Abstract

The relationship between the size and weight of oil palm fruits is one of the criteria used for cultivar selection, as fruit size directly affects weight and influences the overall yield of oil palm. The advantage of larger fruits is that farmers can more easily collect fallen fruits, which also improves harvesting efficiency and the palm oil processing process. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between size and weight in nine commercial tenera oil palm cultivars, aged 13 years, grown under highly acidic soil conditions at an oil palm plantation in Saraburi Province. The study was conducted by the Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Kasetsart University. Fallen fruits from the ground and fruits from the tree were randomly collected, then weighed and measured for volume using a Eureka cup, a device that measures volume based on the water displacement principle. The results showed that the correlation between volume and weight of fallen fruits was 0.74, while the correlation for fruits still on the tree was 0.93. When combining data from both fallen and tree fruits, the correlation was 0.86. A linear regression analysis indicated that fruit size and weight exhibited a direct linear relationship, demonstrating that larger fruit size leads to an increase in fruit weight. Therefore, genetic materials with larger fruit characteristics can be utilized in breeding programs to enhance oil palm yield.