Invited by CATAS-RRI, Dr. Edy Suprianto, oil palm breeder, Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute (IOPRI), visited CATASRRI on 23-30 October 2016 in Danzhou, Hainan, China. Dr. Suprianto gave some presentations in the development of oil palm industry and breeding and cultivation in Indonesia, shared his experiences with CATAS-RRI scientists in breeding, and discussed with the later possible collaboration in the future. Prof. Zhou Jiannan, CATAS-RRI senior official for international cooperation, chaired the presentations and discussion. Field and lab visits were arranged for Dr. Suprianto to tissue culture lab, a small scale of tissue cultured plants ready to flower, oil palm collections and roadsides oil palm for landscaping. Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer and exporter with the largest planting area, while China is the largest palm oil importer. It takes scores of years to develop high yielding varieties by breeding, more different for those cold tolerant that are suitable for planting in China. The visit of Dr. Suprianto will surely initiate collaboration between both IOPRI and CATAS-RRI, which will contribute to the establishment of commercial oil palm plantations in China in the near future.
