Developments in Oil Palm Clones Production through Embryogenic Callus Proliferation in Liquid Suspensions

Oil palm clones production by plant culture techniques is an important tool for oil palm cultivation, since nowadays it is the only way to obtain uniform genetic individuals. Methods for propagating oil palm and producing clones with only a semisolid medium in vitro system demands extensive work, furthermore the clones production from the same ortet is asynchronous. Cenipalma plant tissue culture lab is working on developing a technique to obtain a larger number of clones from a single ortet in less time and in a synchronous way. It has been evaluated 12 ortets of different origins (Dura, Pisifera, Tenera and interspecific hybrid OxG). Conversion from embryogenic callus to somatic embryos, germination of the somatic embryos and their development to plantlets was observed. Obtaining clones by embryogenic callus proliferation in liquid suspensions is a technique that enables synchronized clones production and less labor demand.