Sustainable oil palm cultivation in Ecuador: Research challenges and strategic approach to genetic improvement

Scheduled for Wednesday, April 23, from 2.00 to 3.00 p.m., (Aula Talento all'Opera, Palazzo Boyl) is the seminar “Sustainable oil palm cultivation in Ecuador: Research challenges and strategic approach to genetic improvement" given by Silvia Madelein Zambrano Marcillo, Agricultural Researcher at the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Ecuador, and Silvana Defaz, Research Assistant at the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP).

More information in the attached poster.

Abstract

This seminar describes the fundamental role played by the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) in the development and genetic improvement of oil palm (E. guineensis Jacq.) and (Elaeis oleífera) crops in Ecuador. Through the Santo Domingo Experimental Station, with the valuable contributions of its researchers, INIAP successfully established the INIAP-Tenera hybrid from the 1980s to 2020, which came to occupy approximately 60% of the oil palm cultivated area in the country. INIAP plays a fundamental role in the advancement and sustainability of the oil palm sector through its research, with a significant emphasis on genetic improvement. Its intervention is articulated along various strategic lines that seek to optimize productivity, oil quality, resistance to diseases and pests, and adaptation to the country’s specific agroecological conditions.

Despite the significant contribution of INIAP’s African Palm Program to the Ecuadorian oil palm sector, new challenges currently exist, with “Pudrición de Cogollo (PC)” or bud rot, being one of the most pressing. To address this problem, INIAP has focused its efforts on generating interspecific hybrids (OxG). These hybrids are the result of crossing E. oleifera collected in the Ecuadorian Amazon with pollen from select E. guineensis pollen materials identified by INIAP as superior parents.

The Palm Program, focused on genetic improvement, works with three types of oil palm materials: Elaeis guineensis, Elaeis oleifera, and OxG interspecific hybrids. These hybrids seek to achieve objectives ranging from increased yield (fresh fruit/oil), improved oil quality, slower plant growth, and improved resistance or tolerance to pests and diseases, as well as adverse environmental conditions. INIAP research continues to be crucial to the sustainability and growth of the Ecuadorian palm oil sector, adapting to new phytosanitary challenges and seeking superior genetic materials that contribute to the crop’s productivity and resilience.