Nursery practices in oil palm: a manual.

Chapter 1 (Page no: 1)

Introduction.

The performance of oil palm plantations is determined from an early stage by the quality of the planting materials. These are mainly seedlings, but ramets (usually produced from tissue culture cloning) are also used. Raising seedlings and ramets is performed in a nursery. The aim of oil palm plantations is to produce high yields, and a basic necessity is the provision of good quality planting materials. This in turn requires good nursery practices. Direct planting of oil palm seed is possible, but it cannot produce uniform materials. Nursery-grown seedlings or ramets provide healthy, strong and uniform planting materials at a suitable stage for field planting, which results in good seedling/ramet establishment and thus a high yield potential. Nursery practices are therefore a critical component of the oil palm plantation industry. In addition to commercial young plant production, seedlings and ramets are also needed for trialling (young plant screening and mature palm field performance testing) to assess progenies and breeding lines for selection and breeding and materials for pest and disease resistance or tolerance to abiotic stresses and responses to, and suitability for, changing agronomic practices and new planting materials.

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