Oil palm is widely cultivated in tropical countries for use in food processing, personal care products and other applications such as biodiesel. Cultivation faces a range of challenges such as its environmental impact (e.g. in deforestation and biodiversity loss) as well threats from pests and diseases. There is an urgent need to make oil palm cultivation more efficient and environmentally sustainable. This collection reviews the key research addressing this challenge.

Volume 1 begins by reviewing trends in production and key challenges facing the sector. Part 2 focusses on developments in understanding oil palm physiology, genetics and genetic diversity and their application to improved breeding techniques. The final part of the book discusses developments in cultivation practices.

With its distinguished editor and international team of expert authors, this collection will be a standard reference for researchers, oil palm growers, palm oil processors as well as government and non-governmental agencies responsible for more sustainable oil palm cultivation. Volume 1 is accompanied by Volume 2 which covers pests and diseases, quality and sustainability issues

Part 1 Setting the scene
1.The palm oil market: growth and trends: Stefano Savi, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, Malaysia;
2.Research trends in oil palm cultivation: Yuen May Choo, formerly The International Society for Fat Research (ISF), USA; and YewAi Tan, formerly Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia;
3.Sustainability pathways in oil palm cultivation: a comparison of Indonesia, Colombia and Cameroon: Ahmad Dermawan, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia; and Otto Hospes, Wageningen University, The Netherlands;
4.The palm oil governance complex: progress, problems and gaps: Pablo Pacheco, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia; Patrice Levang, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia and Research Institute for Development (IRD), France; Ahmad Dermawan, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia; and George Schoneveld, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Kenya;

Part 2 Plant physiology and breeding
5.Advances in understanding oil palm reproductive development: Estelle Jaligot, CIRAD, UMR DIADE (IRD, UM), France;
6.Diversity in the genetic resources of oil palm: N. Rajanaidu, A. Mohd Din, M. Marhalil, A. Norziha, O. A. Meilina, A. M. Fadila, A. B. Nor Azwani, L. Adelina, H. Zulkifli, S. Wan Salmiah and A. Kushairi, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia;
7.Advances in conventional breeding techniques for oil palm: Benoît Cochard and Tristan Durand-Gasselin, PalmElit SAS, France;
8.Advances in marker-assisted breeding of palm oil: Rajinder Singh, Chan Pek Lan, Maizura Ithnin and Umi Salamah Ramli, Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysia;
9.Advances in the genetic modification of oil palm: Denis J. Murphy, Head of Genomics and Computational Biology Research Group, University of South Wales, United Kingdom;

Part 3 Cultivation techniques
10.Modelling crop growth and yield in palm oil cultivation: Christopher Teh Boon Sung, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia; and Cheah See Siang, Sime Darby Research Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia;
11.Improving soil health and crop nutrition in oil palm cultivation: Jean-Pierre Caliman, Suhardi and Pujianto, Smart Research Institute, Indonesia;
12.Maintaining soil health in oil palm cultivation: Bernard Dubos and Didier Snoeck, CIRAD, France;
13.Use of palm oil for biofuel: Jean-Marc Roda, CIRAD, France and Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia;