By: Yeo Yu Teng and Shea Chan Loong
What is Selective Breeding? | Applications of Selective Breeding in the Palm Oil Industry | How is Selective Breeding Done at Musim Mas’ Genetic Research Center? | Higher palm oil yields than the industry average
Chances are, you’ve savored the refreshing taste of a juicy watermelon, its vibrant red flesh bursting with sweet juices. But did you know that watermelons weren’t always this delicious? Over 5,000 years ago, they were pale green, firm, and bitter.
The Transformation of Watermelon: From Bitter to Sweet
So, how did they transform into the tasty treats we enjoy today? The answer lies in a process called selective breeding, where humans play the role of matchmakers for plants and animals. In this article, we’ll explore the world of selective breeding and discover how it contrasts with natural selection and genetic modification. We’ll also take a sneak peek at how Musim Mas utilizes natural selection to enhance palm oil yields.
What is Selective Breeding?
You’d handpick the plants with the plumpest fruits to be the parents of the next generation. By repeating this process over many generations, you gradually enhance the likelihood of obtaining even tastier fruits. This is the essence of selective breeding or artificial selection – choosing parents with desired traits to produce offspring with those same, or even better qualities.
Selective Breeding in Action: A Generational Process
Examples of Selective Breeding
Selective breeding has created a kaleidoscope of dog breeds we know today, each tailored to different roles and preferences. For instance, Chihuahuas are prized for their tiny size, while Border Collies are bred for their herding skills.
Livestock farming also owes much to selective breeding, refining traits like meat quality, milk production, wool quality and illness resilience. For example, Angus cattle breeds boast high levels of beef marbling, while Merino sheep are valued for their fine wool.
Even the food on our tables is the result of selective breeding. Crops like corn and rice are cultivated to exhibit traits such as higher yields, disease resistance, and adaptability to diverse growing conditions.
Selective Breeding vs. Natural Selection: What’s the Difference?
In selective breeding, humans take the reins, handpicking traits for breeding. On the other hand, natural selection lets Mother Nature call the shots, with only the fittest organisms surviving long enough to pass on their traits to the next generation.
Take pugs, for instance. Humans intentionally bred them to have those cute, squished faces. While some find their short noses adorable, these features can lead to breathing difficulties and health issues. That’s why pugs aren’t a result of natural selection; they’re more like a crafted art piece.
Selective breeding also operates on a faster timescale than natural selection, which may span millions of years to refine a trait. With selective breeding, we’re like a botanical matchmaker carefully selecting which plants to cross-pollinate for the perfect flower or the perfect fruit. Only the most promising specimens get to have children, passing on their desired traits to them. Meanwhile, in nature, the process is less controlled. Creatures with less favorable traits to humans can still survive and reproduce as environmental conditions can keep changing, sometimes favoring certain species and reshaping the playing field.
Selective Breeding vs. Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)
While selective breeding offers a quicker route to desired traits than natural selection, it can still require several years for breeders to reliably achieve their goals. Genetic modification expedites this process by introducing traits from other species, akin to mixing two separate LEGO sets to create something entirely new. Picture genes as the building blocks, where scientists splice genes from one organism into another. For instance, researchers in China and Argentina have genetically engineered cows to produce milk with a composition similar to human milk.
Despite the potential benefits, GMOs spark controversy due to concerns about unintended consequences. By directly altering the genes, there’s a risk of unforeseen impacts on the environment and human health. Additionally, critics worry about GMOs monopolizing agriculture and displacing natural crops, raising ethical debates about meddling with the essence of life.
Applications of Selective Breeding in the Palm Oil Industry
The world is getting crowded, with over 9 billion people expected by 2050. With more people needing things like food and personal care products, food security is a growing concern; the demand for oils and fats is shooting up. Think about it – every time you use shampoo or soap, you’re probably using something with palm oil in it. To keep up with this demand, the obvious solution would be to expand plantations and plant more oil palms.
However, this approach raises concerns about sustainability as it may entail clearing more forests or encroaching on someone else’s land. Instead, a smarter option is to enhance the efficiency of oil palms through selective breeding. That’s where oil palm breeding programs come in. Breeders carefully select traits from different palms to create offspring with superior qualities, like higher oil content and the ability to bear more fruit.
Now, let’s talk about palm fruit varieties. You’ve got Dura, with its thick seed shell (kernel) and only a thin layer of oil-bearing flesh (mesocarp). Then there’s Pisifera, which lacks a seed shell but has a thick mesocarp. However, Pisifera’s female flowers exhibit reduced fertility, leading to lower fruit bunch production if Pisifera seeds are grown. This translates to generally low oil yields for both Dura and Pisifera varieties. But when you crossbreed Dura mother palms with Pisifera father palms, all of their offspring will be Tenera hybrids (also known as DxP hybrids) that will bear Tenera fruits. Tenera fruits are known for their thin shells and thick mesocarp, making them highly desirable for oil production.
The Perfect Match: Crossing Dura and Pisifera
Tenera palms produce, on average 30% more oil per unit of land than Dura palms. With varieties like Tenera, palm oil growers wouldn’t need to expand their land to produce more oil, paving the way for more sustainable production. Today, most, if not all commercial plantations cultivate Tenera palms. They usually get them through their breeding programs or by buying certified high-yielding Tenera seeds from licensed sellers.
Why Can’t Farmers Breed Their Own Palms After Buying Certified Seedlings?
When farmers plant certified Tenera seedlings in their fields, all of the palms would be the Tenera variety. When male Tenera flowers pollinate the female flowers on these palms, you’ll get Tenera fruits with their signature thin shells and thick oil-bearing flesh.
Now, here’s where it gets tricky. Not all Tenera fruits are genetically true Tenera. While they may share the outward traits of Tenera fruits, their genetic makeup could reveal them to be Tenera, Dura, or Pisifera. You can’t tell which is which just by looking at the seeds, unless you’ve got a pair of powerful eyes able to see the genetic make-up of the seed.
To figure it out, you’ve got to go through the whole growing process, wait three years until they start bearing fruit, and then split the fruit open to see what’s inside. Imagine investing all that time and effort into nurturing a plant, only to discover it’s not the high-yield variety you hoped for. That’s why commercial farmers only plant seeds confirmed to be Tenera instead of leaving them up to chance.
Crossing Tenera Palms: Why the Results Aren’t Always Tenera
Think of it like two mixed-breed dogs, half Golden Retriever and half Labrador. When they have puppies, some might look like pure Golden Retrievers (Dura), others like pure Labradors (Pisifera), and some a perfect mix of both (Tenera). The traits depend on how the genes combine leading to unpredictable results, and only a controlled breeding process can ensure the intended outcome.
How is Selective Breeding Done at Musim Mas’ Genetic Research Center?
Musim Mas runs a leading Genetic Research Center (GRC) in Riau, Indonesia that continuously advances non-GMO research into improving palm oil yields. Let’s take an inside look to understand how selective breeding is done at the center.
Think of our selective breeding process as a meticulous program to breed champion racehorses. Each step mirrors the precision and care required to ensure the next generation is faster, stronger, and more competitive. Here’s the journey:
- Identifying Parent Palms with the Desired Traits
Just like how racehorse breeders carefully select stallions (male racehorses) and mares (female racehorses) for desirable qualities like speed, stamina, and agility, we begin by selecting Pisifera father palms and Dura mother palms for their high-yield traits. For Dura mother palms, we select traits such as high oil content, thick mesocarp, abundant fruit bunches, and the ability to produce mature fruit bunches at a young age.
From a “stable” of carefully selected Pisifera father palms—our equivalent of stallions—we collect, label, and store pollen to ensure clear identification and traceability. Meanwhile, the Dura mother palms, like the mares, are isolated, with their female inflorescences covered using pollen-proof pollination bags. This critical step prevents any unintended pollination and ensures that only the desired Pisifera father and Dura mother palms are paired.
- Cross-Breeding and Producing the Next Generation
The selected Pisifera pollen is precisely applied to the Dura female flowers, ensuring intentional “breeding” (cross-pollination) between the chosen parents. After approximately 5.5 months, the resulting “foals” (fruit bunches) are ready to be “born” (harvested). These fruit bunches are then processed to extract the “offspring” (seeds), which are then nurtured in a controlled “training stable” (germination room).
Once the young “colts” (seedlings) have grown strong enough, they are transferred to a nursery for further growth and care. After spending 12 months in the nursery, the seedlings are moved to the “paddocks” (progeny testing fields), where they continue to grow and mature under close observation.
- Data Collection: Evaluating Progeny Performance
At three years old, the “young racehorses” (palms) enter their “training phase” (evaluation period) and are assessed for their performance. Key metrics—such as the weight of each fruit bunch, the number of bunches per palm, oil content, and overall growth —are meticulously recorded.
This data enables us to identify which combination of “stallion” (Pisifera father palm) and “mare” (Dura mother palm) produced the most exceptional “progeny” (offspring palms), guiding future breeding decisions.
- Selecting the Best Parent Palms
Once the best-performing “racehorses” (palms) are identified, their lineage is traced back to the champion stallions (Pisifera father palms) and mares (Dura mother palms) that produced them. These parent palms are then selected to recreate the successful crosses, ensuring a consistent supply of high-performing “offspring” (seeds).
But we don’t stop there. To ensure these “champions” (high-performing palms) perform under diverse “racing conditions” (climatic and soil environments), we rigorously test 680 crosses! Our extensive multi-location trials span 450 hectares across three distinct sites—four times larger than typical research stations. This thorough testing ensures the resilience and productivity of our future “champions”.
- Proven Performance: Semi-Commercial Trials
Before releasing these “champion racehorses” (seeds) into the market, they must prove themselves on the “track” (plantations) under real-world conditions. The most promising seeds undergo rigorous semi-commercial trials across various locations, where their performance is tested on different “tracks” (soil types) and under varying “weather conditions” (climatic environments).
Only the best-performing “champions” (seeds) are deemed ready for commercial production. Since 2021, we’ve been conducting these trials using our superior DxP seeds, ensuring they perform well in real-world plantation conditions.
Higher palm oil yields than the industry average
At Musim Mas, our rigorous research and precision breeding techniques translate into seeds that deliver exceptional performance. Our seeds achieve an oil extraction rate exceeding 28.5%, significantly higher than the industry average of around 20%. This translates to potential crude palm oil (CPO) yields of more than 10 metric tons per hectare annually—nearly three times the industry average of 3.25 metric tons per hectare. This means plantations can increase land productivity by over 15%, maximizing output without requiring additional land.
Not only do our seeds enhance yields, but they also enable planters to recover their investments faster. FFB can be harvested as early as 25 months after field planting, compared to the industry average of 30 months.
With our high-yielding seeds, plantations can achieve outstanding productivity without expanding cultivated land. This supports sustainable practices by boosting output while preserving existing ecosystems — eliminating the need for additional planting.
At Musim Mas, we maintain seed purity at 99.99%. This is achieved through meticulous pollination, where pollination bags isolate the selected Dura and Pisifera palms to prevent unintended random pollination. This precision ensures the consistent quality and performance of our GS Series seeds.
Our success is driven by the expertise and dedication of our research team. With years of experience and a deep passion for innovation, our experts tailor solutions to meet the specific growing conditions of plantations. To learn more about the dedication and innovation of our GRC team, watch the first episode of our new video series, People of Musim Mas – Episode 1: Planting the Future. In this episode, follow the team through their seed development journey as they pave the way for the future of sustainable agriculture.
By choosing Musim Mas seeds, planters can unlock unprecedented yield potential, achieve faster returns, and contribute to sustainable palm oil production.
