ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the R&D aspects of oil palm clonal propagation. The apical meristem oil palm has been considered to be recalcitrant to tissue culture. In 1986, somaclonal variation in the form of flowering and fruiting abnormality leading to sterility was observed in the Unilever oil palm clones. Ortet selection would be more efficient in the earlier stages of a new breeding program or the recombinant phase of a mature program where genetic variability and heritability are higher. To date a little over 2" of the total oil palm planted area in Malaysia is occupied by oil palm tissue culture (OPTC)-derived materials. Hormone regulation is an important aspect of the tissue culture process. At MPOB, the liquid culture system was developed to overcome the low proliferation rate of friable embryogenic calli. Micro-propagation allows the rapid multiplication of the source planting material and in theory these exact copies of the original have the advantage of being true-to-type.
