Best Management Practice for Maximum Economic Yield in All Growth Stages of Oil Palm

IPNI-2010-SEAP-4

01 Jun 2018

2017 Annual Interpretive Summary


The objective of this project is to implement, test, and refine the Best Management Practice (BMP) concept for yield intensification in order to increase productivity, profitability, and sustainability of palm oil production in all growth stages of oil palm including nursery, immature, and mature development phases of the crop. This project is implemented between 2011 and 2019, and may even be extended until 2021 if monitoring requires it.

The BMP treatments are developed in full-sized management blocks in two collaborating plantations in Sumatra (Indonesia) and Sabah (Malaysia), involving re-planting of previous crops by IPNI and its plantation partners. Results from the BMP implementation are compared to those achieved under standard plantation practices in reference blocks. At the outset of the research, reference and BMP blocks had similar conditions and performance. There are a total of 15 blocks in Sabah and 10 blocks in Sumatra, with blocks averaging 25 ha.

In Sabah, with field planting of rep 5 completed, four reps entered the mature stage and harvest has started. Replicate 1 started the fourth year of harvesting; Replicate 2 – third year, Replicate 3 - second year, and Replicate 4 - first year in November 2017. Replicate 5 is still in the immature phase.

At the second site in South Sumatra, the first year of harvesting is ongoing in Replicates 1 to 4. Replicate 5 is in the second Immature year of maintenance. Data analysis from the nursery stage in both sites is ongoing, and further publications are planned for 2018. Results are already being used in IPNI training courses for the plantation partners and the wider industry.

Through this process, estates are enabled to identify better ways to implement BMPs for yield intensification, and decisions on larger investments in BMPs are based on practical, commercial-scale evidence. This project is unique in its design, as it is including all growth stages of the oil palm and proposes monitoring over a period of at least eight years.