najaa@mpob.gov.my – OIL PALM BULLETIN

An Update of Oil Palm Haploid Technology: MPOB’s Experience

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 03:00:00 +0000

A haploid (H) oil palm containing only one complete set of chromosomes (n=16) will shorten the oil palm conventional breeding cycle, which is currently 15 to 25 years. The haploid palm can be utilised to produce completely homozygous doubled haploid (DH) lines in a single generation. As this is an interesting area of research, we outline the previous efforts to generate haploid oil palm and highlight the research achievements thus far. Screening for naturally occurring haploids (NOH) and doubled haploids (NODH) have shown promise, but the approach is hampered by the low frequency of such seedlings observed naturally. A high-throughput screening pipeline, combining morphological evaluation, cytometry, cytogenetics analysis, and molecular markers was successfully applied to identify haploid palm from the ‘off-type’ culled seeds. The screening strategy described here will accelerate the early identification of NOH, NODH and polyploids, thus helping to improve the efficiency of conventional oil palm breeding programs. The information obtained from the haploid individual’s whole-genome sequence (WGS) will be valuable for genetics-based studies, especially in understanding the molecular mechanism associated with the haploid formation in oil palm.

Sawit dengan satu set lengkap kromosom (n=16) dapat membantu memendekkan kitaran program biak baka sawit secara konvensional yang secara amnya memerlukan jangka masa selama 15 hingga 25 tahun. Sawit haploid (H) boleh digunakan bagi menghasilkan haploid dwiganda (DH) yang homozigus dalam satu kitaran generasi sahaja. Kajian haploid merupakan satu kajian yang menarik dan berguna untuk penambahbaikan biak baka konvensional. Justeru disini, usaha-usaha terdahulu dan juga perkembangan serta pencapaian terkini teknologi haploid sawit dikongsikan. Kaedah penyaringan sawit bergenom haploid (NOH) dan haploid dwiganda (NODH) yang terhasil secara semula jadi terbukti merupakan pendekatan yang terbaik. Walau bagaimanapun, kaedah ini amat sukar berikutan kekangan kewujudan anak pokok dengan status genom tersebut dengan kuantiti yang amat sedikit. Terkini, kaedah penyaringan sawit haploid pada skala besar yang menggabungkan pengenalpastian morfologi, analisis sitometri, analisis sitogenetik dan penanda molekul telah berjaya mengenalpasti sawit haploid daripada biji benih sawit takai. Strategi penyaringan yang dibangunkan ini dapat membantu mempercepatkan pengenalpastian sawit haploid, haploid dwiganda dan juga poliploid yang amat berguna kepada program biakbaka sawit konvensional. Maklumat yang diperoleh daripada penjujukan genom sawit haploid juga akan menjadi informasi yang berharga bagi kajian genetik sawit terutamanya dalam memahami mekanisma molekular yang menyebabkan pembentukan sawit haploid dengan lebih mendalam.

Description of a Dynamic Closed Chamber Method for Measuring Soil Respiration: A Case Study in Oil Palm Plantations on Peat

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 04:59:19 +0000

Understanding the dynamics of soil carbon (C) is a crucial component of sustainable agriculture strategies for enhancing soil fertility and accelerating C sequestration. Soil respiration is among the most crucial processes in the C cycle of terrestrial ecosystems. It is the total root respiration and heterotrophic decomposition of soil organic matter. Various methods have been recommended and applied to the quantification of soil CO₂ flux, but the closed chamber method is the most prevalent. The purpose of this paper is to present the measuring principles, the measurement of soil respiration using a dynamic closed chamber method and the calculation of soil CO₂ flux. A case study was carried out in oil palm plantations on peat, i.e., one established in 2006 in Pekan, Pahang (Teraja soil series) and the other in 2009 in Bagan Datuk, Perak (Penor soil series) from November 2018 to February 2019. The soil CO₂ fluxes were measured using a dynamic closed chamber method with a portable infrared gas analyser (EGM-4 IRGA and SRC-1, PP Systems, Amesbury, MA, USA). The case study indicated the variation in soil CO₂ fluxes in oil palm plantations on peat across study sites and management zones. Further research is needed to verify and strengthen the research findings.

Pemahaman mengenai dinamik karbon (C) tanah adalah salah satu komponen yang penting dalam strategi pembangunan pertanian lestari untuk meningkatkan kesuburan tanah dan mempercepatkan penyerapan C. Respirasi tanah adalah di antara proses yang penting dalam kitaran C ekosistem daratan. Respirasi tanah merupakan jumlah CO₂ yang dihasilkan oleh respirasi akar tanaman dan hasil penguraian heterotrofik bahan organik tanah. Pelbagai kaedah telah digunakan untuk pengukuran fluks CO2 tanah, tetapi kaedah yang paling umum digunakan adalah closed chamber method. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk menerangkan prinsip pengukuran respirasi tanah, penggunaan kaedah dynamic closed chamber serta pengiraan fluks CO₂ tanah. Satu kajian telah dijalankan di ladang sawit tanah gambut yang ditanam pada tahun 2006 di Pekan, Pahang (siri tanah Teraja) dan di ladang sawit tanah gambut yang ditanam pada tahun 2009 di Bagan Datuk, Perak (siri tanah Penor) bermula dari November 2018 hingga Februari 2019. Pengukuran fluks CO₂ telah dilakukan dengan menggunakan infrared gas analyser mudah alih (EGM-4 IRGA dan SRC-1, PP Systems, Amesbury, MA, USA). Kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa fluks CO₂ tanah adalah berbeza antara kawasan ladang sawit dan zon pengurusan yang berbeza. Penyelidikan lanjut perlu dijalankan untuk mengesahkan dan memperkukuhkan hasil penyelidikan fluks CO₂ tanah di ladang sawit.

Bulk Density Evaluation on Organic Soil Characteristics and Oil Palm Growth

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 04:45:53 +0000

The role of tropical peatlands as a fossil carbon sink and source could be a potential nature-based solution for mitigating the ongoing climatic change. The oil palm cultivation on tropical peat needs to be assessed continuously following the dynamic changes in the oil palm ecosystem, influenced by land use management. This study aims to assess soil carbon stock, the bulk density effects on soil moisture, palm growth and CO₂ flux in oil palm plantations established on very deep peat in Bintulu, Sarawak. Carbon volume was higher in the surface zone but exposed to decomposition, leading to soil organic carbon loss. The high peat soil organic matter (>93%) had contributed to high water retention capacity (576.11 ± 11.75%). The trunk diameter and height of oil palms were 51.29- 57.80 cm and 1.11-2.04 m, respectively. The CO₂ fluxes (0.64 ± 0.05 – 0.50 ± 0.03 g CO₂ m^-2 hr^-1) were insignificant between sites, likely contributed by the similar soil organic carbon and carbon stock from SAB07 (331.28 t C ha^-1) and SBU07 (315.78 t C ha^-1) under the same management practices. The measurement of CO₂ flux is recommended to be conducted in sites of diverse peat decomposition states and ecosystems to evaluate the spatiotemporal variations.

Fungsi hutan paya gambut tropika sebagai simpanan dan sumber fosil karbon berpotensi menjadi penyelesaian berasaskan alam semula jadi dalam pengekangan perubahan iklim yang berterusan. Tahap penanaman sawit di tanah gambut perlu dinilai secara berterusan berikutan perubahan dinamik sifat tanah gambut yang dipengaruhi oleh pengurusan guna tanah. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengukur stok karbon tanah, kesan ketumpatan pukal tanah terhadap kelembapan tanah, pertumbuhan sawit dan pelepasan CO₂ yang dijalankan di ladang sawit tanah gambut jenis sangat dalam di Bintulu, Sarawak. Isipadu karbon adalah tinggi di zon permukaan tetapi terdedah kepada pereputan yang mengurangkan kandungan karbon organik tanah. Bahan organik tanah yang tinggi (>93%) menyumbang kepada kapasiti penyimpanan air yang tinggi (576.11 ± 11.75%). Diameter batang dan tinggi sawit adalah berukuran 51.29-57.80 cm dan 1.11-2.04 m, masing-masing. Kadar pelepasan CO₂ (0.64 ± 0.05 – 0.50 ± 0.03 g CO₂ m^-2 hr^-1) tidak berbeza antara tempat kajian, berkemungkinan disebabkan oleh persamaan peratusan karbon organik tanah dan stok karbon (315.78-331.28 t C ha^-1) di bawah pengurusan ladang yang sama. Pengukuran pelepasan CO₂ disaran dilakukan di kawasan yang mempunyai kadar penguraian gambut dan ekosistem yang berlainan.

Remote Sensing and GIS Application for Sustainability Management of Oil Palm Plantation

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Thu, 13 Oct 2022 04:34:52 +0000

Geospatial technology has been described as systems that collect and process location-specific data about the Earth. The technologies comprise remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Based on this, Oil Palm Resource Information System (OPRIS) was developed based on GIS specific functions to enable a complete geospatial data management workflow. It consists of several data layers such as administrative boundaries, soil types, agroclimatic conditions, topography, oil palm landcover, suitability areas, site yield potential (SYP) and others. Initially, geospatial data was digitised from scanned maps and standardised into the same coordinate and projection to allow more data to be overlayed together. Data is presented and integrated into a web map, web apps, story maps, dashboards and applications and mobile. Data can be displayed interactively. Data from OPRIS has been used to map 162 sustainable palm oil clusters (SPOC) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil Certification (SPOC), block mapping for agronomic study, pest and disease monitoring among others. OPRIS will be enhanced with advanced server management and more portal application to promote and improve users accessibility.

Sistem Maklumat Sumber Sawit (OPRIS) telah dibangunkan berdasarkan fungsi khusus GIS untuk membolehkan aliran kerja pengurusan data geospatial yang lengkap. Ia telah dikembangkan untuk penyiasatan saintifik, pengurusan sumber dan perancangan pembangunan industri tanaman sawit. Geodatabase OPRIS terdiri daripada beberapa lapisan sempadan pentadbiran, jenis tanah, jenis agro-iklim, topografi, litupan tanaman sawit, kesesuaian tanah dan potensi hasil setempat. Pada mulanya, data geospatial telah didigit daripada peta yang diimbas dan diseragamkan ke dalam sistem koordinat yang sama untuk membolehkan banyak data ditindankan ke dalam unjuran yang sama. Data dibentangkan dan diintegrasikan sebagai web map, web apps, story map, aplikasi dashboard dan penggunaan aplikasi mobil. Maklumat daripada peta dan lapisan data boleh ditimbulkan secara interaktif. Data dari OPRIS juga telah digunakan untuk membantu pemetaan 162 kelompok minyak sawit mampan (SPOC) dan kemajuan pensijilan MSPO, pemetaan blok tanaman untuk kajian agronomi, pemantauan serangan perosak dan penyakit dan sebagainya.

The Effect of Subsoil Manuring for Oil Palm Planted on Alluvial Soil

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Mon, 14 Mar 2022 01:20:22 +0000

The shortage of workers in the oil palm industry caused some oil palm planters to practice the subsoil fertiliser placement to reduce the frequency of fertiliser application. The fresh fruit bunches (FFB) yield obtained from the subsoil fertiliser application was 4.52 t ha^–1, which was 13% lower than when fertiliser was broadcasted. Hence, it is less effective on riverine alluvial soil. The higher profits resulted from broadcasting would suggest that it is a more effective method for mature oil palm planted on alluvial soils. The subsoil placement of fertiliser is only advisable to be practised in marginal areas, such as high erosion areas especially in hilly areas where regular fertilisation would lead to nutrient losses via surface runoff.

Kekurangan pekerja di industri sawit menyebabkan sebilangan pekebun sawit mengamalkan kaedah penanaman baja di dalam tanah untuk mengurangkan kekerapan membaja. Hasil tandan buah segar (TBS) dari kaedah penanaman baja di dalam tanah adalah 4.52 t ha^–1 iaitu 13% lebih rendah daripada kaedah taburan. Oleh itu, ianya kurang berkesan di tanah lanar sungai. Keuntungan lebih tinggi yang diperoleh menunjukkan bahawa kaedah pembajaan secara taburan lebih berkesan untuk sawit matang yang ditanam di tanah lanar sungai. Kaedah penanaman baja di dalam tanah hanya disarankan untuk dipraktikkan di kawasan marginal, seperti kawasan hakisan tinggi terutama di kawasan berbukit di mana pembajaan adalah berisiko.

Field Performance of Oto-BaCTM, a Groundbased AI Counter for Bagworms (Lepidoptera: Psychidae): Is it Robust Enough to Perform?

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 04:04:28 +0000

Bagworms are the main species of vicious leaf eating insect in oil palm plantation and poses serious threats to productivity. The economic impact from a moderate bagworm attack of 10%-50% leaf damage may cause approximately 43% yield loss. More than usual, the bagworm population often increases to above its threshold limits. If no control measures are taken, it will usually lead to a severe outbreak. Aware of this impact, detection and countermeasures of the bagworm populations are required as preliminary steps to ensure proper planning of control actions in the infested areas. Through an image processing analysis and integration of hardware and software approaches, the world’s first prototype known as Oto-BaCTM (Automatic bagworm counter) has been developed to detect and count the bagworms automatically in the field. It can detect bagworms according to three specific groups: Group 1: larval stage 1-3; Group 2: larval stage 4-7 and Group 3: pupal stage. In addition, the Oto-BaCTM is programmed to detect the living and dead larvae and pupae, which corresponds to motion-tracking and false colour analysis. Based on several field trials at three different locations, the results showed that the percentages of detection accuracy for the living and dead G1 larvae were recorded at 87.5% and 78.7%, respectively. As for the G2 larvae, the percentage of detection accuracy was 79.2%, for the living while dead larvae was at 79.2%. Meanwhile, the detection accuracy for Group 3 exhibited 77% and 75%, for the living and dead pupae separately. Hence, the application of an Oto-BaCTM is currently recommended to assist planters in automating census work in oil palm plantations.

Opportunities for Geographical Traceability and Authenticity Testing of Sustainable Palm Oil

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 03:59:54 +0000

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a highly productive crop with the highest yield of oil per unit area and lowest cost of production of all vegetable oils. The continuous rise in global production and demand for palm oil is reflected by the increase in land area cultivated with oil palm across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Expansion of oil palm plantings has created awareness about sustainable practices in oil palm cultivation and land use in order to ensure the preservation of tropical forests. Green certification schemes such as RSPO and MSPO advocate transparency in demonstrating that the oil palm industry is in compliance with established practices that ensure the production of certified sustainable palm oil. This has enabled new initiatives in the oil palm R&D sector to establish scientifically sound analytical systems that can support the sustainability certification schemes which require traceability throughout the palm oil supply chain. A reliable and robust traceability system is required to determine the exact location and land use history of the palm oil originating from the supplying countries.

Analysis of Remote Sensing Multispectral Image for Detection of Ganoderma Disease, Bagworm Infestation and Stressed Oil Palm in Flooded Area

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 03:51:59 +0000

Pest, disease and natural disasters in oil palm have caused significant income loss to Malaysia. Early detection of pest and disease is one of the best prevention procedures. However, the tools or devices to efficiently detect and monitor the problems are still limited, especially for oil palm plantations. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an airbornebased detection and monitoring study to reduce cost and time, and also to cover a wide-scale oil palm plantation area. This study examines the performance of multispectral image from drones and satellites for aerial detection and monitoring of Ganoderma disease, bagworm infestation and flood hazard in oil palm. The images were used to categorise: a) healthy; b) Ganoderma-infected; c) bagworm-infested oil palm and d) stressed oil palm due to flood area. The difference between categories were assessed using visual interpretation of different band combinations displays. Then comparative statistical analysis was conducted to confirm whether there is a statistically significant difference between the spectral response of each multispectral band. The results suggested that NIR, RE, R and G, R, RE band combinations were significantly distinguished between healthy, Ganoderma-infected and bagworm infested oil palm. Meanwhile, NIR, R and G band combinations provided significant difference between healthy and stressed oil palm in flooded area. Future work will explore deep learning analysis for early detection of pest, disease and environmental hazards in oil palm plantations.

Potential of Endophytes as Biocontrol Agents Against Basal Stem Rot (BSR) Disease and the Development of Commercial Biofertiliser for Disease Management

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Thu, 29 Jul 2021 00:03:50 +0000

Oil palm is one of the most important crops in Malaysia and plays a significant role in the agricultural and economic development of the country. Basal stem rot (BSR) caused by Ganoderma boninense is the biggest threat to oil palm production and has been documented to cause huge losses to the oil palm industry in Malaysia. There is yet to be an effective control measure for BSR disease. Endophytic fungi have been previously studied and identified as potential biological control agents (BCA) for many crop diseases. The overall success of biocontrol depends on the effectiveness of the method used for searching and screening biocontrol agents. Endophytic fungi, Hendersonia toruloidea GanoEF1, Amphinema GanoEF2 and Phlebia GanoEF3, were isolated from more than 500 culturable endophytic fungal samples isolated from the roots of healthy oil palms in Malaysia. These isolates were further formulated into powder and granular forms, which profoundly affected the efficacy of BSR disease control. Isolate H. toruloidea GanoEF1 was found to be a novel and promising biological control agent against G. boninense; therefore, this isolate was further developed for commercialisation. The process of mass production of the endophytic fungus, H. toruloidea, as GanoEF biofertiliser has been commercialised. The commercialisation package involves mass production of H. toruloidea GanoEF1 inoculum, preparation of a carrier, mixing the inoculum into the carrier, and packaging the final product. In greenhouse and field trials, oil palm seedlings treated with GanoEF biofertiliser showed a positive outcome in controlling infection and growth of G. boninense. The use of endophytes in the form of a formulated product is preferred and sought after as such preparations offer many advantages during application in the field.

Production Of Oryctes Nudivirus In Cell Culture Towards Mass Production For Biocontrol Of Rhinoceros Beetle, Oryctes Rhinoceros

najaa@mpob.gov.my — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 23:55:53 +0000

Oryctes nudivirus (OrNV) is a classical biocontrol agent for the rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros, a notorious oil palm pest. The propagation of Malaysian OrNV types A, B and C in cell line DSIR-HA-1179 was determined. Successful replication of OrNV in the cell line was confirmed by the appearance of cytopathic effects (CPE), Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis, and the reduction in viable cell density of the infected cells relative to the healthy cells. The virulence of the cells-propagated OrNV was then compared to the freshly-prepared OrNV on the rhinoceros beetle. Both sources of OrNV were capable of causing mortality and infectivity on rhinoceros beetle and the feeding behaviour of the infected neonates was greatly affected. The results indicated that OrNV developed in cell culture is infectious on the beetle and that the mass production of the virus in the future requires a standard assessment process.