Improving oil palm sustainability with molecular-precision agriculture: yield impact of SHELL DNA testing in the Malaysian oil palm supply chain

• Published in: Scientia horticulturae Vol. 321; p. 112305
• Main Authors: Cheng-Li Ooi, Leslie, Kamil, Nur Nadia, Mohd Salleh, Kamalruddin, Leslie Low, Eng-Ti, Ong-Abdullah, Meilina, Lakey, Nathan, Ordway, Jared M., Garner, Peggy A., Nookiah, Rajanaidu, Sambanthamurthi, Ravigadevi, Abd Manaf, Mohd Arif, Ismail, Azman, Singh, Rajinder
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.11.2023
• Subjects: Molecular precision agriculture; Non-tenera contamination; Oil palm; SureSawit-SHELL allele testing; Sustainable oil palm; CPO; FFB; T(obs); Sustainable oil palm; T(s); Non-tenera contamination; Oil palm; CPKO; MRS; GDP; MPOB; RRS; T(i); SIRIM; SureSawit-SHELL allele testing; D(i); AVROS; P(i); Molecular precision agriculture; QR; PORLA; D(s); P(obs); COPN; HA; D(obs)
• ISSN: 0304-4238; 1879-1018
• DOI: 10.1016/j.scienta.2023.112305

•Oil palm has one hybrid high-yielding form and four contaminant low-yielding forms.•SHELL DNA testing detected 12.8% contaminants in Malaysia's oil palm supply chain.•Removing contaminant palms increases FFB production by 5.6% and CPO by 7.5%.•SHELL testing at seed production and nursery ensures supply of high-purity material.•Replanting with SHELL tested palms improves income of plantations and smallholders. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) has three fruit-forms, high-yielding tenera (thin-shelled), low-yielding dura (thick-shelled) and pisifera (shell-less and female sterile), controlled by any one of nine known mutant alleles of SHELL, a type II MADS-box gene homolog of Arabidopsis SEEDSTICK (STK). We report the development of a non-destructive seed testing approach, which enabled a census of non-tenera contamination via testing of 1,140,603 seed (33.7%) and leaf (66.3%) samples across Malaysia. The prevalence of the high-yielding hybrid tenera form (87.2%) and four undesirable low-yielding contaminant forms (12.8%) were quantified. Removing undesirable palms with SHELL DNA testing prior to field planting would increase fresh fruit bunches and crude palm kernel oil production by 5.6%, while crude palm oil would increase by 7.5% nationally. We present a new paradigm of ‘screen-then-plant’ cultivation using molecular precision agriculture to increase food production on existing plantations, improve sustainability and increase income of commercial sectors and subsistence farmers.