A New Hybrid Oil Palm Variety: DOA Surat Thani9

Abstract

The hybrid oil palm DOA Surat Thani9 was developed under the oil palm breeding program, phase 2, using the modified reciprocal recurrent selection method. The elite maternal and paternal parents were selected to generate 69 hybrid combinations. Subsequently, extensive progeny testing was done to identify crosses with fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield, crude palm oil (CPO) yield, and bunch components exceeding the DOA’s standards at the Surat Thani Oil Palm Research Center between 2001 and 2017. Five crosses of oil palm were evaluated with DOA Surat Thani3 as the standard cross using a randomized complete block design with 4 replications. The results demonstrated that the DOA Surat Thani9, a cross between the maternal parent 68/374D (Deli Dura group) and the paternal parent 125/154T (AVROS group), was the superior performer with an average FFB yield of 3,773 kg/rai/year during the age period of 3-10 years, surpassing the standard cross by 31.4%. Specifically, the early productive phase (age of 3–4 years) gave an average FFB yield of 1,908 kg/rai/year, while the full maturity phase (age of 6–10 years) gave a higher yield of 4,634 kg/rai/year. These high yields were attributed to an average of 13.5 bunches/palm/year, an average bunch weight of 12.8 kg/bunch, and a high CPO yield averaging 817.8 kg/rai/year because of a high mesocarp content and oil-to-bunch ratio. Yield components analysis of DOA Surat Thani9 revealed that fresh mesocarp/fruit, shell/fruit, kernel/fruit, and oil-to-bunch were 86.0, 7.5, 6.6 and 25.5%, respectively. It has been determined as the recommended variety of the Department of Agriculture under the name of Surat Thani9. This variety can contribute to decreasing the country's reliance on imported oil palm seeds for planting.