavier. Losses carbon, biodiversity, and environment over different spatio-
and omissions of loose fruit and bunches in these areas are pro- temporal scales is required for multidisciplinary discussion
portionately larger. and resolving this controversy and debate.

New Challenges Acknowledgments

Land cultivation is known to modify soil properties but its All figures and tables are reproduced with kind permission of Advanced
impact on soil biology and oil palm production is still uncer- Agriecological Research Sdn. Bhd.
tain. There is also a need to understand the interaction between
soil physical, chemical, and biological properties and develop See also: Biotechnology: Oils. Crop Diseases and Pests:
a holistic soil fertility index for oil palm. Breeding for Disease Resistance. Reproduction and
Oil palm is now grown on diverse environments on a large Biodiversity: Pollination. Tropical Agriculture: Plantation Crops
scale. With the increasing lack of workers and managerial skill, and Plantations.
there is a growing need to monitor the intricate agronomic and
operational factors affecting the oil palm performances auto-
matically and generate informed, good decisions for quick
Further Reading
action. The use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is most
applicable as illustrated by the successful identification of
Basiron, Y., Jalani, B.S., Chan, K.W. (Eds.), 2000. Advances in Oil Palm Research,
palms and counting their numbers in the field (Figure 8). vol. 1. Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia.
Further work on UAV is on-going particularly in identifying Basri, M.W., Rajanaidu, N., 2004. Oil palm breeding and competitive approaches. In:
disorders, pest infestations, and disease infections as well as Paper Presented at ABIC 2004, September 12–15, Cologne, Germany: Preprint,
target spraying to control them. 49 pp.
Corley, R.H.V., Tinker, P.B.H., 2003. Oil Palm, fourth ed. Blackwell Science Ltd,
Oil palm thrives in the same region as humid, tropical Oxford, UK.
lowland forests where it originates. When well-managed, oil Goh, K.J., Chiu, S.B., Paramanathan, S. (Eds.), 2011. Agronomic Principles and
palm is one of the best crops to grow to provide food security, Practices of Oil Palm Cultivation. Agricultural Crop Trust, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
enhance living standards of the local people, and stimulate Goh, K.J., Ng, P.H.C., Wong, C.K., Arif, S., 2014. Yield potential of oil palm and its
attainment in Malaysia. Planter 90, 503–520.
economic development of the nation. However, agricultural
Lee, C.H., Toh, P.Y., 1991. Yield performance of Golden Hope DxP planting materials.
expansion and its benefits must be reconciled with land conser- Planter 47, 317–324.
vation of heavily logged-over forests and the ecosystem goods Oil World, 2014. Oil World Annual 2014, vol. 1. ISTA Mielke GmbH, Hamburg,
and services from them as well as the amount of forested Germany. Up to 2013/14.
land needed to maintain these goods and services in each

Encyclopedia of Applied Plant Sciences, Second Edition, 2017, 382–390

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