Guarantee regular incomes for smallholders and agroindustries

PalmElit implements the genetic improvement and marketing programmes for CIRAD® oil palm seeds.

PalmElit is a simplified joint stock company owned by CIRAD and Sofiprotéol. Its head office is in France, near Montpellier.

Following on from IRHO (1941) then CIRAD (1984), PalmElit has been conducting the genetic improvement and marketing programmes for CIRAD® oil palm seeds since its creation in 2009. Its breeding programmes involve 64 PalmElit and CIRAD researchers,engineers, Ph.D. students and technicians.

PalmElit also benefits from the support of 8 partners including a public institute and 7 private firms for the selection, production and marketing of CIRAD® oil palm seeds. This network, located in Africa, America and Asia includes 1,600 hectares of field trials and 8 seed gardens.

PalmElit proposes seeds intended to guarantee regular incomes for family farms and agroindustries. Its seeds are improved to meet the expectations of the main stakeholders in the supply chain:

• For growers: a large number of bunches even under unsuitable climatic conditions, better resistance to the main diseases, moderate vertical growth to increase the life span of the plantation and for easy harvesting.

• For processors and the agrifood industry: a better extraction rate, an oil with characteristics adapted to the different markets and with lower acidity.

All these seed traits, which are highly variable depending on the genetic origin, undergo strict selection.

Leader in genetic improvement

PalmElit’s clients, on three continents, regularly achieve among the best yields and oil contents. PalmElit was the first seed producer, along with its partners, to market seeds with intermediate resistance to Ganoderma and to the Bud Rot complex, with high resistance to Fusarium wilt, and the first to offer seeds reducing oil acidification.

PalmElit – CIRAD® palms are renowned for their large bunch number, controlled vertical growth and compactness.

Commercial expertise

On a world market of around 200 million seeds, 30 to 50 million CIRAD® seeds are distributed each year. Responsiveness, reliability and commercial innovation are values shared by the teams who represent us and who have a broad and in-depth vision of the market.

Committed to Inclusive Business

Different holdings and firms interact within the supply chain. The PalmElit sales team acts as a catalyst for smooth interactions between these stakeholders, with a shared dimension: that of disseminating the best possible genetics.

PalmElit also supports donors in setting up virtuous development schemes, through a genetic choice that drives development.

PalmElit assists all its clients in establishing balanced land areas where oil palm provides impetus for food production and employment.

PalmElit – CIRAD® palms are renowned for their large bunch number, controlled vertical growth.

Sustainability is the cornerstone of our values

RSPO is a non-profit-making organization whose members come from the seven sectors involved in the palm oil industry: growers, processors, traders, the agrifood industry, purchasing centres, banks, investors and environmental and social nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

RSPO has drawn up a set of Principles and Criteria to help protect the environment and the communities in palm oil producing countries.

Today, around 12 million tonnes of palm oil and over 2.5 million hectares of oil palms are RSPO certified.

PalmElit is an associate member of RSPO and is actively involved in the sustainable development of oil palm growing thanks to its major work to improve the species.

www.rspo.org