Nine SSR markers were used to study the genetic relationships among 26 elite oil palm materials from Nigeria and Malaysia. The Nigerian elite materials comprised 15 Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) oil palm parental genotypes. The 11 Malaysian genotypes included 2 dura and 2 pisifera advanced breeding lines, 3 palms from natural populations of Nigeria, and 2 from each of the Angola, and Madagascar natural oil palm collections maintained at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). The results revealed a high percentage of polymorphic loci (83.3%) in the entire materials with average polymorphic information content (PIC) of 0.7325. Two SSR markers showed relatively high PIC namely sMg00016 and sMg00179 (0.8018 and 0.8509, respectively). The mean number of alleles varied from 1.333 in Madagascar germplasm material to 4.889 in NIFOR tenera materials (mean = 2.958). The observed heterozygosity varied from 0.167 in Madagascar material to 0.778 in Nigeria germplasm materials (mean = 0.575) and the expected heterozygosity from 0.153 to 0.643. The various oil palm provenances showed significant genetic differentiation (F ST = 0.177, P = 0.001) indicating the existence of a genetic structure among the materials used. UPGMA analysis based on Rogers' dissimilarity coefficient matrix displayed two main clusters, one separating Madagascar accessions from the rest. PCoA showed that the NIFOR breeding parents clustered closely with MPOB's Nigeria and Angola-derived materials suggesting a common origin of mainland genotypes. The high genetic diversity observed among the MPOB's germplasm materials highlights the need for proper characterization of entire NIFOR oil palm germplasm with SSR markers to facilitate effective utilization in the breeding programme.

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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.

In an experiment involving 24 single‐cross progenies of oil palm conducted at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research, 9‐year data of fresh‐fruit yield and its two components, annual bunch number and single‐bunch weight, were recorded. Means of progenies of each of the three traits obtained from 1–9‐year records were used in analyses of variance according to a repeated‐measures design. The results were then used to estimate variance components due to progenies and progeny × year interactions. These estimates were then used to estimate heritability for yield and yield components based on progeny means, which were assumed to be calculated from 1–9 years of harvests. The results revealed that heritability estimates of fresh‐fruit yield and its two yield components were not reliable based on the first‐year harvest data. The single‐bunch weight had a slower rate of improvement than the other two traits when more years were used for the estimation. Heritability can be expected to be over 80% for fresh‐fruit yield and bunch number based on 1‐, 3‐, and 4‐year means, respectively. Six‐year data are required for single‐bunch weight to reach the same heritability measure.

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