Oil Palm

The oil palm is the world's most valuable oil crop. Its production has increased over the decades, reaching 56 million tons in 2013, and it gives the highest yields per hectare of all oil crops. Remarkably, oil palm has remained profitable through periods of low prices. Demand for palm oil is also expanding, with the edible demand now complemented by added demand from biodiesel producers. The Oil Palm is the definitive reference work on this important crop. This fifth edition features new topics - including the conversion of palm oil to biodiesel, and discussions about the impacts of palm oil production on the environment and effects of climate change alongside comprehensively revised chapters, with updated references throughout. The Oil Palm, Fifth Edition will be useful to researchers, plantation and mill managers who wish to understand the science underlying recommended practices. It is an indispensable reference for agriculture students and all those working in the oil palm industry worldwide.

Autorentext

Dr RHV Corley is a plant physiologist who worked for over 15 years in oil palm research in Malaysia. He was the head of research for Unilever Plantations for a further 16 years, and is now a consultant on tropical plantation crops.

Professor B Tinker was for 7 years at the West African Institute for Oil Palm Research, and has been a consultant in Malaysia. For 12 years he was on the Programme Advisory Committee of PORIM (now MPOB). In the UK he has been Professor of Agricultural Botany, Deputy Director and head of soils at Rothamsted Experimental Station, and Director of Science at the National Environment Research Council.

Klappentext
The oil palm is the world's most valuable oil crop. With palm oil production increasing by more than 50% in the last decade of the twentieth century and set to double in the next twenty years, it has never before been so important to understand the history, use and cultivation of this fascinating crop.

There have been many new developments since the fourth edition of The Oil Palm in 1988, particularly in the fields of clonal propagation, agronomy, breeding and molecular genetics. Also, the crop is enjoying much enhanced attention due to its potential as a major source of biodiesel This new edition has been largely rewritten and completely updated, and is the first book to record and explore these and many other developments.

The book traces the origins and progress of the industry, and describes the basic science underlying the physiology, breeding and nutrition of the oil palm. It covers both cutting-edge research, and wider issues such as genetic modification of the crop, clonal propagation, and the effects of palm oil on human health. The practical problems of maximising yield of oil and kernels are discussed in relation to the present 'yield gap' and oil extraction rate decline in Malaysia. The oil palm is also compared to the soya bean and other oil crops, and the recent history of the price of oil palm products is considered in the light of this. This completely revised new edition also contains new chapters on sustainability and the environmnet, global change, palm oil bio-diesel and the future of the industry, looking fully at the facts available and taking into account many current concerns.

The Oil Palm, 5th edition, makes an essential contribution to oil palm research and is an indispensable reference and guide for agricultural and plant scientists, environmental biologists and ecologists, and all those working, worldwide, in the oil palm industry including plantation managers and those engaged in international trade.

Inhalt

Preface to the fifth edition xxiv

Preface to the fourth edition xxv

Preface to the third edition xxvi

Preface to the second edition xxvi

Preface to the first edition xxvii

Acknowledgements xxix

Abbreviations xxxi

1. The origin and development of the oil palm industry 1

1.1 Origin of the oil palm 1

1.2 The oil palm in Africa 3

1.3 Development of the oil palm plantation industry 4

1.4 Development of the industry since 1950 6

1.5 Development methods 22

1.6 Trade in and use of oil palm products 26

2. The classification and morphology of the oil palm 30

2.1 Classification of oil palms 30

2.2 The African oil palm, E. Guineensis Jacq 30

2.3 The American oil palm, E. Oleifera (HBK) Cortes 49

2.4 The E. Guineensis X E Oleifera hybrid 51

3. The climate of the oil palm?]growing regions 53

3.1 Temperature 53

3.2 Rainfall, evaporation and water balance 55

3.3 Radiation and its effects 61

3.4 Total climate and oil palm growth 63

4. The soils of the oil palm?]growing regions 68

4.1 Soil classification in the equatorial tropics 68

4.2 Soil characteristics important for the oil palm 72

4.3 Soil characteristics unfavourable for oil palm 74

4.4 Histosols and peats 77

4.5 Soils of Asia 82

4.6 Soils of Africa 84

4.7 Soils of America 86

5. Growth, flowering and yield 89

5.1 Analysis of plant growth 89

5.2 Vegetative growth and partitioning of dry matter 100

5.3 Environmental and management factors 105

5.4 Flowering 116

5.5 Yield 127

6. Selection and breeding 138

6.1 History of selection 138

6.2 Techniques used in oil palm breeding and selection 156

6.3 Variation and inheritance 173

6.4 Methods of selection and breeding 187

6.5 Selection and breeding in practice 197

6.6 Oil palm improvement in the future 206

7. Vegetative propagation and biotechnology 208

7.1 History of oil palm tissue culture 208

7.2 Tissue?]culture methods 209

7.3 Abnormal flowering, bunch failure and other problems 212

7.4 Clone testing 216

7.5 The future for oil palm clonal propagation 219

7.6 Other aspects of oil palm biotechnology 220

8. Seed germination and nurseries 225

8.1 Seed germination 225

8.2 Nurseries 233

9. Site selection and land preparation 240

9.1 Digital technology and the oil palm plantation 240

9.2 Choice of site for oil palm planting 240

9.3 Plantation layout 250

9.4 Field preparation 255

9.5 Uses and covers of interrows 270

10. The establishment of oil palms in the field 275

10.1 Planting in the field 275

10.2 Shortening the immature period 278

10.3 Spacing of plants in the field 278

10.4 Practical aspects of field establishment 288

11. Care and maintenance of oil palms 290

11.1 Care of palms and plant cover 290

11.2 Field mechanisation 301

11.3 Irrigation 303

11.4 Assisted pollination 307

11.5 Fruit bunch harvesting 307

11.6 Oil extraction ratio 317

11.7 Palm age and replanting 320

11.8 Site potentials and plantation management 321

11.9 Smallholder plantations 327

12. Mineral nutrition of oil palms 329

12.1 General principles of plant nutrition 329

12.2 Palm uptake systems 336

12.3 Nutrient deficiency and its control: field experiments 344

12.4 Nutrient deficiency and its control: visual symptoms and leaf analysis 351

12.5 Soil composition and plant nutrition 360 12.6 Practic...