Characterization of date palm cultivars is a complex task using morphological traits alone since morphological markers are dependent on plant developmental stage and influenced by the environment. However, DNA fingerprinting can complement and enhance the discriminatory power of morphological traits. The study was conducted to investigate genetic diversity amongst fourteen cultivars of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) from Nigeria and Saudi Arabia using microsatellite markers. The aim was to determine the genetic and geographical patterns of Nigeria and Saudi Arabia date palms. Molecular study conducted using six microsatellite markers employed on fourteen cultivars, ten from Nigeria and four from Saudi Arabia, revealed 83.3% polymorphism which indicated high genetic diversity among the cultivars studied. The amplified products ranged in size from 127 to 304 bp. A total of 42 alleles with an average of seven alleles per locus were scored. Two of the markers, MpdCIR025 and MpdCIR050, distinctively characterized six cultivars. This study indicated that variation observed among the cultivars followed a geographical pattern. However, this study was not able to show any alleles that might be linked to gender in date cultivars. Inclusion of more molecular markers in such a study might provide more accurate differentiation and possibly gender discrimination in date palm.

The need for extensive germplasm collection to broaden the genetic base of the oil palm breeding material and to safeguard against crop vulnerability, inherent in growing of uniform and closely related cultivars over wide areas has become imperative. This paper highlights the oil palm germplasm collections from the highland areas of Afikpo in Eastern Nigeria. Fourteen oil palm accessions were collected from ten locations in Afikpo which do not form part of the continuous stretch of the oil palm belt and hitherto unexploited. Data on stem height, bunch weight, bunch length, bunch width, bunch spine length, bunch stalk weight, fruit length and width were recorded in-situ. Mesocarp, kernel, and shell to fruit ratios were computed. Elementary statistics (mean values, range and coefficient of variation) were evaluated using standard procedures. Results revealed very high variation for the fruit and bunch quality traits. It was however interesting to note the inheritance of most of the qualitative traits and their frequencies in the wild. Only nigrescens fruits were encountered in the groves while the dominant genotype for shell, the dura occurred at high frequency. The Ufensi Edda tenera had the highest mesocarp to fruit ratio (73.42%) while heavy bunch weight was recorded for the duras in the Oso Edda and Ndiba Edda groves. Height differences were generally very small in the tenera accessions than in the duras. The prospected fruits have been used to raise seedlings for future planting in the field gene banks following introgression into the breeding programme.

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SummaryPath coefficient analysis of eight yield components correlated with yield in 22 oil palm progenies showed that number of bunches per palm had the largest direct effect on oil yield followed single bunch weight and percent oil‐to‐mesocarp ratio.