Origin of ASD's oil palm genetic material introduced in Indonesia and method of parent selection

A consortium between PT. Tania Selatan and Asian Agri Group has imported 225 dura selfings and 50 pisifera clones from ASD de Costa Rica to set up a seed garden. These parent palms were selected from genetic material imported by ASD from breeding programs in Malaysia (Banting OPRS, SOCFIN, Chemara, MARDI); Ivory Coast (IRHO); Cameron (Unilever); Papua New Guinea (Dami OPRS); and Ghana (Kade) between 1969 and 1980. The dura were all Deli type, and the pisifera were from six different breeding programs. Their origin and performance in Costa Rica are presented. All parents were crossed using a connected design (alpha design). By the end of 1996, the resulting 450 dura x pisifera crosses were field planted at three sites in Sumatra, representing a wide range of climatic conditions and four soil types-two classes of alluvial, shallow peat and deep peat. An incomplete block design (alpha design) was used (nine progeny-plots per block), to correct the performance of the progenies for the effects of variations in soil conditions, standards of maintenance, palm age at field planting and by the time of growth measurements. Selection objectives, method and timing of measurements for the future seven-year recording period are presented in detail. In addition to selection for high yield, selection criteria include rapid canopy closure to increase light interception: high relative rate of growth of mean leaf area (k) and a short period (T 0.95) to reach 95 percent of maximum leaf area (Lm): these parameters are estimated from a logistic growth function of mean leaf area against time after planting. Selection for absence of crown disease further aims to improve light interception before the canopy is closed. To efficiently convert intercepted radiation into dry matter production, improving light distribution within the canopy is another selection aim. But the aim objective is to increase ther proportion of dry matter used for the economic product or selection for high Harvest Index. This benefit from indirect selection for high Leaf Area Ratio (LAR), low rate of leaf production, slow height increment, and high leaf-magnesium content. The paper describes how GCA values of these selection traits are estimated on the basis of pooled records of the three sites and of the individual sites. The Gupta sub-set selection procedure is finally applied to screen the best set of parent palms. Performance of the dura selfings assists in the final selection of the female parents. This applies in particular for crown disease which ranged from nill to 95 percent of the palms in the selfings but incidence remained masked in the test crosses. The paper ends with a time schedule for future seed production and; excepted characteristics of the planting material produced life. Secondary characters will therefore be included in the selection procedure. The tenet is that carbohydrates produced in photosynthesis are only then allocated to bunch dry matter production when requirements for vegetative growth are satisfied. Selection focuses on characters known to increase gross carbohydrate assimilation and reduce requirements for non-photosynthetic vegetative dry matter, as will be extensively described in this paper. The paper describes the origin of the material imported from Costa Rica and performance in Costa Rica. The main objective is, however, to outline how parent palms are selected to produce planting material with high yield, high harvest index and slow height increment