As for many other crops, yield components of oil palm rely partly on the optimal implementation of its reproductive development. As a result, studies focusing on the mechanisms underlying sex ratio determination, inflorescence development or fruit maturation have rapidly multiplied, significantly improving our comprehension of these processes. Because the influence of the environment on plant development is multiple and since climate models predict large-scale changes in the areas where the oil palm is presently cultivated, current research is increasingly focusing on investigating the effects of such changes on both the physiology and the productivity of the plant, in a bid to help breeding schemes adapt to new requirements regarding stress adaptation traits.