Sink competition in oil palm fruit bunches and fruit set level
2000
Mohd Haniff Harun | Mohd Roslan Md Noor
Sink competition within the oil palm bunch under limiting source conditions could affect fruitlet growth and development. This study was carried out to determine whether changes in fruit set levels could affect sink competition within the oil palm bunch. Different fruit set levels were obtained by assisted pollination using different amount of pollen applied to anthesising female inflorescence. Ripe fruit bunches were then harvested and sampled for bunch analysis study. Results showed that a high fruitset level reduces the mean fruit size and the amount of fruit mesocarp tissue. This resulted in a reduction in the oil content of each fruitlet, but the overall oil content of the bunch was not affected due to the high fruit-to-bunch ratio. Low fruit set level produces bigger mean fruitlets size, but the low fruit number significantly reduces the total oil content of the bunch. Results also indicate that oil synthesis by mesocarp tissue of fruits from the inner region of the bunch were unaffected by fruitset levels.
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