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The performance of 11 oil palm AVROS (Algemene Vereniging van Rubberplanters ter Oostkust van Sumatra) pisiferas was evaluated based on their 40 dura x pisifera (DxP) progenies tested on inland soils, predominantly of Serdang Series. Fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield of each pisiferas ranged from 121.93 to 143.9 kg palm−1 yr−1 with trial mean of 131.62 kg palm−1 yr−1. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed low genetic variability among pisifera parents for most of the characters indicating uniformity of the pisifera population. This was anticipated as the AVROS pisiferas were derived from small population and were inbred materials. However, some of the pisiferas have shown good general combining ability (GCA) for certain important economic traits. Three pisiferas (P1 (0.174/247), P3 (0.174/498), P11 (0.182/308)) were identified of having good GCA for FFB yield while pisiferas P1 (0.174/247), P10 (0.182/348), and P11 (0.182/308) were good combiners for oil-to-bunch ratio (O/B). The narrow genetic base of these materials was the main obstacle in breeding and population improvement. However, efforts have been made to introgress this material with the vast oil palm germplasm collections of MPOB for rectifying the problem.

Understanding the nature of ruminant nutrition and digestion is essential to improve feeding management and animal production. Among many approaches, manipulating ruminant nutrition and fermentation through feed supplementation is being practised and researched. Over the last decade, the utilization of vegetable oils in feed formulation and their effects on various aspects of ruminants have been reported by many researchers. It is important to understand the lipid metabolism in ruminants by microorganisms because it affects the quality of ruminant-derived products such as meat and milk. Majority of vegetable oil supplementation could reduce rumen protozoa population in ruminants due to the effects of medium-chain fatty acids (FAs). However, vegetable oil also contains unsaturated FAs that are known to have a negative effect on cellulolytic bacteria which could show inhibitory effects of the fibre digestion. In this paper, the physiology of nutrient digestion of ruminants is described. This paper also provides a current review of studies done on improvement and modification of rumen fermentation and microbial population through vegetable oil supplementation.

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Oil palm frond (OPF) is a biomass residue from oil palm plantations that has received increasing interest for its promise as roughage resources to overcome limitations of ruminant feeding. However, the use of OPF as a feedstuff for optimal livestock productivity is limited by its high lignocellulosic content and low nutritional value. Chemical composition revealed that OPF was composed of 70% fibre and 22% soluble carbohydrates on a dry matter (DM) basis. Various physical, chemical, biological and physico-chemical treatments have been used to improve the digestibility of nutrients and the nutritional value of OPF. This review was conducted to study the treatment methods of OPF as a value-added feedstuff, and, to emphasize on the effects of treated OPF on in vitro ruminal fermentation and in vivo ruminant digestibility coefficients and growth performance. The biological treatment produced favourable outcomes in improving the nutritional value of OPF, and was more cost-effective, safe and environmentally friendly as compared to chemical and physical treatments. In vitro rumen fermentation studies on the digestibility and potential use of treated OPF as quality feedstuffs for ruminants have been widely reported. Several in vivo studies have found that small ruminants performed satisfactorily when fed diets with treated or pre-digested OPF at appropriate ratios. Nevertheless, chemically treated OPF has been found to be successfully used in both beef and dairy cattle feeding trials as it is a good source of protein and energy that can increase digestibility coefficients and have positive impacts on ruminal fermentation profiles and animal production.