There are three major varieties of oil palm: dura, pisifera, and tenera.
The dura palms have kernels with a thick shell, while the pisifera palms have kernels with no shell. The tenera palm is the cross between the two palm varieties (dura and pisifera). It has kernels with a thin shell. In order to get a lot of oil, the female flowers of a dura palm are fertilized with the pollen from a pisifera palm. Once they are fertilized, the female flowers turn into fruits. The fruits of the tenera palm have a lot of pulp, a thin shell, and a big kernel.
The tenera is an F1 generation (first filial generation)Â and also a hybrid. This is the reason why you always need to be careful of where you get your planting material. Over the years, there have been cases of Oil palm plantation sterility, a situation whereby your palm will fail to bring out fruits after 3 to 4 years of transplanting.
Many oil palm seedling sellers (non-reputable sources) are now fond of sprouting tenera seeds and raising them to seedlings. Most of these people engage in this dubious act because they do not really understand the implication and the long-term effect.
Sprouting the seed of dura or pisifera may not give you a problem because they are not hybrid. Sprouting a tenera seed which is an F1 generation will not produce yield like the original tenera because segregation would have happened. The whole plantation may become sterile because the outcome is an F2 generation.
I have visited a farm whereby over 1500 palm trees were sterile even after adding fertilizer and applying good agronomic practices.
In a situation like this, the only recommendation is to cut down the whole tree and start afresh.
Can you imagine the trauma or pain the investor or owner will go through?
Please, ensure you get your planting material from a reliable source. The case of buying poor planting material is the same as nursing a bastard child.
A friend of mine once said, “the cost of running a DNA test for a baby is nothing compare to the cost of raising the child till age 30“.
If you get seed from an unreliable source, the pain will be more than raising a bastard child.
Below is the stress you will go through before the palm reaches the maturity stage; fertilizer cost, the stress of managing farm labour, weeding, land acquisition, and so on. These articles (Annual or Daily labour: The cost implications and making the right decision, the Current state of AGRICULTURE in Nigeria)will give you more insight into the challenges you might or will encounter during the process of starting a palm plantation. So, you must do everything possible to get the right planting materials.
Do you also know that your tenera can also be of different types in terms of fruit types? Oil palms produce either nigrescens or virescens fruit type. The most important thing is to get your planting material from a credible source.
Pls how will I have papers for varieties of palm oil seeds
Please how will I have papers on varieties of palm oil seeds
Sir, I do not get your question. Do you mean, research papers on palm oil seeds?
Please which species is best for business
Tenera
Pls sir how can I get tenera seed
You can get from NIFOR or kindly contact us
Can I have ur contact
Sir, my contact is on the website banner at the top
How can u say that seedlings from tenera won’t give you good results
Sir, I just glanced through the article again. I do not say tenera won’t give a good result.
This is the summary of the article,
3 palm species exist: Psifera, Dura, Tenera
Tenera: is the cross between dura and psifera
Tenera is F1 generation
Tenera has high yield than both parent
Backcrossing between tenera and either parent will still give a good yield
iF you plant the seed of tenera (fruit harvested from Tenera palm tree), your result will no longer be Tenera, it become F2.
In Oil palm, F2 plant stand will give you low or poor yield if the tree escapes being sterile.
So, I guess that was what you saw or read, that made you ask the question.
Sir, I guess I have now answer your question
Pls I will like to ask the price of d tenera seedling and how long does it take to bear fruits, where can I get them to buy.
400-450 naira per seedlings.
3 years
from a reputable seedling seller or NIFOR
I am based in Umuahia. How can I located where to buy the original tenera seedlings?
NIFOR Benin city
Please can you send me the contact links of tenera oil palm and location
visit the NIFOR Benin city website
How can i source your hybread tenera
Readily available at NIFOR Benin city
Can u please drop ur number
+2347063579756