AAR Hybrida in Mongkos

The oil palm is a very precocious crop, which comes into maturity at 25 months or earlier from field planting, with peak yield realized at four or more years thereafter.

As early bearing and high yields in the field are mainly dependent on production of uniformly good and healthy seedlings from a nursery, it follows that good nursery management would be required to achieve the latter.

The production of superior oil palm planting materials is fully dependent on attention to details at all stages in the nursery management and this entails following closely, proven standards and procedures.

Oil palm has an economic productive life span of 20 years or more and any shortcomings in the planting material will have long term consequences on yield. As such, the grower must select and plant only the best in his field in order to maximize his yields.

Mr Tan highlighted that the dwarf-like AA Hybrida 1S has more, albeit smaller, fruit bunches. It also has higher oil yields. 

AAR sells these designer seeds at RM2.70 each, a premium to the price of the average Dolly Parton variant. 

At prime fruit-bearing age, AAR's semi-clonal seedlings, grown under good management and environment, are capable of producing more than 30 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches with over 23 per cent oil extraction rate. That works out to be about seven tonnes of oil per hectare in a year, almost two times higher than the country's average yield.