The pollination of two oil palm species, Elaeis guineensis Jacquin and Elaeis oleifera Cortés (Arecales: Arecaceae), depends on a mutualistic relation with insects, which use male inflorescences as a brood site, and visits female inflorescences lured by the emitted odor, which is similar to that of males. Although the activity of visiting the inflorescences by these insects is critical for the ...

In order to quantify the effects of forests to oil palm conversion occurring in the tropics on land–atmosphere carbon, water and energy fluxes, we develop a new perennial crop sub-model CLM-Palm for simulating a palm plant functional type (PFT) within the framework of the Community Land Model (CLM4.5). CLM-Palm is tested here on oil palm only but is meant of generic interest for other palm crop...

The latest scientific data confirmed that the earth's climate is rapidly changing. Therefore, it has been widely accepted worldwide that global warming is by far the greatest threat and challenge in the new millennium. The main factor that causes global warming is the release of greenhouse gases to the environment. In order to reduce the emission of these greenhouse gases and to promote sustain...

background: a cross sectional study was conducted to determine the association between occupational stress risk factors and salivary alpha-amylase activity levels among fresh fruit bunch (ffb) cutters at oil palm plantation.  methods: a total of 109 ffb cutters were selected from two oil palm plantations in pulau carey, selangor at west coast of malaysia in 2015. questionnaires were used to det...

Strategus aloeus L (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), known as "Little bull" or oil palm "chiza" is a limiting pest in palm plantation in Cesar Colombia. Its management is based on pesticide use or old palm removal in renewal lots. Therefore, other alternatives are being sought out. Entomopathogenic nematodes isolated from the Colombian Andean region were evaluated. Under laboratory conditions S. aloe...

The utilities of AIRSAR data for oil palm biomass inventory and mapping are investigated. The study is on oil palm plantations in Tapah, Malaysia. The work focuses on two main applications. First, retrieval of oil palm biomass by establishing empirical relationships between backscatter coefficient and conventional estimation of biomass based on model as well as ground data. Second, mapping oil ...

Rapid land-use change in the tropics causes dramatic losses in biodiversity and associated functions. In Sumatra, Indonesia, lowland rainforest has mainly been transformed by smallholders into oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) monocultures, interspersed with jungle rubber (rubber agroforests) and a few forest remnants. In two regions of the Jambi province, we conducte...

Deforestation and oil palm expansion in Central Kalimantan province are among the highest in Indonesia. This study examines the physical and monetary impacts of oil palm expansion in Central Kalimantan up to 2025 under three policy scenarios. Our modelling approach combines a spatial logistic regression model with a set of rules governing land use change as a function of the policy scenario. Ou...

The recent announcements of the breakthroughs in obtaining the oil palm genome sequence map herald a new chapter in oil palm genetic improvement. These breakthroughs will spur the further development of oil palm genomics. This article examines how genomics would impact plant and oil palm breeding. The knowledge derived from genomics research in terms of the DNA structure of a gene, how it funct...