Oil Palm Breeding

Genetics and Genomics

Aik Chin Soh, Sean Mayes, Jeremy A. Roberts

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351646048
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Botany
• Index: Biological Sciences

The oil palm is a remarkable crop, producing around 40% of the world's vegetable oil from around 6% of the land devoted to oil crops. Conventional breeding has clearly been the major focus of genetic improvement in this crop. A mix of improved agronomy and management, coupled with breeding selection have quadrupled the oil yield of the crop since breeding began in earnest in the 1920s. However, as for all perennial crops with long breeding cycles, oil palm faces immense challenges in the coming years with increased pressure from population growth, climate change and the need to develop environmentally sustainable oil palm plantations.

In Oil Palm: Breeding, Genetics and Genomics, world leading organizations and individuals who have been at the forefront of developments in this crop, provide their insights and experiences of oil palm research, while examining the different challenges that face the future of the oil palm. The editors have all been involved in research and breeding of oil palm for many years and use their knowledge of the crop and their disciplinary expertise to provide context and to introduce the different research topics covered.

1

Introduction to the Oil Palm Crop

Aik Chin Soh, Sean Mayes, and Jeremy Roberts

Contents

1.1Historical Development

1.2World Trade in Palm Oil

1.3Economic Uses of Oil Palm Products

1.3.1Palm Oils and Products

1.3.2Secondary/Complementary Products

1.3.2.1Field Waste

1.3.2.2Mill Waste

1.4Conclusions and Aims of This Book

References

1.1Historical Development

Oil palm historically is endemic to the humid tropical regions of West Africa and occurs as semiwild groves close to settlements. Traditionally, the pulp and oil from the fruit constitute a major part of the native diet, providing needed dietary fat, fiber, and vitamins (A, E). Early colonial interest in palm oil to substitute tallow in the manufacture of soap, candle, and margarine led to the development of oil palm plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia to provide a steady supply of the oil (Hartley 1988). Out of botanical interest and curiosity, four seedlings of the thick shell dura (D) type presumably derived from the same fruit bunch were sent to Bogor Botanic Gardens in Indonesia via the botanic gardens in Amsterdam and Reunion or Mauritius. Subsequent (out)-crossing, selection, and distribution of the progenies from these four Bogor Palms to Deli province in Sumatra (hence known as Deli D) and Malaysia led to the early establishment of commercial oil palm plantations in these two areas. Commercial D × D plantations persisted until the early 1960s, when breeding progress became limited by the thick shell dura fruit types. Beirnaert and Vanderweyen (1941) elucidated the monogenic inheritance of the shell gene from their work in the Congo and that crossing the homozygous dura (D) with the homozygous female sterile pisifera (P) would give 100% tenera (T) palms having fruits with thicker oil-bearing mesocarp due to a thinner shell (incomplete dominance). The switch to the D × P or T hybrid planting material was very rapid especially in Malaysia and Indonesia with the availability of P pollen derived from West African Ts, having been imported and bred earlier by their researchers (Hartley 1988). Rapid expansion of oil palm plantations followed, driven particularly by the Far East. By 2014, this had reached 16.5 million hectares worldwide; 10.3 million hectares in Indonesia, 5.39 million in Malaysia, and the rest mainly from Thailand, Colombia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Ecuador, and Côte d’Ivoire (Review of the Malaysian Oil Palm Industry 2014). Yields of 6–9 t/ha oil have been achieved in some plantation areas as compared to less than 0.1 t/ha in the original semiwild groves. These yield gains have arisen from concomitant improvements in varieties and agromanagement practices, derived from public and private investments in breeding and agronomic research.

The earliest oil palm breeding efforts in West Africa were in the Congo by INEAC (Institut National pour l’Etude Agronomique du Congo) where Beirnaert and Vanderweyen (1941) did their seminal fruit inheritance study; in La Mé, Côte d’Ivoire by IRHO (Institut de Researches pour les Huiles Oleagineux), which later became Cirad (French Agricultural Research Center for International Development); and in Nigeria and Ghana by WAIFOR (West African Institute for Oil Palm Research), which later separated into NIFOR (Nigerian Institute For Oil Palm Research) and the Oil Palm Research Institute Ghana. In the Far East, they were the Department of Agriculture in Malaya (later also in Sabah) and AVROS (Algemeene Vereniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra) in Indonesia. With the formation of MARDI (Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute), oil palm research was included as part of its remit. With the fast-growing importance of the palm oil industry, PORIM (Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia) was inaugurated as the principal custodian of oil palm and palm oil research, including breeding, tissue culture, and biotechnology. PORIM subsequently became MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board). In Indonesia, AVROS became RISPA (Research Institute of the Sumatra Planters Association), the latter subsequently teamed up with Marihat Research Station to form IOPRI (Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute), amalgamating both their breeding programs. Private plantation research companies played a key role in oil palm breeding, driven not only by the need to supply superior planting material to support their plantation expansion efforts but also to derive lucrative revenue from commercial seed sales. In Malaysia, the early players were Guthrie Chemara, Harrisons and Crosfield (H&C, later Golden Hope), Pamol, Dunlop, and Socfin, the first four later formed the Oil Palm Genetics Laboratory (1964–1974), which contributed significantly to oil palm breeding research methodology. Subsequent players were United Plantations (UP) and Applied Agricultural Resources or AAR, which evolved from HRU (Highlands Research Unit) and also made significant breeding research contributions. Dunlop and Pamol eventually became IOI Plantations and Guthrie and Golden Hope were amalgamated with Ebor Research Sime Darby to become Sime Darby Research. In Indonesia, Socfindo and Lonsum (London Sumatra) have been the leading private oil palm breeding companies, the former linked to the breeding programs of Cirad and the latter to H&C. The breeding program of Dami Research Station, Papua New Guinea was also derived from H&C and was recently acquired by Sime Darby Plantations. Unilever Plantations were active in breeding research in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Cameroon. ASD de Costa Rica amassed a wide range of Deli and West African breeding materials from exchanges with breeding programs in the Old World using its American oil palm (Elaeis oleifera) genetic materials. A number of newer breeding programs set up in Indonesia were based on these ASD-derived materials.

1.2World Trade in Palm Oil

Crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel oil (PKO) obtained from the mesocarp and kernel of the palm fruit, respectively, and their refined olein and stearin derivatives are traded at the Kuala Lumpur Commodity Exchange and, previously (before 1980), at Chicago Board of Trade. The production of 59.3 million tons of CPO and 6.6 million tons of PKO worth around US$57 billion in 2014 from the 16.5 million hectares of oil palm in the world, dominated the international edible oil trade at 61% (Review of the Malaysian Oil Palm Industry 2014, MPOB 2015). The success story of the oil palm in terms of its high productivity and profitability has attracted many developing countries in the humid tropics as an instrument for agricultural and economic development. Currently, the main markets are India, China, European Union, Pakistan, the United States, and Bangladesh, with increasing interest shown by other developing countries such as eastern European and central Asian countries. Owing to its cheaper price compared to other vegetable oils and with increasing population and per capita dietary fat intake in these countries, the demand for palm oil will rise. New oil palm plantation development is also on the rise in the traditional oil palm areas in West Africa and Latin America with investments from large plantation companies from the Far East trying to ensure palm oil supply to meet the increasing demand. Palm oil will further enhance its position as the dominant vegetable oil in the international oil and fats market, primarily due to the significant yield advantage (per year per hectare) it has over oil seed crops.

1.3Economic Uses of Oil Palm Products

1.3.1Palm Oils and Products

Eighty percent of the oils from the oil palm are used as food and 20% as oleochemicals, replacing those traditionally derived from mineral oil as the latter become increasingly more expensive and concerns grow for their effects on the environment. The crude oils extracted from the sterilized mesocarp and kernel are bleached and deodorized to give refined oils used solely or in blends with other oils in cooking oil, salad oil, vanaspati or vegetable ghee, margarines, spreads, and shortenings. The refined oil is fractionated to give olein and stearin and with further fractionation gives fatty acids and alcohols, intermediate commodities traded and used in food and oleochemical industries (toiletry, cosmetic, lubricant, packaging, upholstery, etc.). Carotene extracted from CPO is processed into vitamin A supplements and a natural dye for snack foods, for example, instant noodles. Likewise, tocopherols and tocotrienols are extracted for industrial vitamin E production (Choo 2000; Jalani et al. 1997), tocotrienols being more abundant and a more desirable form of vitamin E nutritionally. Palm oil can also be made into biodiesel and has been blended with mineral diesel, for example, B5, B10, in Europe, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Figure 1.1 is a summary chart of the palm oil fractionated products and their uses.

Figure 1.1Uses of palm oil. (Adapted from Pantzaris, T.P. 2000. Pocketbook of...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Editors
• Contributors
• Chapter 1: Introduction to the Oil Palm Crop
• Chapter 2: The Plant and Crop
• Chapter 3: Genetic Resources
• Chapter 4: Plant Genetics
• Chapter 5: Objective Traits
• Chapter 6: Breeding Plans and Selection Methods
• Chapter 7: Breeding Programs and Genetic Progress
• Chapter 8: Clonal Propagation
• Chapter 9: Molecular Genetics and Breeding
• Chapter 10: Elaeis oleifera × Elaeis guineensis Interspecific Hybrid Improvement
• Chapter 11: Commercial Planting Material Production
• Chapter 12: Field Experimentation
• Chapter 13: Future Prospects
• Index