The main objectives of this thesis are: i) to assess the genetical variation in Nigerian oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) populations with respect to the fatty acid composition of their oil; and ii) to assess the value of the Nigerian material to the breeder in oil palm improvement programmes. Two hundred families, the progeny of 200 (5 from each of 40 populations) individual palms from which seeds were collected in Nigeria were planted in a completely randomised design in two independent blocks of six seedlings per family. A set of fifty families were planted in another experiment at three locations in order to detect the presence of genotypeenvironmental interaction. Data on fatty acid composition from the above experiments is presented and compared with data for current breeding material, the related species (E.oleifera) and the interspecific hybrid (E.oleifera x E • guineens is) • There is substantial phenotypic variation for fatty acid traits in the Nigerian material. Part of the variation observed is genetically determined but heritability estimates are generally low and the populations studied do not differ greatly for these traits. Genotype-environment interaction was not detected with respect to fatty acid composition in the material studied. The Nigerian material offer much greater scope for breeding high yielding oil palms with modified fatty acid composition than the current breeding material. However, the interspecific hybrids (E.oleifera x E.guineensis) offer even better prospects for improvement of fatty acid composition.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:560464 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Arasu, Thirunavuk |
| Publisher | University of Birmingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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