Non-destructive methods for estimation of Crop Growth Rate and Harvest Index of the oil plam (Elaeis guineensis JACQ.) are described . These methods were applied in a selection experiment, and the importance of considering Harvest Index, Leaf Area Index and planting density in selecting for increased yields is discussed .

A method is described for estimating leaf area of the oil palm. Significant correlations were found between leaf area and yield in a number of progenies of palms growing in West Malaysia.The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) produces about 25-35 fronds annually from a single terminal apex. These fronds remain green for more than a year and the palm crown consists of about 35-40 green fronds, subtended by a number of ageing ones. The 'trunk' of the palm, formed from the frond bases and the central stem tissue, grows 30-40 cm. in height a year under plantation conditions in Malaya. The palm is monoecious, producing separate male and female inflorescences in the leaf axils, in cycles of varying duration. The female inflorescences develop into compact bunches of red or orange fruits, which are harvested for the oils contained in the mesocarp and kernels. A variable number of bunches is produced annually, but mature palms in Malaya, at the usual planting density of 138 palms per ha., usually yield between 15-30 metric tons per annum. Yields are closely related to soil and climatic factors.The phyllotaxis of the oil palm is remarkably constant, usually with eight observable spirals or parastichies (Henry, 1955). Consequently the position of the leaves on the phyllotaxis is a close indication of relative age. From observations on oil palms in South East Asia and West Africa it is known that the rate of leaf production is affected by the environment and by the age of the palm. In Malaya leaf production in young palms increases to about 35 per year (at 3-4 years from field planting), gradually dropping to about 26 fronds per annum approximately 3-4 years later, after which it remains relatively constant (Fig. 2). Within each age group and environment, frond production is surprisingly constant.In studies on productivity of the oil palm, Rees (1962) and Rees and Tinker (1963) estimated that dry matter production by the aerial parts of plantation oil palms in Nigeria was about 1-95 X io 4 kg./ha./year, and calculated that this, associated with a leaf area index (LAI) of 4-9, gave a value for mean net assimilation rate of 0-078 gm/dm. 2 /week, a value lower than for many crop species. According to Rees, the oil palm maintains a canopy LAI of about this value under Nigerian conditions. Rees compared the growth rates of various tropical species and concluded that, because conditions for leaf area index and leaf area duration are near optimal in West Africa, and because the efficiency of light interception is also near optimal (presumably referring to total light interception and not strictly

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