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OIL PALM
Elaeis guineensis Jacq., family Palmaceae

The oil palm or African oil palm is one of the leading oil palms of industrial importance as a source of vegetable oil and fat. Under favorable conditions, it yields 2 tons of oil per acre. It grows naturally in tropical Africa from Senegal to Angola, especially in the coastal belt 100 to 150 miles in depth from Sierra Leone to the Cameroons. In 1951, 200,000 tons of the oil was produced in the Belgian Congo (Johnson and Raymond 1955). Plantations of this palm are being expanded in West Africa and Southeast Asia, especially in Malaysia.

This production would indicate that there are at least 100,000 acres. Recent development of new cultivars is expected to increase the yield of oil by 20 percent. Oil production per acre in Asia is much higher than in Africa (Sparnaaij 1969).

To obtain the oil, the pulpfruit is boiled. The nuts are then removed from the fibrous material, cracked, the kernels removed, and the oil pressed from them (Johnson and Raymond 1955).

Plant:

The oil palm is erect, monoecious, and may reach 30 feet in height with a trunk or bole 12 inches or more in diameter. It produces clusters of nuts, each of which has two locules and is about 1 1/2 inches long, the aggregate weighing as much as 100 pounds. The nuts are classified into three types according to the shell thickness; namely dura (3 to 8 mm thick), tenera (up to 3 mm thick), and pisefera (with no shell). The plant itself has a dense head of pinnate leaves, 10 to 15 feet long, and in the leaf axil is the separate dense staminate or pistillate inflorescence.

Inflorescence:

The staminate inflorescence may consist of 200 spikelets, with each spikelet bearing 700 to 1,200 florets (fig. 131). It may produce 3 ounces of pollen. The pollen is released over a 5-day period, and most of it on the third day after flowering starts; the pistillate inflorescence may have as many spikelets but only five to 30 florets on each. The pistillate floret is larger than the staminate one and bears an ovoid or nearly cylindrical three-celled ovary. The florets take about a week to open, the individual floret being receptive 36 to 48 hours (Sparnaaij 1969).

[gfx] FIGURE 131. - Fruit and inflorescence of African oil palm.

Pollination Requirements:

Pollen must be transferred from the staminate clusters to the pistillate ones. There is no indication of parthenogenetic development; furthermore, Sparnaaij (1969) stated that the pisefera nuts are often partially sterile. The oil palm male and female inflorescences open at different times on the plant; thus, rarely is the plant self-fertilized (Wrigley 1969).

Pollinators:

There is lack of agreement on the pollinating agents involved on oil palms. Ochse et al. (1961*) considered the flowers to be largely, if not exclusively, wind pollinated. Hardon and Turner (1967) considered them wind pollinated, pointed out the large amount of pollen produced, and noted that the pollen is distributed at least 55 feet from the original source.

However, Sparnaaij (1969) stated that both insects and wind contribute to pollen transfer. He noted that specialists in Africa generally assign the principal pollinating role to insects, whereas in Asia wind pollination is considered most important.

If insects are of significance, they must be attracted to the pistillate flowers by the nectar and to the staminate flowers by pollen and/or nectar.

Pollination Recommendations and Practices:

None. Because of the economic importance of this crop, its pollinating agents should be studied.

LITERATURE CITED:

HARDON, J. J., and TURNER. P. D.
1967. OSERVATIONS ON NATURAL POLLINATION IN COMMERCIAL PLANTINGS OF OIL PALM (ELAEIS GUINEENSIS) IN MALAYA. Expt. Agr. 3(2): 105 - 116.

JOHNSON, R. M., and RAYMOND, W. D.
1955. AFRICAN OIL PALM. Econ. Bot. 9(1): 77.

SPARNAAIJ, L. D.
1969. OIL PALM. In Ferwerda, F. P., and Wit, F., eds., Outlines of Perennial Crop Breeding in the Tropics, pp. 339-387. H. Veenman and Zonen, N. V. Wageningen, The Netherlands.

WRIGLEY, G.
1969. TROPICAL AGRICULTURE. 376 pp. Frederick A. Praeger, N.Y. and Washington.

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