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The oil palm is the world's most valuable oil crop. Its production has increased over the decades, reaching 56 million tons in 2013, and it gives the highest yields per hectare of all oil crops. Remarkably, oil palm has remained profitable through periods of low prices. Demand for palm oil is also expanding, with the edible demand now complemented by added demand from biodiesel producers.
The Oil Palm is the definitive reference work on this important crop. This fifth edition features new topics – including the conversion of palm oil to biodiesel, and discussions about the impacts of palm oil production on the environment and effects of climate change alongside comprehensively revised chapters, with updated references throughout.
The Oil Palm, Fifth Edition will be useful to researchers, plantation and mill managers who wish to understand the science underlying recommended practices. It is an indispensable reference for agriculture students and all those working in the oil palm industry worldwide.
Preface to the fifth edition xxiv
Preface to the fourth edition xxv
Preface to the third edition xxvi
Preface to the second edition xxvi
Preface to the first edition xxvii
Acknowledgements xxix
Abbreviations xxxi
1. The origin and development of the oil palm industry 1
2. The classification and morphology of the oil palm 30
3. The climate of the oil palm ]growing regions 53
4. The soils of the oil palm ]growing regions 68
5. Growth, flowering and yield 89
6. Selection and breeding 138
7. Vegetative propagation and biotechnology 208
8. Seed germination and nurseries 225
9. Site selection and land preparation 240
10. The establishment of oil palms in the field 275
11. Care and maintenance of oil palms 290
12. Mineral nutrition of oil palms 329
13. Diseases of the oil palm 399
14. Pests of the oil palm 437
15. The products of the oil palm and their extraction 460
16. Marketing, economics, end use and human health 483
17. Oil palm and climate change 495
18. Biofuels 507
19. Oil palm and sustainability 519
20. Concluding remarks 535
Reference list and index of citations 537
Index 627
Dr. RHV Corley is a plant physiologist who worked for over 15 years in oil palm research in Malaysia. He was the head of research for Unilever Plantations for a further 16 years, and is now a consultant on tropical plantation crops.
Professor B. Tinker was for 7 years at the West African Institute for Oil Palm Research, and has been a consultant in Malaysia. For 12 years he was on the Programme Advisory Committee of PORIM (now MPOB). In the UK he has been Professor of Agricultural Botany, Deputy Director and head of soils at Rothamsted Experimental Station, and Director of Science at the National Environment Research Council.
