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  • PalmElit conducts the genetic improvement and marketing programs for CIRAD® oil palm seeds

    PalmElit is a simplified joint stock company (SAS) owned by CIRAD and Sofiprotéol. Its headquarters are in France, near Montpellier.

    In the wake of IRHO (1941) and then CIRAD (1984), PalmElit, since its creation in 2009, has led programs for the genetic improvement and marketing of CIRAD® oil palm seeds. These improvement programs involve 64 researchers, engineers, PhD students, technicians from PalmElit and CIRAD.

    PalmElit also benefits from the support of 8 allied structures including a public institute and 7 private companies for the selection, production and marketing of CIRAD® oil palm seeds. This network, established in Africa, America and Asia, includes 1,600 hectares of trials and 8 seed fields.

    PalmElit offers seeds intended to provide family farms and agro-industries with regular income. The seeds are improved in accordance with the expectations of the main players in the sector:

    • For planters: high production of bunches even under unfavorable climatic conditions, improved resistance to the main diseases, moderate growth to increase the lifespan of the plantation and facilitate harvesting.
    • For processors and the food industry: a better extraction rate, an oil with characteristics adapted to different markets and with reduced acidity. All these characteristics, which vary greatly depending on the genetic origin of the seeds, are subject to rigorous selection.

    Leader in genetic improvement

    On three continents, PalmElit customers consistently achieve top performance in yield and oil content. PalmElit was the first seed company with its allies to market seeds with intermediate resistance to Ganoderma and the PC complex, with high resistance to Fusarium wilt, and the first to offer seeds that reduce oil acidification.

    PalmElit – Cirad® palms are renowned for their large number of bunches, their controlled vertical growth and their compactness.

    Commercial competence

    In a world market of around 200 million seeds, 30 to 50 million CIRAD® seeds are distributed each year. Responsiveness, reliability and commercial innovation are the 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 farms and companies interact within the supply chain.

    The PalmElit sales team is involved as a catalyst for harmonious interactions between these actors, with a shared dimension: that of the dissemination of the best possible genetics.

    PalmElit also supports donors in the implementation of virtuous development schemes, through genetic choice driving development.

    PalmElit accompanies all its customers in the establishment of balanced territories where the oil palm comes to boost food production and employment.

    PalmElit - Cirad® palms are renowned for their large number of bunches and their controlled vertical growth

    Sustainability at the heart of our values

    RSPO is a non-profit organization bringing together players from seven sectors involved in the palm oil industry: producers, processors, traders, the agro-food industry, central purchasing bodies, banks, investors, and environmental and social non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

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

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

    PalmElit is an associate member of RSPO and actively contributes to the sustainable development of oil palm cultivation through its important work to improve the species.

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