TT No. 309: Canopy Temperature Differences (CTD) for Detecting Stress in Oil Palm

The plant canopy temperature provides a measure of the plant response to its environment and has been recognized as a sensitive indicator of plant water status (Jackson et al., 1981; Idso, 1982). The relationships between canopy temperature, air temperature and transpiration depend on atmospheric conditions (vapour pressure deficit, air temperature and wind velocity), the soil … Read more

TT No. 306: Markers to Predict Skin Colour of Oil Palm Fruit

With the current labour shortage in the Malaysian plantation sector, the time spent on collection of loose fruits can have serious repercussions on productivity in the oil palm industry. In fact, as a result of labour shortage, one of the areas most neglected in harvesting is loose fruit collection (Hoong and Donough, 1998) which has … Read more

TT No. 305: Microsatellite Probes for Fingerprinting of Oil Palm Clones

Vegetative propagation of the oil palm by tissue culture was first described in the 1970s. Since then, the commercial advantage of tissue culture materials over seedlings has been well established. The initial problems or setbacks associated with oil palm tissue culture (for example, flowering abnormalities) have also been minimized by adopting low phytohormone protocols and … Read more