Selection of the Oil Palm (Elaeis guineensis) in Africa

Abstract

HITHERTO, work on the selection of the oil palm in Africa has been directed chiefly towards increasing the pericarp content of the fruit, the hereditary behaviour of the relevant factors being comparatively well known as a result of the work carried out by the INEAC in the Belgian Congo. It would appear, however, that the production in weight of bunches has as yet been little improved. In large-scale plantations, blocks planted with seed taken from natural palmeries have, under similar conditions, given bunch-weight yields comparable with those obtained from blocks planted with selected seed. This lack of improvement in production in weight of bunches manifests itself particularly in a very wide variation in the yields of individual palms of the present varieties; indeed, this constitutes one of the main causes of the relatively low yields obtained from such plantations. With the view of reducing this wide variability in individual production1, the possibility of eliminating mediocre producers in the nursery before field-planting has been investigated.