10 Jan 2011
SEAP Quarterly Newsletter 2011-01
| In this Issue | Cross-regional Nutrient Expert software development |
| IPNI Program Updates | |
| Cross-regional Nutrient Expert software development Nutrient Intelligence advances Second oil palm training on BMP as a management tool held in Sabah, Malaysia Opportunities for cotton engagement in Cambodia News From the Region RICE NEWS Philippines rice 2010 farm output hit by weather COFFEE NEWS Vietnam’s Bao Minh Insurance pioneers deal for coffee-growers OIL PALM NEWS Malaysian oil palm grew to 4.7 million hectares in 2010 OTHER NEWS DuPont looks to tie up cooperation deals with partners in Thailand, other Asean markets ASEAN countries to boost S&T collaboration Call for 2011 IPNI Scholar and Science Awards Abstracts of new articles of interest The influence of land use, season and soil sampling depth on soil macrofauna abundance, biomass and community composition in agricultural landscapes dominated by the Quesungual Slash-and-Mulch Agroforestry System, western Honduras Potassium fixation and release in alluvial clay soils of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea: Effects of management under oil palm | Dr. Mirasol Pampolino, IPNI SEA Program agronomist, advanced the development of a Nutrient Expert (NE) for Wheat software as well as the adaptation of the NE for Hybrid Maize to South Asia and China conditions. During March 15-21, Dr. Pampolino visited the IPNI Beijing Office to discuss the development and adaptation of the NE software for China. The meeting was attended by IPNI cooperators from the Northcentral, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast regions of China, IPNI Beijing Office staff Dr. Jiyun Jin, Dr. Ping He and Dr. Shutian Li, as well as students from the Chinese Academy for Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). Dr. Pampolino also gave a presentation on the principles of SSNM and demonstrated the draft module of the NE software for China. Valuable feedback was gathered from the participants on parameters required for the development of NE-Wheat and the adaptation of NE-Maize. NE-Maize for China will be ready for field testing by May 15, 2011 in time for summer maize, while NE-Wheat will be ready for field testing by September 2011. In another note, the Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize has been translated to Vietnamese and Bahasa Indonesia and can be downloaded from the SEAP website. NE-based recommendations are undergoing field validation trials in Indonesia and the Philippines in preparation for the development of Quick Guides that will be used in the rapid extension of SSNM recommendations to larger domains. The Nutrient Expert for Hybrid Maize is a computer-based decision support tool developed to assist local experts to quickly formulate fertilizer guidelines for tropical hybrid maize based on the principles of SSNM. Click here to read more about Nutrient Expert. |
 | |
| Nutrient Intelligence advances | |
| Growers in South-East Asia buy millions of dollars worth of fertilizer each year. Each year, this supports the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people in the region. Can more fertilizer be used sustainably? Can its use be improved? We are sure it can. The demand for food and fuel crops will rise strongly over the coming decades. Most of this demand will be met by intensification for which more fertilizer and its better use are essential. The question is how can this response be supported with strategic systems insight and intelligence about nutrient use? During the nutrient intelligence workshop held at IPNI SEA in November 2010, four main client / partner groups were identified that are in a strong position to help growers respond to this demand and who may be interested in strategic “nutrient intelligence”. These include (a) governmental organizations, (b) national fertilizer distribution and production companies, (c) IPNI member companies, and (d) growers’ support organizations such as large NGO’s. Subsequently a consultation process was initiated by SEAP with the first three of these groups. Government organizations in Indonesia, a national fertilizer company in the Philippines, and IPNI member companies that are active in the region were contacted. Feedback was obtained from most of them, and it was decided to start one to one discussions. Based on these discussions, two consultants worked with IPNI SEA in February to outline a proof of concept project. This project, led by Julie Pasuquin, IPNI SEAP agronomist, and executed between March and August 2011, will provide an illustration of the nutrient intelligence concept using data from the Philippines and Indonesia. Key performance indicators will be identified in the study that will help the government, the sector, the industry and its partners as it makes critical decisions over the coming years. These indicators could identify bright-spots, where fertilizer is working well and producing good returns to growers and fertilizer companies, black-spots, where returns to fertilizer are poor or unreliable, and cold-spots where fertilizer is not being used to its current and future potential. These indicators may eventually cover the entire SEA region at a level of detail (district level, where data permits) sufficient to guide accurate targeting and analysis of systems performance. Indicators can be offered in tables and maps to enable users to focus quickly on areas of interest, followed up by benchmarking and analysis, such as illustrated in the figure above. First results of the concept study will be shared at the staff meeting of IPNI in June while final results will be presented to clients/partners in August. If successful, IPNI SEA intends to evolve this work into a full program starting 2012. | |
| Second oil palm training on BMP as a management tool held in Sabah | |
| A 3-day training course on Using Best Management Practices (BMP) as a Management Tool for Yield intensification was held at the UNICO DESA Plantation in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia from 15 to 17 March 2011. A total of 24 UNICO DESA staff, comprising of 20 plantation executives, 3 senior management staff, and 1 executive director, attended the training course led by Mr. Christopher Donough, consulting agronomist with the IPNI Southeast Asia Program. The training covered topics related to BMP priorities for both mature and replanting/immature plantations, yield analysis, field and harvest audits, monitoring progress and results, implementation planning, replanting strategies and nursery selection. The training consisted of short lectures, case studies, group discussions, group tasks and field tasks. This is SEAP’s second training workshop on BMP for oil palm since 2009. BMP training class at UNICO DESA Plantations, inside and outside the classroom. | |
| Opportunities for cotton engagement in Cambodia | |
| Dr. Thomas Oberthür, IPNI SEA Program Director, met with a team of Japanese from the Cambodia Cotton Club (CCC) on March 25 to discuss opportunities for a cotton project in Cambodia. The CCC requires technical support in cotton production as well as training. Although cotton is not a priority crop in the region, there are compelling scientific reasons for involvement under the theme of best management practices and site specific nutrient management. IPNI SEA will examine whether there is an opportunity for the program to engage in such project. | |
| News from the Region RICE NEWS | |
| Philippines rice 2010 farm output hit by weather | |
| Rice output in the Philippines, the world's largest importer of the grain, fell last year as the country's farms were hit by a drought and typhoons, according to the agriculture ministry. The ministry's Bureau of Agricultural Statistics said the bad weather also led to a fall in the output of coconuts, a key export for the sector. "The El Nino phenomenon that hit the country this year had adversely affected the sector's production performance," it added. The long dry spell was followed by typhoons that also destroyed coconuts, leading to a nearly 1% drop in output. Overall, the agriculture sector contracted 0.12%. However, Minda Mangabat, head of the bureau's cereal statistics unit, said yields should rise in the first half with more abundant rain as well as a near 10% expansion of rice farm lands. Total (unmilled rice) production in January-June 2011 is expected to reach 7.64 million tonnes, 15.4% above last year's level of 6.62 million tonnes. The ministry is consulting with the National Food Authority, the state grains trader, to determine whether rice import targets this year would be affected. The head of the grains importing agency, Angelito Banayo, said it plans to sharply cut its imports of the grain this year because it already had a lot of rice in storage. The agriculture ministry set an import ceiling of 1.5 million tonnes last year, but data from the grains agency's website said 2.13 million tonnes of rice were actually shipped into the country in the same period. The farm sector employs one in three Filipino workers but accounts for less than a fifth of the country's economic output. Source: Yahoo News, 21 January 2011, http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afp/20110121/tbs-climate-philippines-farm-059e858.html | |
| COFFEE NEWS | |
| Vietnam’s Bao Minh Insurance pioneers deal for coffee-growers | |
| Bao Minh Insurance Joint Stock Corporation has started agricultural insurance on a trial basis by insuring coffee farmers in Central Highland Dak Lak Province, according to a company official. If the trial is successful the insurer will expand its agricultural insurance services to all rice and coffee farmers. The insurer's Index-based Agricultural Business Interruption Insurance Policy is a preparation for the implementation of the Government's coming program on farming insurance for an experimental period between 2011 and 2013, Bao Minh's Deputy General Director Pham Xuan Phong said. As around 70% of Viet Nam's population lives in rural areas, last year the Ministry of Finance publicized the draft of the Prime Minister's decision on farming insurance as a new step to support agricultural production. Under the draft decree, poor farming households would receive a subsidy of up to 100% of the insurance premium. The support to other farming households would be 60%. Agricultural production organizations would be supported 50%. According to the draft, there are three main categories of coverage, including cultivated crop (rice), domestic animals (buffalo, cows, pigs and poultry) and aquaculture (tra and basa catfish, black tiger shrimp and white-leg shrimp). The insurance sector's earnings from agriculture insurance are insignificant compared to the total non-life insurance figure, according to Phung Dac Loc, secretary general of the Viet Nam Insurance Association. The agricultural premium turnover in 2009 was VND1.7 billion (US$81,000), while total non-life insurance premium turnover was VND13.644 billion (US$0.6 million). Agriculture insurance has been slow to develop in Viet Nam because of the small scale of household farming; farmers often can't or won't afford it; and the risks of unexpected natural calamities and epidemic diseases. Source: Vietnam News, 29 January 2011, http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/Agriculture/208092/Bao-Minh-Insurance-pioneers-deal-for-coffee-growers.html | |
| OIL PALM NEWS | |
| Malaysian oil palm grew to 4.7 million hectares in 2010 | |
Dompok said the oil palm industry has been a constant contributor to the country’s export earnings. He however said the country’s present and future oil palm expansion was limited due to unavailability of suitable land and was further compounded by non-governmental organizations' campaign to stop oil palm expansion. “We're still fighting the anti-palm oil NGOs to explain that land occupied by oil palm is only 0.22% of the total world agricultural areas and our country has enough permanent forest for conserving biodiversity.” he said. Last year, palm oil and palm oil-based products exports generated RM59.77 billion (US$19.7 billion); up RM9.77 (US$3.7 billion) compared to 2009. The commodity is expected to contribute RM178 billion (US$58.8 billion) to the Gross National Income in 2020 from RM52.7 billion (US$17.4 billion) currently. Dompok asked industry players to strengthen their competitive edge to compete with countries like Indonesia which is estimated to produce 22 million tonnes of palm oil while Malaysia 17.6 million tonnes. Malaysian palm oil is currently exported to more than 150 countries."Today, palm oil is the leading edible oil traded and consumed globally, with a share of 56% and 26% of the total oils and fats, respectively,” he said. China remains the biggest Malaysian palm oil importer. Source: Business Times, 25 January 2011, http://www.btimes.com.my | |
| OTHER NEWS | |
| DuPont looks to tie up cooperation deals with partners in Thailand, other ASEAN markets | |
| The move is part of the US science-based giant’s plan to further penetrate ASEAN and triple annual regional revenue from US$900 million within a decade. DuPont East Asia president Carl Lukach said that DuPont was looking for new partners in a number of ASEAN countries, including Thailand. Many of the companies that DuPont is in talks with are major industrial players in those markets. DuPont's interest extends from upstream to downstream activities in fields such as oil and gas, electronics, construction, food and agriculture. Lukach described ASEAN as an emerging market for DuPont. The region contributed $900 million in revenue last year, in comparison with the company's global revenue of $31 billion. Somchai Laohverapanich, managing director of DuPont (Thailand), said the first cooperation agreement with a Thai company could be tied up within a few months. DuPont has many businesses in Thailand, including food protection, polymers, medical packaging and energy. One of the company's locally sold products is thin film, which is used in photovoltaic solar cells. It sees growth potential in this area, as the Thai government has a strong policy to support renewable energy. DuPont together with BP is also developing biobutanol, an area of biofuel development that the company believes is superior to ethanol. It is likely to bring the technology to Thailand in the future. In addition, growing exports of the Thai shrimp industry have convinced the company to expand its local business into aquaculture products to support biosafety farms. The company will also provide farm management knowledge as part of the food safety goal. Homi Badhwar, director of DuPont Knowledge Centre Hyderabad, India, said DuPont spent $1.7 billion on research and development last year, of which 60% went towards increasing food production. It expects to spend more this year, in line with the company's policy of emphasizing R&D. Hsing Ho, sales and marketing director of DuPont Asean, said the factors that made the region attractive for DuPont were low labor rates, ongoing productivity improvement, rising currencies and legal standards. Source: The Nation, 17 February 2010, http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/DuPont-looks-to-tie-up-cooperation-deals-with-part-30148869.html | |
| ASEAN countries to boost S&T collaboration | |
Inspired by the European model, the ASEAN region wants economic integration and a single market by 2015. Emir Rio Krishna, technical officer for science and technology at the ASEAN secretariat in Indonesia, said that the initiative would combine the resources and talents of the region while using individual nations' comparative competencies to strengthen the region's STI. The ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The region, home to 600 million people, sits strategically near rapidly growing China and the developed countries of Japan and South Korea, three countries with which it is actively pursuing close cooperation in science and technology, along with Australia, India and New Zealand. Even with Singapore, by far the most economically successful ASEAN country, in the equation, the region's contribution to global STI is nominal, said Luis Arriola, a former Philippine government official handling business and exports, and an analyst of ASEAN affairs. One obstacle to science cooperation is the gap between the research capabilities of the countries. Krishna said that although details are not yet finalized, part of the initiative will be to provide ASEAN assistance to least developed members. Financing for training and seminars will come from the ASEAN Science Fund, a central fund into which members are asked to donate US$1 million a year, and from partners such as China, India and Japan. It is also hoped that the initiative will enable scientists to travel more within the region, and also that it will encourage the private sector to spend more on research. Krishna said eight areas were identified as priorities for increasing the competitiveness of the region and improving quality of life: developing innovations for the world market; a regional digital society; embracing new media and social networking; green technology; food and energy security; water resource management; biodiversity and lifetime scientific learning. Graciano Yumul Jr., the Philippines' science and technology undersecretary and among those who attended the ministerial meeting, said that the Krabi Initiative built upon the 2007–2011 ASEAN Plan of Action on Science and Technology (APAST), with its six priority programmes agreed in Manila in 1996. These were: early warning systems for disaster management (led by Indonesia); biofuels (Malaysia); application and development of open source systems (Indonesia); functional food (Thailand); climate change (Philippines and Vietnam) and health (Singapore). He added that the ministers have agreed to extend APAST until 2015 to synchronize with the single community target. The next ministerial meeting is arranged tentatively for May 2011 in Cambodia. Source: SciDev.Net, 07 January, 2011, http://www.scidev.net/en/news/asean-countries-to-boost-s-t-collaboration-1.html | |
| Abstracts of journal articles/thesis of interest | |
| The influence of land use, season and soil sampling depth on soil macrofauna abundance, biomass and community composition in agricultural landscapes dominated by the Quesungual Slash-and-Mulch Agroforestry System, western Honduras N. Pauli, E. Barrios, A.J. Conacher, T. Oberthür. 2011. Soil macrofauna in agricultural landscapes dominated by the Quesungual Slash-and-Mulch Agroforestry System, western Honduras. Applied Soil Ecology. Volume 47, Issue 2, pages 119-132 Smallholder agroforestry systems often incorporate features that are associated with abundant, diverse soil macrofauna populations. This study sampled soil macrofauna communities across four major land uses present within agricultural landscapes where the Quesungual Slash-and-Mulch Agroforestry System (QSMAS) has been increasingly adopted by smallholder farmers in western Honduras. The four land uses were: secondary forest (F), agroforestry plots of less than two years of age (AF<2), agroforestry plots of more than 10 years of age (AF>10), and silvipastoral fields (SP). Transect-based sampling of soil macrofauna using the standard Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute (TSBF) method was employed in both the dry season and wet season. All four land uses sampled in this study harbored diverse, abundant and highly variable soil macrofauna populations. In the dry season, total density of soil macrofauna ranged from 1265±308 individuals m-2 in F sites to 1924 ± 436 individuals m-2 in AF<2 sites. In the wet season, total density ranged from 907 ± 294 individuals m-2 in SF, to 1637 ± 358 individuals m-2 in AF<2. Biomass values followed a similar pattern, ranging from 4.3 ± 1.1 g m-2 to 24.8 ± 8.2 g m-2 in the dry season and from 13.1 ± 3.0 g m-2 to 41.9 ± 11.1 g m-2 in the wet season. In order of decreasing strength of statistical relationship, soil depth, land use and season were all related to some aspects of soil macrofauna density, biomass and community composition. At a broad functional group level, soil macrofauna community composition was very similar across all four land uses. The results suggest that the agricultural practices associated with the ‘Quesungual’ agroforestry system may promote a relatively abundant, diverse soil macrofauna community. The presence of an abundant soil macrofauna community may have important effects on aspects of soil quality that are particularly important to resource-limited smallholder farmers. | |
| Potassium fixation and release in alluvial clay soils of Milne Bay, Papua New Guinea: Effects of management under oil palm S. Nake. 2010. Masters (Research) thesis, James Cook University. http://eprints.jcu.edu.au/16179/ Potassium deficiency is pronounced in oil palm and other crops on alluvial clay soils of Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. These clay soils contain clay minerals that can fix K. This, coupled with large amounts of exchangeable Mg and Ca, triggers the K deficiency problem in oil palm growing in this area. Oil palm yield and other growth parameters had responded positively to K fertilizer application for the last 12-13 years in long-term factorial fertilizer trials. However, a K use efficiency study showed that 40% of the added K was taken up by the oil palm while more than 50% had accumulated in the top 60 cm of the soil. There is currently limited information to explain why K accumulated in the soil and the implications for management. Fixation of K could be one of the factors contributing to K accumulation. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine fixation and release characteristics of K in alluvial clay soils under oil palm cultivation in relation to soil and management factors. All the work was carried out using soil samples collected in 2007 from plots with different K fertilizer history in two long-term fertilizer trials, trial 502b and 504, which had been operating since 1995 and 1994, respectively. Soil mineralogy was predominantly smectite in trial 502b and vermiculite in trial 504. In Experiment 1 (Chapter 3), the effects of management (K fertilizer history and surface management) on the amounts and forms of K in the soil was examined by measuring exchangeable (ammonium acetate extractable) and non-exchangeable (sodium tetraphenyl borate extractable minus ammonium acetate extractable) K. The results showed that in both trial sites, the management zones receiving K fertilizer (frond pile [FP], frond tip [FT] and between other zones [BZ]) had significantly (p<0.001) higher concentration of both exchangeable and non-exchangeable K than the other zones (weeded circle [WC] and harvest path [HP]). The exchangeable and non-exchangeable K concentrations differed significantly between sites, and there was a significant interaction between sites and K fertilizer history. In the plots and zones that had received fertilizer, exchangeable and non-exchangeable K contents were higher in trial 502b than 504, whereas in the plots that had received no fertilizer they were higher in trial 504 than 502b. In the plots that had received no K fertilizer, contents of exchangeable and non-exchangeable K were very low and could be considered deficient at both sites. The difference between the two sites was related to the mineralogy of the soils. In Experiment 2 (Chapter 4), the effects of site and previous management on K fixation were determined. Solutions with nine different concentrations of KCl (equivalent to 0, 3.2, 9.6, 12.8, 16.0, 19.2, 22.4 and 25.6 mmol K kg-1 soil) were added to the soil, centrifuged and decanted. Exchangeable K was then extracted from the soil with 1 M ammonium acetate. The decanted equilibrium solutions and ammonium acetate extracts were analyzed for K using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Fixed K was determined using the formula: Fixed K = added K minus decanted equilibrium solution K minus ammonium acetate extractable K. Potassium fixation was significantly (p<0.001) affected by the K fertilizer history and surface management. In soils and zones that had received no K fertilizer, an average of 27% of added K was fixed in both trials, whereas in the plots with a history of K fertilizer, there was little net fixation or release in the WC zone and a considerable release of non-exchangeable K in the BZ and FP zones. In Experiment 3 (Chapter 5), the release of K from non-exchangeable form into solution was studied. Firstly, the exchangeable K in the soil was removed by rinsing the soil three times with 0.25 M CaCl2. Then the soil was equilibrated with 0.01 M CaCl2 for 480 hours. At various intervals during that period, the supernatant was removed, analyzed for K, and replaced with fresh 0.01 M CaCl2. In the plots that had received no K fertilizer, more K was released from the native non-exchangeable pool in trial 504 than trial 502b. In the plots that had received K fertilizer, a substantial amount of K was released. In those plots more K was released in trial 502b than 504. In both trials, more K was released from the FP zones than the other zones, and K release in both trials increased in the order; HP<WC<BZ<FT<FP. The kinetics of K release from non-exchangeable K pool was described well by the Elovich function in all samples (r2 = 0.957-0.989; se = 0.002-0.179). Over all samples, the parameters α and 1/β were linearly related to the amount of non-exchangeable initially present; i.e. the rate of release of non-exchangeable K was positively related to the amount present. The rate of release was greater for trial 502b than trial 504. This study showed that management has a large effect on the fixation and release of K in alluvial soils of PNG under oil palm cultivation. Soil behavior differed considerably between management zones, suggesting that K fertilizer placement might have a considerable effect on uptake efficiency. | |
| Subscribe to the SEAP Newsletter | Call for 2011 IPNI Scholar and Science Awards |
| The SEAP Quarterly Newsletter aims to provide information on recent activities of our program and selected news on regional developments.
Quick Links to other IPNI websites IPNI Crop Portals Oil Palm IPNI Crop Portals Oil Palm Training SEAP Information Services The Southeast Asia Program office of IPNI has an intensive collection of papers, books, articles, newsletters, and slides categorized into a searchable information database. | Each year, the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI) offers the Scholar Award to honor and encourage deserving graduate students, and also the IPNI Science Award to recognize and promote distinguished contributions by scientists. “We receive very favorable reaction to these awards each year and they clearly have many positive benefits,” said IPNI President Dr. Terry Roberts. “It is important to encourage talented young people in their studies of plant and soil sciences, while established scientists also deserve recognition for career accomplishments. These awards are made possible by our member companies and are evidence of their respect for science.” The Scholar Award requires students who are candidates for either a M.S. or Ph.D. degree in agronomy, soil science, or related fields to submit an application and supporting information by June 30. Individual graduate students in any country where an IPNI program exists are eligible. Only a limited number of recipients are selected for the award, worth US$2,000 each. The application process is available on-line only. Recipients are announced in September. The Science Award goes to one individual each year, based on outstanding achievements in research, extension, or education which focus on efficient and effective management of plant nutrients and their positive interaction in fully integrated crop production, enhancing yield potential and/or crop quality. It requires that a nomination form (no self-nomination) and supporting letters be submitted by mail before September 30. The Award announcement is December 1. It includes a monetary prize of US$5,000.00. More information about past winners of these awards, plus details on qualifications and requirements for both awards can be found at the IPNI website: www.ipni.net/awards. |
| Disclaimer: News from the Region is a selection of regional agriculture-related articles extracted from internet sources. IPNI does not verify, endorse, or take responsibility for the accuracy, currency, completeness or quality of the content in these sites. Due to the nature of this service, IPNI cannot always verify every single news item. Be sure to check with the official websites of the companies, universities, research centers, and government agencies before using any information in the SEAP newsletters or webpages, as IPNI cannot vouch for news items submitted by the public. Links to external websites are included for the sole purpose of providing easy access to the source. The inclusion of external hyperlinks does not constitute IPNI’s endorsement of the views expressed by these websites. IPNI shall not be responsible for any damages caused directly or indirectly by the use of any information or content from within linked websites. | |
| |