Oil Palm Genetic Resources-Introduction, Utilization and Future Needs

摘要

Oil palm is native of West Africa and exists in wild, semi-wild and cultivated forms mainly in equatorial tropics like Africa, South East Asia and South and Central America. The cultivated species of oil palm is Elaeis guineensis Jacq. which is also found in wild palm groves in West African (Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone) and Central African (Congo region, Gabon, Zaire, Uganda) countries where its wild relatives are found. Elaeis oleifera, native of South and Central America,is another species found scattered in wild palm groves in South and Central American countries like Brazil, Ecuador, El-Salvador, Amazonian belt etc. This species is under-utilized and considered to have tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, high oil quality, compact canopy and dwarfness.