Oil Palm: Best Management Practices for Yield Intensification

by T.H. Fairhurst and W. Griffiths

Paperback: 180 pages
Language: English
ISBN: 978-983-44503-1-1
Dimensions: 24 cm x 16.5 cm x 1.5 cm
Weight: 530 g
Price: US$40.00

This book represents a culmination of the past 10 years of research and practical experience we have gained on refining Best Management Practices (BMPs) and developing a process to deploy them successfully in order to improve yields in Southeast Asia. It outlines the need, causes, and characteristics of yields and then discusses the implementation of BMPs. It concludes with a review of case studies and pilot programs showing how BMPs were implemented and the achieved results with accompanying statistical analysis. It has been demonstrated that improving yields is profitable and that yield intensification is necessary to reduce area expansion. This publication represents the “state of the art” on how to manage mature oil palm plantations and supports the principles and criteria of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). It’s a practical textbook documenting how to implement the right BMPs that can increase yields and production in ways that are profitable to plantations and sustainable environmental stewardship.


Title Index:

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Worldwide vegetable oil production
1.2 Requirement for yield improvement in oil palm
1.3 Area expansion or yield improvement?
References
Box 1.1 Important points for ‘practical planters’
Box 1.2 What are best management practices?
Box 1.3 Why is ecological intensification important?

2 CHARACTERISTICS OF YIELD IMPROVEMENT

2.1 Characteristics of production in oil palm
2.1.1 Time lags in crop improvement
2.1.2 Yield dynamics over the productive lifespan of a planting
2.1.3 Requirement for continuous harvest in oil palm
2.1.4 Implications for human resource management
2.2 Analysis of company performance
2.2.1 Estate-level performance indicators
2.2.2 Financial performance
2.2.3 Environmental performance
2.3 Company expansion by area expansion or yield improvement?
2.4 Conclusions
References

Box 2.1 Important points for ‘practical planters’..

3 RELEVANCE AND CAUSES OF YIELD GAPS

3.1 Definition of best management practices in oil palm
3.2 The process of using BMP to identify and eliminate yield gaps
3.3 Potential productivity in oil palm
3.4 Yield gap analysis

3.4.1 Site yield potential, Y-syp
3.4.2 Maximum economic yield, Y-mey
3.4.3 Yield limited by nutrient and pest and disease diagnosis, Y-nd
3.4.4 Yield limited by inadequate or incorrect implementation of agronomic management, Y-am
3.4.5 Yield limited by poor crop recovery, Y-a

3.5 Use of yield gap analysis

3.5.1 Example of yield gap analysis in a single block
3.5.2 Example of the effect of BMP on yield gaps over several years

3.6 Yield gaps in oil palm plantings in Southeast Asia
3.6.1 The relationship between scale and yield

3.6.2 Estimates of site yield potential in Southeast Asia
3.6.3 Scope for yield improvement in Southeast Asia

3.7 Conclusions
References
Box 3.1 Important points for ‘practical planters’

4 PLANNING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF BMP IN MATURE PLANTINGS

4.1 Desktop study to estimate MEY

4.1.1 Influence of soil type on MEY
4.1.2 Influence of climate on MEY
4.1.3 Analysis of yield data
4.2 Requirement for data management systems

4.3 Conclusions on estimation of SYP and MEY
4.4 Field audits to determine the causes of yield gaps
4.5 Corporate level planning for BMP implementation
4.6 Conclusions
References
Box 4.1 Important points for ‘practical planters’

5 IMPLEMENTATION OF PILOT PHASE BMP

5. 1 Planning
5. 2 Pilot Phase preparation

5.2.1 Domain identification
5.2.2 Yield analysis
5.2.3 Block selection
5.2.4 Field audit of BMP and REF blocks selected for the Pilot Phase
5.2.5 Quality of the palm stand
5.2.6 Marking leaf sampling unit (LSU) palms
5.2.7 Leaf and soil sampling
5.2.8 Vegetative measurements
5.2.9 ‘Crop Scene Investigations’ using quantitative data
5.2.10 Crop quality

5.3 Work plan

5.3.1 Components of the work plan
5.3.2 Timing

5.4 Schedule of activities

5.4.1 Month 0
5.4.1.1 Pre-Pilot Phase audit of candidate BMP blocks

5.4.1.2 Planning and prioritizing work
5.4.1.3 Block infrastructure
5.4.1.4 Harvesting standards
5.4.1.5 Leaf canopy management
5.4.1.6 Fertilizer application—the 4R principles
5.4.1.7 Correction of significant nutrient deficiencies
5.4.1.8 Use of crop residues
5.4.1.9 Ground cover management
5.4.1.10 Water management
5.4.1.11 Soil conservation
5.4.1.12 Pests and diseases
5.4.1.13 Yield recording

5.4.2 Months 1–2
5.4.3 Month 3
5.4.4 Month 7
5.4.5 Month 12
5.4.6 Years 2–4

5.5 Assigning responsibility
5.6 Budgeting
5.7 Conclusions
References
Box 5.1 Important points for ‘practical planters’
Box 5.2 Leaf canopy management—a key issue in maximizing yield

6 CASE STUDIES OF PILOT PHASE BMP IMPLEMENTATION

6.1 Case study 1

6.1.1 Field conditions before BMP implementation
6.1.2 Rationale for BMP
6.1.3 Rehabilitation procedures
6.1.4 Results
6.1.5 Discussion and conclusions

6.2 Case study 2

6.2.1 Field conditions before BMP implementation
6.2.2 Rationale for BMP
6.2.3 Rehabilitation procedures
6.2.4 Results
6.2.5 Discussion and conclusions

6.3 BMP implementation at six sites in Kalimantan and Sumatra, Indonesia
6.4 Conclusions

References

Box 6.4 Important points for ‘practical planters’

7 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF PILOT PHASE RESULTS

7.1 Use of a t–test to analyze Pilot Phase results
7.2 Presentation of results
7.3 Partial budget analysis
7.4 Drawing conclusions from a Pilot Phase review
7.5 Conclusions
References
Box 7.1 Important points for ‘practical planters’

8 OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BMP IMPLEMENTATION

8.1 Preliminary steps
8.2 Enabling human resources

8.2.1 Management staff
8.2.2 Labour requirements
8.2.3 Management training
8.2.4 Standard operating procedures

8.3 Enabling infrastructure

8.3.1 Production and monthly harvesting labour requirements
8.3.2 Transport requirements
8.3.3 Milling capacity
8.3.4 Fertilizer procurement and application

8.4 Implementing BMP at scale
8.5 Monitoring and evaluation
8.6 Conclusions
References
Box 8.1 Important points for ‘practical planters’

9 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

9.1 Summary
9.2 Conclusions

References

APPENDICES
A FIELD AUDITING

A.1 Preamble

A.1.1 Objectives
A.1.2 Standards
A.1.3 Equipment
A.1.4 Procedures
A.1.5 Parameter type

A.2 Parameter details

A.2.1 Bunch harvesting (Harv)
A.2.2 Loose fruit collection (LF)
A.2.3 Crop collection (F Col)
A.2.4 Leaf canopy maintenance (Prun)
A.2.5 Ground cover vegetation (Gro Co)
A.2.6 Soil Conservation (Sl Cn)
A.2.7 Frond Stacking (Fr Stk)
A.2.8 Circle weeding and maintenance (Circ)
A.2.9 Path weeding and maintenance (Path)
A.2.10 Drainage (Drn)
A.2.11 Erosion (Eros)
A.2.12 Legume cover plants (LCP)
A.2.13 Ganoderma (Gan)
A.2.14 Rat damage (Rat)
A.2.15 Leaf eating insect damage (LEID)
A.2.16 Roads (Road)
A.2.17 Fertilizer (Fert)
A.2.18 Crop residue application (CRA)
A.2.19 Leaf sampling unit (LSU)
A.2.20 Best management practice (BMP)

A.3 Frequency and timing of auditing
A.4 Task
A.5 Records

References

B USEFUL INFORMATION FOR AGRONOMISTS

C USEFUL MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES
C.1 Introduction
C.1.1 Plan-Do-Check-Act
C.2 Use of Six Sigma in plantation management
C.2.1 Complete crop recovery
C.2.2 Fertilizer application
C.2.3 Avoiding possible pitfalls

C.3 Other systems
References

D ABBREVIATIONS AND GLOSSARY OF TERMS

D.1 Abbreviations
D.2 Glossary of terms

E PHOTOGRAPHS

E.1 Training
E.2 Yield Gap 1
E.3 Yield Gap 2
E.4 Yield Gap 3
E.5 Yield Gap 4

F INDEX


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