文档介绍：Agriculture Department
Food and anization
of the United Nations
Oil palm in western Kenya
FAO is promoting in Africa a cold-tolerant, high
yielding oil palm that could help boost the
region's edible oil production. Until recently, the
only oil palm variety that grew in cold African
climates was the dura type, which produces fruit
with a low volume of pulp and therefore low
yields of edible oil. FAO agronomists first noted
the potential of the dura type while working in
the highlands of Tanzania and Cameroon in the
1970s. They transferred the material to Costa
Rica where it was crossed with the high yielding,
precocious tenera variety. FAO then returned the
resulting hybrids to Africa through a series of
demonstration projects in Cameroon, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.
Trials in Ethiopia have shown that the oil palm
es productive at 38 months, and grows
well at altitudes of 950 metres and at low linseed, many of which are traditional crops in
temperatures that usually limit fruit production. the area. The climate for oil palm in some of the
In Zambia, the hybrid yields nine litres of oil western districts parable to - or even
three years after field planting, and is expected better than - that of the world's biggest oil palm
to produce 20-30 litres at year six (the local dura grower, Malaysia: rainfall is more evenly
palms