Production, Performance and Advances in Oil Palm Tissue Culture 1

The Malaysian national average palm oil yield had been stagnating at 3.5 to 3.9 t/ha/yr for more than two decades. With increasing global demands for vegetable oils coupled with challenges in production efforts, there is an urgent need to improve productivity. Current oil palm (Elaeis guineensis ) planting materials are produced through the hybridization of dura x pisifera (DxP). To accelerate and capture the maximum yield potential of a selected genotype, oil palm needs to be vegetatively propagated. Oil palm tissue culture is not without problems, such as the floral abnormality. A prerequisite for clonal production is the availability of a large number of high quality ortets, selected from breeding programmes. Another option for improved planting materials is through the production of clonal seeds, using clonal parents with good specific combining ability (SCA). The low rate of embryogenesis for large-scale propagation is being addressed via the liquid culture, innovative shake flask and bioreactor systems. The biomarker approach, leading to the development of a diagnostic tool for screening clonal amenity and conformity is being investigated. in 2009, production of clonal oil palm in Malaysia was 2.53 million ramets, thus the need to increase the production capacity. Agronomic inputs such as in fertile land and tailored fertilizer regimes are necessary for clones to express its genetic potential.