The species is also now naturalised in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia, Central America, Cambodia, the West Indies, and several islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Each fruit is made up of an oily, fleshy outer layer (the pericarp), with a single seed (the palm kernel), also rich in oil.

[10] All modern, commercial planting material consists of tenera palms or DxP hybrids, which are obtained by crossing thickshelled dura with shell-less pisifera.

[citation needed] A 1992 study at a trial plot in Banting, Selangor, revealed the "yield of Deli dura oil palms after four generations of selection was 60% greater than that of the unselected base population.

[14] In 2013, the gene responsible for controlling shell thickness was discovered, making it possible to verify tenera (DxP) status while palms are still in the nursery.

[17] Contrary to earlier speculation, the introduced population was not too inbred, and inbreeding depression was not the cause of some incidences of lessened fruit set in SEA.

Although Ganoderma had been associated with BSR, proof of its pathogenicity to satisfy Koch's postulate was only achieved in the early 1990s by inoculating oil palm seedling roots or by using rubber wood blocks.

Ganoderma produces enzymes that degrade the infected xylem, thus causing serious problems to the distribution of water and other nutrients to the top of the palm.

[25] In a 2007 study in Portugal, scientists suggested control of the fungus on oil palms would benefit from further consideration of the process as one of white rot.

Ganoderma is an extraordinary organism capable exclusively of degrading lignin to carbon dioxide and water; celluloses are then available as nutrients for the fungus.

The use of endophytic bacteria should thus be preferred to other biological control agents, as they are internal colonizers, with better ability to compete within the vascular systems, limiting Ganoderma for both nutrients and space during its proliferation.

Two bacterial isolates, Burkholderia cepacia (B3) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P3) were selected for evaluation in the glasshouse for their efficacy in enhancing growth and subsequent suppression of the spread of BSR in oil palm seedlings.

[35] Relative humidity estimates based on satellite remote sensing data were fed into both regression models and neural networks.

[CT 4] Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are known to use stones to crack open the nuts of E. guineensis, a rare example of tool use by animals.

[42] Oil palms were introduced to Java by the Dutch in 1848,[43] and to Malaysia (then the British colony of Malaya) in 1910 by Scotsman William Sime and English banker Henry Darby.

Thus, oil palm fronds often mark areas of sacred religious important or incorporated in traditional orisha garment; its kernels are also prepared to use as a tool of receiving Ọrunmila's words to the babalawo.

[47] Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) is the world's biggest oil palm planter, with planted area close to 900,000 hectares in Malaysia and Indonesia.

[48] After Malaysia achieved independence in 1957, the government focused on value-added of rubber planting, boosting exports, and alleviating poverty through land schemes.

[52] The primary objective of these organizations is to assist in the development of rural communities and reduce poverty through the cultivation of high yielding crops such as palm oil.

[66] In some cases, oil palm plantations are dependent on imported labour or illegal immigrants, with some concerns about the employment conditions and social impacts of these practices.

[68] Large areas of already threatened tropical rainforest are often cleared to make way for palm oil plantations, especially in Southeast Asia, where enforcement of forest protection laws is lacking.

It plays an important role in methane production from acetate, and the optimum condition for its growth should be considered to harvest biogas as renewable fuel.

[78] Its impacts include deforestation, habitat loss of critically endangered species,[79][80][81] and a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, claim the deforestation caused by making way for oil palm plantations is far more damaging for the climate than the benefits gained by switching to biofuel.

[84][85] Despite thousands of square kilometres of land standing unplanted in Indonesia, tropical hardwood forests are being cleared for palm oil plantations.

Some other oil palm plantations yield large amount of biomass that can be recycled into medium density fibreboards and light furniture.

[95] In efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists treat palm oil mill effluent to extract biogas.

Anaerobic treatment of palm oil mill effluent, practiced in Malaysia and Indonesia, results in domination of Methanosaeta concilii.

It plays an important role in methane production from acetate and the optimum condition for its growth should be considered to harvest biogas as renewable fuel.

The deforestation occurring throughout Malaysia and Indonesia as a result of the growing demand for this plant has made scarce natural habitats for orangutans and other rainforest dwellers.