Abstract
The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) has spread very widely amongst the sciences and it is now an accepted tool for many disciplines including agriculture. Features which allow spatial data handling, manipulation and analysis were also found suitable as additional tools for oil palm breeders in their evaluation processes. It provides more accurate breeding maps and improved data capturing within an accepted level of accuracy. The combination and analysis of these maps with attribute databases has led to more informative results with less numerical figures. This paper outlines FELDA's approach in considering the potential of applying GIS into its oil palm breeding trials. The GIS database of Trial T162 in Kota Gelanggi 6 station was constructed and integrated with its attribute to facilitate the spatial analysis of the progeny trial. The spatial analysis was then transformed as maps indicating different yield profile for each progeny in all replicates. The yearly trend of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) was represented by bar chart attached to each plot in the field. Over five years, the FFB yield of Trial T162 showed an increasing trend in most plots despite a decrease in 2005. The highest FFB categories (200 - 220kg/p/yr) are mostly dominated by plots located in Replicate 3. Of the 100 plots, 78 recorded FFB of more than 170kg/p/yr. However, of 25 progenies in the experiment, only four progenies (DQ 10, DQ 69, DQ 6 and DQ 34) produced more than 200 kg/p/yr in all the four replications. On the other hand, ten plots recorded high oil yield ranging from 8.5 to 10.5 tonnes/ha/year. Progenies DQ10 and DQ69 showed similar patterns as being recorded in the highest category for FFB production and for oil yield except for those unavailable records in Replicate 3.Incluye referencias bibliográficas.The use of Geographic Information System (GIS) has spread very widely amongst the sciences and it is now an accepted tool for many disciplines including agriculture. Features which allow spatial data handling, manipulation and analysis were also found suitable as additional tools for oil palm breeders in their evaluation processes. It provides more accurate breeding maps and improved data capturing within an accepted level of accuracy. The combination and analysis of these maps with attribute databases has led to more informative results with less numerical figures. This paper outlines FELDA's approach in considering the potential of applying GIS into its oil palm breeding trials. The GIS database of Trial T162 in Kota Gelanggi 6 station was constructed and integrated with its attribute to facilitate the spatial analysis of the progeny trial. The spatial analysis was then transformed as maps indicating different yield profile for each progeny in all replicates. The yearly trend of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) was represented by bar chart attached to each plot in the field. Over five years, the FFB yield of Trial T162 showed an increasing trend in most plots despite a decrease in 2005. The highest FFB categories (200 - 220kg/p/yr) are mostly dominated by plots located in Replicate 3. Of the 100 plots, 78 recorded FFB of more than 170kg/p/yr. However, of 25 progenies in the experiment, only four progenies (DQ 10, DQ 69, DQ 6 and DQ 34) produced more than 200 kg/p/yr in all the four replications. On the other hand, ten plots recorded high oil yield ranging from 8.5 to 10.5 tonnes/ha/year. Progenies DQ10 and DQ69 showed similar patterns as being recorded in the highest category for FFB production and for oil yield except for those unavailable records in Replicate 3.