Oil Palm In Colombia Research Articles

Evolution from biofuels to integrated biorefineries: techno-economic and environmental assessment of oil palm in Colombia

Abstract In this paper a techno-economic and environmental analysis for a biorefinery based on Oil palm is presented in non-bioenergy regions of Colombia as a case study. Different scenarios, based on process sequences, were modelled and assessed. This includes a standalone biodiesel plant, a biodiesel plant with mass integration, a multiproduct portfolio to produce biodiesel, ethanol, and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate, and the multiproduct portfolio plus mass integration. The configuration with the best economic and environmental performance was the multiproduct portfolio plus mass integration. For this case, the obtained economic margin was 64.5% (1.33 fold higher than standalone ethanol production), the potential environmental impact (PEI) was 156.42 PEI/t products and 0.51 t CO2eq/m3 of biodiesel. On the other hand, the feedstock transportation was included to measure the influence on economics and carbon footprint indicator. For a travelled distance of 300 km the economic margin is decreased to 1.31%, and the carbon footprint increased up to 0.59 t CO2eq/m3 of biodiesel for scenario 4.

Physiological response of oil palm interspecific hybrids (Elaeis oleifera H.B.K. Cortes versus Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) to water deficit

Water supply is the main yield-limiting abiotic factor of oil palm in Colombia. To determine the effect of water deficit on the physiology of oil palm and to assess the tolerance degree to this condition, interspecific Elaeis oleifera versus Elaeis guineensis 'U1273', 'U1859', 'U1914', and 'U1937' hybrids were planted for 60 days in soil with different water potentials (-0.042, -0.5, -1.0, and -2.0 MPa) in a complete randomized factorial design with three replications. The water potential, osmotic adjustment molecules (total and reducing sugar content), gas exchange (photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, water use efficiency, and leaf respiration), and vegetative growth (height, bulb diameter, leaf area, number of leaves, total dry matter, and assimilate partitioning between roots and aerial parts) were measured. Soil water potential had a significant effect on the ecophysiological response of the hybrids. At -2 MPa, there was practically no carbon dioxide assimilation. Under optimal moisture conditions, the 'U1859' hybrid recorded the highest photosynthetic rate and the lowest respiratory rate, while under moderate and severe water deficits, the 'U1937' hybrid showed the highest photosynthetic rate, the lowest respiratory rate, moved its assimilates mainly towards the roots, and was the only one to adjust its water potential (active accumulation of sugars). Two environment/genotype tolerance relationships were established based on high photosynthetic rate, low leaf respiration rate, water potential adjustment, water use efficiency under adequate moisture conditions ('U1859'>'U1937'='U1914'>'U1273'), and under water deficit ('U1937'>'U1914'>'U1859'>'U1273').

First Report of Bud Rot Caused by Phytophthora palmivora on African Oil Palm in Colombia.

A bud rot disease, referred to as "pudricion del cogollo" or PC (for its name in Spanish), is a major disease of oil palm in four production areas of Colombia. Even though the disease has been studied for more than 40 years in Central and South America, the causal agent remained unknown (1). Infection first develops in the palm heart (cogollo) above the meristematic zone. Initial external symptoms appear as necrotic lesions on the sides of the spear leaf (youngest, unexpanded leaf) and the sizes of the lesions remain static as tissues emerge, expand, and mature. Under favorable environmental conditions (temperature around 26°C and relative humidity above 80%), further rotting of the heart eventually destroys the bud. A baiting technique with papaya and cocoa fruits was successfully used to trap the causal agent from symptomatic spear leaf tissue collected from the provinces of Nariño and Santander (2), where the disease is severe. Small, triangular-shaped pieces were removed from healthy fruits that had been surface sterilized, and a corresponding piece of diseased oil palm tissue was inserted into the hole and sealed with the removed fruit tissue. The whole fruit was wrapped with plastic and incubated at 25°C. Once the fruit traps showed initial necrotic symptoms, fruit tissue from the advancing point of the lesions was plated on Phytophthora-selective media. Four isolates of Phytophtora palmivora, all A2 mating type, were obtained during this study and each presented similar white and depressed mycelium when grown on oatmeal agar (OMA) medium. Papillated, ellipsoidal sporangia with short pedicels had an average size of 37.1 (breadth) × 52.8 μm (length). Chlamydospores averaged 35.1 μm in diameter and were similar to those observed in diseased palm tissue. DNA from the Phytophthora isolates was used as a template for PCR using ITS1/ITS4 primers. BLASTn analysis of the ITS sequences (GenBank Accession No. GQ398157) showed 99.9% homology with P. palmivora. The sequences of the four isolates were identical. For pathogenicity testing, cultures were grown on OMA. Two milliliters of distilled water containing 40,000 sporangia were injected into the base of the spear leaf of 105 nursery palms; the same number of palms was injected with 2 ml of distillated water as controls. Initial PC symptoms were observed 3 to 4 days after inoculation on 85% of inoculated palms and 15% of these palms developed typical bud rot symptoms under favorable conditions. No symptoms were observed on the controls. The presence of Phytophthora was confirmed by light microscopy and P. palmivora was reisolated from symptomatic palms with the fruit-baiting technique. The presence of Phytophthora in the four Colombian growing areas was also confirmed using Agdia (Elkhart, IN) immunostrips followed by DNA extraction from the Immunostrip wick and ITS sequencing to confirm the species. To our knowledge, this is the first report of P. palmivora causing PC on oil palm in Colombia.

Comportamiento agronómico del cultivar híbrido RC1 de Palma de aceite (Elaeis oleifera x Elaeis guineensis) x Elaeis guineensis

Se realizó transferencia de genes desde la especie Nolí (Elaeis oleifera) a la especie Palma de aceite (Elaeis guineensis) mediante retrocruzamientos con el propósito de obtener un cultivar que tuviera alta producción de frutos y aceite por unidad de área, baja tasa de crecimiento, tolerancia a enfermedades, y aceite con alto contenido de ácidos grasos insaturados y carotenos. La primera generación de retrocruzamiento RC1 se obtuvo mediante polinización controlada entre palmas del híbrido interespecífico F1 (Elaeis oleifera x Elaeis guineensis) usadas como progenitor femenino, con palmas de la especie Elaeis guineensis como progenitor masculino. En 1995 se establecieron en campo las descendencias de cinco cruces RC1, planteando como hipótesis de segregación que el 50% de los descendientes corresponderían al genotipo de palma de aceite y el 50% restante al genotipo del híbrido RC1 con carga genética africana (75% E. guineensis y 25% E. oleifera). Los datos de campo se analizaron con base en un diseño completamente al azar con arreglo jerárquico y desigual número de repeticiones por tratamiento; para probar la hipótesis se aplicó la prueba de Chi-cuadrado (χ2). En el cuarto año de producción los híbridos RC1 promisorios alcanzaron 35,0 t·ha-1 de fruto, con 19,6% de aceite y una producción anual estimada de aceite de 6,3 t·ha-1. Estos híbridos crecieron en promedio 25,8 cm por año, característica que aumenta a más de 40 años la expectativa de vida útil de la plantación. Hasta la fecha presentan tolerancia a cuatro enfermedades de carácter letal que afectan la Palma de aceite en Colombia, puesto que durante siete años de evaluación no se han presentado síntomas. El aceite de estos híbridos contiene mayor concentración de ácidos grasos insaturados y carotenos que el de la Palma de aceite.

Oil palm: a sustainable agro-industry in Colombia

Colombia's rural sector has the potential to mitigate poverty and contribute to the econo- mic development process. For this, its contri- bution must consider environmental, social and economic variables. Environmentally, the conception of agriculture as a depredatory acti- vity is now behind given way to an agriculture that takes into account the needs of future generations. Socially, we view rural popula- tions in terms of political stability, and the need to redistribute resources as a starting point for a process of balanced development. Economi- cally, the agricultural sector increasingly contri- butes to the integration of agricultural activity with the other sectors of the economy, going beyond the net production of raw materials. Incorporating these elements, the cultivation of oil palm in Colombia has evolved to become one of the main government strategies for generating rural employment and income. From the perspective of its progress and achie- vements, this document describes the sustaina- bility of the Colombian oil palm culture in these three important areas: economic, social and environmental. Context The cultivation of oil palm has developed most intensely in Malaysia and Indonesia, who share about 80% of the entire oil palm production area in the world. At the secondary level, by order of importance, are Nigeria, Thailand, Colombia and Ivory Coast. Together, these countries account for about 12% of the world's palm producing area. By 2003, South America harvested about four hundred thousand hectares of oil palm, 40% of them in Colombia producing slightly more than 50% of the region's fruit, due to its higher volume of production per area unit (table 1). Colombia: regional distribution of cultivated area It is estimated that in 2004 Colombia reached a total of 243,000 hectares planted to oil palm. However 80,000 of which are still in the development stage and unproductive (1). Compared to other oil palm producing coun- tries, Colombia has four contrasting oil palm producing zones: 1) the Western Zone: at the south of western Colombia, on the Pacific coast; 2) the Northern Zone: in the northeastern part of the country, near the Atlantic coast; 3) the Central Zone: an inter-Andean valley of the Magdalena River system; and 4) the Eastern Zone: at the foothills of the Eastern chain of the Andes range (figure 1). In 2004, the Eastern Zone concentrated the largest area planted in oil palm, at 31.4%, followed by the Northern Zone at 31%, the Central Zone with 25.2% and finally the Wes- tern Zone with 12.5%. Yet, the potential area for production of oil palms in Colombia, without mayor agronomic restrictions, is more than 3.2 million hectares. These areas are loca- ted mainly in the Eastern Zone (59%), in the Central Zone (21%) and the Northern Zone (18%) (2). In other words, the country has the potential to significantly increase the oil palm growing area. Sector production and GDP

Partial Characterization of a Potyvirus Infecting African Oil Palm in South America

AbstractA virus with filamentous particles approximately 750 nm long was isolated from African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) with `chlorotic ring' leaf symptoms in south‐western Colombia. The virus was mechanically transmitted from oil palm to brachiaria, maize, sorghum, and sugarcane (Gramineae) but not to any of 20 species in other plant families tested. In African oil palm, the virus is associated with cytoplasmic inclusions (pinwheels, laminated aggregates and scrolls) characteristic of subdivision III of the Potyviridae. Partial sequences obtained for fragments of the large nuclear inclusion (NIb) and capsid (CP) proteins, and for the entire 3′ untranslated region (UTR), showed amino acid sequence identities of 91.8% (NIb) and 95% (CP), and a nucleotide sequence identity of 90.8% (UTR) with strains of Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV). We thus conclude that the virus associated with the `chlorotic ring' of African oil palm in Colombia is a species of the Potyvirus genus and, more specifically, a strain of SCMV.