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{| style="background-color: #efefef;" cellpadding="10"
|'''Why are good seeds important?'''
* Oil palms can produce good yields for 25—30 years.
* Good quality, certified seeds will produce good palms that give very large yields.
* Seeds of poor quality, with unreliable certificates or no certificates at all, will give a poor yield for 25 years!
So make sure you only plant hybrid seeds!
|}
Download: [http://intothefield.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Module-1-3rd-edition-2016-08.pdf Module 1: Planting Material]
===Introduction===
[[Image:oil-palm-1.1-figure1.png|thumb|right|200px|Figure 1: In a breeding company, open female inflorescences are pollinated by hand and then packed in a plastic bag.]]
In oil palm, the best yields are produced by so-called ‘hybrids’. A hybrid is a cross between two different types of parents. Hybrids are produced in specialised breeding companies (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure1.png Figure 1]). The parents of hybrid oil palms are different because of the thickness of the ‘shell’ of their fruit (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure2.png Figure 2]).
The shell of an oil palm fruit is the brown/black woody ring between the yellow flesh and the white kernel (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure3.png Figure 3]). There is no oil in the shell.
Normal palm oil (called crude palm oil or ‘CPO’) is extracted from the yellow flesh, which is also called ‘mesocarp’ (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure3.png Figure 3]). Oil can also be extracted from the white kernel, and this oil is called ‘palm kernel oil’ or ‘PKO’. However, this is a special oil and normal palm oil factories are not interested in it.
The mother palm of a hybrid is called ''dura''. ''Dura'' fruits have a thick shell (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure2.png Figure 2]). The father palm of a hybrid is called ''pisifera''. ''Pisifera'' fruits have no shell at all (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure2.png Figure 2]).
The cross between ''dura'' and ''pisifera'' palms is a hybrid called ''tenera'' (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure2.png Figure 2]). Hybrid ''tenera'' fruits have a thin shell and the palms produce up to 30 percent more oil than their parents!
===Example: Oil production from plantations with ''tenera'', ''dura'' and ''pisifera''===
In the table below, an example is given for a plantation with good quality hybrid planting materials (Plantation 1) and two plantations with non-hybrid materials (Plantations 2 and 3). This example clearly shows why mills prefer ''tenera'' bunches.
<font color="#72CDFF>Table 1: Oil production in plantations with three types of planting materials</font>
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5"
! width="25%" style="background:#efefef;" |
! width="25%" style="background:#efefef;" align="left" | Plantation 1
! width="25%" style="background:#efefef;" align="left"| Plantation 2
! width="25%" style="background:#efefef;" align="left"| Plantation 3
|-
|Planting material:
|100% ''tenera''
|50% ''tenera'' <br>
25% ''dura'' <br>
25% ''pisifera''
|100% ''dura''
|-
|Situation:
|Good quality certified seeds
|Seeds taken and planted from the plantation
|Only ''dura'' seeds planted
|-
|FFB yield (t/ha)
|24.0
|18.0
|24.0
|-
|Oil from ''tenera'' (23%)
|5.5
|2.8
|0.0
|-
|Oil from ''dura'' (16%)
|0.0
|1.0
|3.8
|-
|Oil from ''pisifera'' (sterile)
|0.0
|0.0
|0.0
|-
|'''TOTAL oil yield (t/ha)'''
|'''5.5'''
|'''3.8'''
|'''3.8'''
|-
|Selling price for farmers<sup>1</sup>
|3600 US$/ha
|2700 US$/ha
|3600 US$/ha
|-
|Selling price for mill<sup>2</sup>
|4290 US$/ha
|2964 US$/ha
|2964 US$/ha
|-
|Profit for mill
|'''690 US$/ha'''
|'''264 US$/ha'''
|<font color=red>-636 US$/ha</font>
|}
1) FFB price = 150 US$/tonne; 2) CPO price = 780 US$/tonne
====Remarks====
* ''Tenera'' fruits contain about 30 percent more oil than ''dura'' fruits (see Plantation 1 and Plantation 3).
* ''Pisifera'' palms usually don’t produce any fruit at all (they are sterile), so the FFB yield is generally zero. That explains why Plantation 2 has less FFB yield.
* All plantations require a similar amount of fertiliser and labour, so these costs remain the same across all plantations.
* Plantation 1, with 100 percent ''tenera'' palms, clearly produces significantly more oil than the other two plantations!
===How to recognise ''tenera'', ''dura'' and ''pisifera'' palms===
[[Image:oil-palm-1.1-figure2.png|thumb|right|200px|Figure 2: Shells of ''dura'', ''pisifera'', and ''tenera'' fruits]]
[[Image:oil-palm-1.1-figure3.png|thumb|right|200px|Figure 3: Components of ''tenera'' and ''dura'' fruits]]
[[Image:oil-palm-1.1-figure4.png|thumb|right|200px|Figure 4: ''Tenera'', ''dura'' and ''pisifera'']]
The only type of oil palm that can produce large amounts of oil is the hybrid ''tenera'' type. All seeds from good companies are of this type.
''Tenera'' palms are considered the best palms because:
* Each fruit produces a large quantities of oil (which is in the mesocarp, the yellow ‘flesh’);
* The palms produce a large amount of fruit bunches.
''Tenera'' fruits can be recognised by:
* A thin shell (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure3.png Figure 3]);
* Brown/black fibres in the mesocarp around the shell (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure3.png Figure 3]).
''Dura'' palms are not considered the best palms because:
* They produce large fruit bunches, but
* The fruit contains about 30 percent less oil than ''tenera'' fruit!
''Dura'' fruits can be recognised by:
* A very thick shell (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure3.png Figure 3]);
* No fibres in the mesocarp around the shell.
''Pisifera'' palms can be recognised by:
* Leaves growing in an upward direction instead of to the side which makes the crown of the palm appear very ‘narrow’;
* No fruit bunches (the palm is sterile);
* Some palms may grow very tall.
''Pisifera'' fruits are difficult to find because the palms are sterile. ''Pisifera fruits'' can be recognised by:
* No shell around the kernel (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure4.png Figure 4]);
* The fruit consisting of only yellow mesocarp (flesh) and some white kernel.
If there is a mixture of ''dura'' and ''pisifera'' palms in a plantation then usually their numbers will be more or less constant, for example 30 ''dura'' palms, 30 ''pisifera'' palms, and 60 ''tenera'' palms.
===How to make ''tenera'' palms===
[[Image:oil-palm-1.1-figure5.png|thumb|right|200px|Figure 5: Production of a ''tenera'' palm]]
The fathers and mothers of all living creatures (people, cats, oil palms, ants etc.) give traits to their children in the form of genes. Genes are located inside every cell of the body. In humans, for example, there are genes for colour of the hair, or talent for singing or mathematics. In cats, for example, there are genes for colour of the fur.
In oil palms there is one gene that determines the thickness of the shell (the ‘shell thickness gene’). The shell thickness gene has only two forms: ‘thick shell’ or ‘no shell’. The mother and the father palm each give one ‘shell thickness gene’ to their children (so, to their seeds), which can be either the ‘thick shell gene’ or the ‘no shell gene’. Seeds with two ‘thick shell genes’ will become palms that produce fruits with a thick shell (''dura''). Seeds with two ‘no shell genes’ will become palms that produce fruits with no shell (''pisifera'').
When you cross a ''dura'' with a ''pisifera'' (like they do in the seed producing companies) you get a ''tenera'':
* The ''dura'' mother gives a ‘thick shell gene’;
* The ''pisifera'' father give a ‘no shell gene’;
* The seeds get one ‘thick shell gene’ and one ‘no shell gene’ and will become palms that produce only fruits with a thin shell (''tenera'').
Below is the process for producing a ''tenera'' palm:
====Why we cannot plant seeds from a plantation====
[[Image:oil-palm-1.1-figure6.png|thumb|right|200px|Figure 6: What happens when you plant seeds taken from the plantation?]]
If you cross only ''dura'' mothers with ''pisifera'' fathers, you can be certain that:
* The gene from the mother can only be thick shell;
* The gene from the father can only be no shell;
* The seeds will always become palms that only produce thin shell fruits.
If you plant the seeds that you took from a plantation, this is what happens:
* The mother is not ''dura'' but ''tenera'';
* The father is not ''pisifera'' but ''tenera'';
* You will not get only good hybrid ''tenera'' palms but a mix of ''tenera'', ''dura'' and ''pisifera''.
Here is what happens when you take seeds from the plantation (see [http://akvopedia.org/sandbox/File:Oil-palm-1.1-figure6.png Figure 6]):
* The gene from the mother can be either thick shell or no shell;
* The gene from the father can be either thick shell or no shell;
* The palms that grow from the seeds of these parents can be thick shell, thin shell, or no shell.
===Conclusion===
Independent plantations with bad planting material usually have around 50 percent ''tenera'' palms, 25 percent ''dura'' palms and 25 percent ''pisifera'' palms. In commercial plantations, only ''tenera'' palms are found. Smallholder plantations that were planted by a company will also contain only ''tenera'' palms.
'''Never plant seeds from your plantations or buy seeds that are not certified!!'''
===Acknowledgements===
The material from ''Tenera, Dura, and Pisifera'' is sourced from Smallholder Oil Palm Handbook and put together by Lotte Suzanne Woittiez ([http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/wageningen-university.htm Wageningen Universit]) and Haryono Sadikin, Sri Turhina, Hidayat Dani, Tri Purba Dukan, and Hans Smit ([http://www.snv.org/ SNV]) in August 2016. See [http://intothefield.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Module-1-3rd-edition-2016-08.pdf Module 1: Planting Material] for more information.
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