Notes on the Botany, Breeding and Establishment of Oil Palms and Production of Palm

Abstract

Although the species of oil palm, Elaeis guineensis (Jacq.) is now grown for commercial production both in West and Central Africa, Indonesia and Malaya, the palm is indigenous to the humid forest region of Africa in an area roughly 15 degrees North to 10 degrees South of the equator. In this zone it occurs naturally in fresh-water swamp forest, often associated with Raphia with the greatest abundance in the West African coastal belt 100 to 150 miles in depth extending from Sierra Leone to the Cameroons. The palm cannot maintain itself independently under the heavy shade of closed forest canopy and the " wild ” or native palmeries in West Africa are due to the influence of man by whom palms have been protected in various ways.