GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF OIL PALM CLONE P164 EXPOSED TO LONG-TERM CARBON DIOXIDE ENRICHMENT IN OPEN TOP CHAMBER

The carbon dioxide (CO2) enrichment study on oil palm clone P764 using open top chamber (OTC) technique was conducted to evaluate the effects on oil palm growth, physiology, bunch production and oil quality. The palms were grown in OTC with two CO2 concentrations; 600 ppm (CO2-enriched) and ambient 400 ppm (control), and also planted in the field under normal conditions (absolute control). After six years of observation, CO2-enriched palms showed a higher biomass percentage of 22.6% and 23.7% than the control and absolute control palms, respectively. The increase in biomass was contributed by rachis length and trunk height with a reading of 689.63 +/- 7.70 cm and 207.25 +/- 70.78 cm, respectively. This positive growth can be attributed to higher photosynthetic rate (A) of 23.51 +/- 0.57 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) and affecting the water use efficiency (WLIE) of 5.33 +/- 0.10 mu mol mol(-1) CO2. Enhanced A due to high CO2 level markedly increased clonal palm growth and biomass. Valuable information of this study may be beneficial for the oil palm industry to develop suitable mitigation strategies in the future.