Oil palm breeding experts have advocated integrating conventional breeding methods, modern biotechnology, and gene-editing technology to boost productivity, strengthen climate resilience, and accelerate the development of improved planting materials.

Claude Bakoume, Africa Regional Representative of the International Society for Oil Palm Breeders, made the call on Wednesday while delivering a lecture organised by the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research in Benin.

Mr Bakoume revealed that gene editing could help overcome some limitations of conventional breeding by introducing specific traits to improve oil palm performance. He explained that gene-editing technology could help develop oil palm varieties with improved drought tolerance, shorter palms and modified fatty acid composition for enhanced industrial applications.

Mr Bakoume said the technology could also reduce the time required to develop improved varieties, enabling researchers to respond more quickly to emerging agricultural challenges, particularly climate change. He noted that changing weather patterns and prolonged drought could affect oil palm productivity.

He restated the need to develop planting materials that can adapt to changing environmental conditions without significant yield losses. He also emphasised the importance of proper field supervision in oil palm breeding, warning that negligence during seedling distribution and transplantation could result in discrepancies in progeny numbers and compromise research findings.

The expert called for accurate labelling, systematic record-keeping, and proper field mapping to ensure planting materials were correctly identified and monitored throughout breeding trials.

An expert, Rajinder Singh, from the Advanced Biotechnology and Breeding Centre of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia, said combining conventional breeding with modern biotechnology could improve crop yields.

Mr Singh explained that conventional breeding involved selecting and crossing plants with desirable characteristics, while biotechnology could complement the process by accelerating the development of improved varieties. He identified land availability as a major challenge in oil palm breeding, noting that the crop required extensive space for progeny trials compared with crops such as soybean.

He, however, advocated collaboration among research institutions and oil palm plantations to share trial sites and resources.

He further stressed the importance of sound experimental design, including control groups and replication, to minimise errors and ensure reliable results from oil palm breeding programmes.

Some participants said the programme would be educational, and they were ready to learn new ideas to improve their production.

(NAN)