Research & Development

In 1983, Univanich commenced a collaboration with the UK-based Unilever Plantations and Plant Science Group. Over the following fifteen years the company’s Oil Palm Research Centre (OPRC) was established to research unique features of Thailand’s oil palm agronomy and, in particular, oil palm breeding for high yield and improved drought tolerance.

Today, the Univanich Oil Palm Research Centre (OPRC) is internationally recognised for pioneering oil palm research and advanced palm breeding. Since 1983 Univanich has been producing the highest-yielding hybrid seeds for local and overseas growers. The company’s nurseries supply annually more than 1.5 million high-yielding seedlings to Thailand’s smallholder growers, and drought-tolerant hybrid seeds are exported to growers in more than fifteen countries.

In 2006, the company established Thailand’s first laboratory for oil palm tissue culture to clone elite parent palms from the Univanich breeding programme. This long-term research is bearing fruit: Thailand’s first plantings of high-yielding clones in 2010.

In 2016, the company produced Thailand’s first semi-clonal oil palm seeds—an advance intended to keep Thailand’s oil palm industry competitive for future generations.

At Univanich we are constantly searching to improve the performance of our oil palms. Through our past joint venture with Unilever, we acquired elite breeding material from regions such as Malaysia, Congo, Cameroon and Papua New Guinea, and have used it to continuously improve Univanich palms for Thailand’s conditions.

With over 30 years of experience researching high-yielding oil palms, we have produced more than 2,000 hybrid crosses and dedicated over 1,000 hectares of estate area to research, including joint projects with internationally acclaimed researchers. Univanich also undertakes strong research in agronomic techniques that optimise yields, economics and sustainability.