In the nature, the seeds have a relative dormancy leading to very long germination process (1 to 3 years).
In order to improve oil palm production, research aiming at the reduction of the dormancy period was initiated.
The germination tests carried on seeds stored for different periods after harvest, showed a germination percentage of fresh seeds (not stored) significantly higher (55.39%) than that of seeds stored for 3 months (45.78%) and 6 months (38.68%).
This germination ability also varies significantly with the two palm genotypes (C70XX from LM 19954 and C24XX from linear LM 19617) developed by the Centre National de Recherche Agronomique (CNRA) in Côte d’Ivoire and used in the present study.
Seeds of category C70XX from LM 19954 linear present a significant superior percentage of germination than those of the category C24XX from linear LM 19617.