The oil palm disease known as Bud Rot (PC) has had
enormous
economic impact on palm cultivation at a national level, and
significantly
affecting the four producing areas of
Colombia. In the northern zone,
an increase in the number of cases occurred in 2010, affecting the
plantations
in the vicinity of the municipalities of Aracataca and Fundacion, where
the Tequendama plantation of DAABON Group is located. From this moment
on, the
Group’s management and technical team began to search for an agronomic
management alternative that would bring about a solution to the great
phytosanitary problem that affects the crop and allows its
sustainability over
time.
Initially, work was done on the affected palms
seeking to
cure and solve the problem of the
disease, but after seeing how the number of cases and incidents
increased
considerably, a search or
solution was started in genetically resistant materials.
This led us to visit all the areas affected by the disease, both in
Colombia and
in countries such as Ecuador and Costa Rica, reaching the conclusion
that the
genetic factor of the palm was of vital importance to reducing or
limiting the
presence of the disease in crops. This, added to the experience that the
group
already had with the management of Interspecific Hybrids in another
company,
including Oleoyuma, was vital to finding an effective solution.
The Interspecific Hybrid has shown to be tolerant of
the
disease and has become the immediate solution to its management. In
addition to
this, its response in productive improvement both in the production of
clusters
and in oil content have improved extraction and made it a good
alternative.
Production has risen from 4.5 tons of oil per hectare per year to more
than 7
tons of oil per hectare. Another benefit from the hybrid is the increase
in the
need for labour due to additional pollination work, making it a
job-generating
crop. Currently, a total of 600 hectares have been renovated with hybrid
in
Tequendama (between 2019 and 2020). Tequendama is our pioneer company in
the
northern zone where the sowing of hybrids is currently underway, with
the goal
of achieving 1,500 planted hectares.