The GenomeSelect seed was first used in 2016 and the first harvests made in 2019.PETALING JAYA: SD Guthrie Bhd's award-winning super high-yielding oil palm seed, GenomeSelect, has delivered a 33.8% increase in oil yield in oil palms planted in various soils.GenomeSelect, the result of genomic sequencing and annotation that began in 2009, was first used in 2016. The first harvests were made in 2019.SD Guthrie's goal at the time was to achieve a 15% increase in oil yield per hectare compared with its previous generation of planting materials, known as calix600."Latest commercial evaluations covering 2,083 hectares of productive GenomeSelect plantings established between 2016 and 2019 show that the technology continues to outperform conventional planting materials across all major soil categories."Significantly, the realised yield improvements have exceeded the original expectations set in 2016 of 15%," it said in a press release.SD Guthrie said that, compared with calix600, GenomeSelect delivered 33.8% more oil yield per hectare in coastal soils, followed by a 32.6% increase in inland soils and 29.8% boost in basaltic soils.This was driven by a combination of stronger fresh fruit bunch production and a superior oil-to-bunch ratio.A similar development was seen at SD Guthrie's Dusun Durian Estate, where the seed was used in 2016, helping the estate rank among the company's best-performing commercial GenomeSelect plantings in its portfolio.The company's research and development team has been internationally recognised for its work with GenomeSelect, becoming the first Malaysian firm to receive the Edison Award in 2017 for energy and sustainability.David Ross Appleton.David Ross Appleton, SD Guthrie's chief innovation and technology officer, said the improved oil yield showed how scientific innovation could be translated into tangible outcomes for plantations."When GenomeSelect was first introduced, our goal was to use genomic science to accelerate the development of better planting materials. Ten years on, we are seeing the results at commercial scale."What started as a breakthrough in the laboratory has proven its value in the field, delivering significantly higher oil productivity across multiple soil types and planting environments," said Appleton.Now, more than 24,000 hectares of land have been planted with GenomeSelect seeds – a figure that continues to ri…
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