Best Management Practice for Maximum Economic Yield in Oil Palm (BMP-OP II)

A conceptual framework for the ecological intensification of oil palm production was developed and presented as a paper entitled "The Need to Increase Profitability in Oil Palm Plantations: Matching Crop and Nutrient Management Principles with Evolving Strategies" at the National Seminar of the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) in Johor Bahru in June 2005. Principles of crop and nutrient management along with evolving strategies for their implementation were promoted through the Oil Palm Platform. The platform builds on efforts of individual oil palm agronomists and technical experts from selected companies and organizations interested in the integration of tools, technologies, and knowledge. A joint platform with non-members is provided with the new Oil Palm Portal. Members share a common vision that oil palm estates need to be economically feasible as well as socially and environmentally responsible to become part of a sustainable future of the oil palm industry. A concept note was prepared for a new project, "Best Management Practice for Maximum Economic Yield in Oil Palm", to be implemented in 2006-2009 in collaboration with six estates in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Key achievements in 2005 included continued extension and promotion of concepts and techniques developed within the research, and development of the future directives for best management practices for Southeast Asian oil palm estates. Southeast Asia-03