2016 in INDONESIA and MALAYSIA: Best Management Practice for Maximum Economic Yield in All Growth Stages of Oil Palm

Objective:
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.

Timeline:
This project is implemented between 2011 and 2019, and may even be extended until 2021 if monitoring requires it.

Treatment overview:
The BMP treatments are developed in full-sized management blocks in two collaborating plantations in Sumatra (Indonesia) and Sabah (Malaysia) in re-plantings 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.

Results to date:
In Sabah, with field planting of rep 5 completed, all 5 reps of the nursery stage have been completed in Dec-2016. Two of three blocks of the third repetition entered the mature stage in 2016 (harvest started in Nov-2016), joining the six blocks of the first two reps in the mature stage. The six blocks of reps 4 and 5 are still in the immature phase in the field. Field planting of three blocks of the last rep (i.e. rep 5) was completed in Dec-2016.

At the second site in South Sumatra, eight blocks of reps 1-4 came into the mature stage, with harvesting started between Jan-Jul 2016. The two blocks of rep 5 are still in the immature phase.

Analyses of the nursery stage data continued in 2016, with an article published in Better Crops.

Summary:
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 as monitoring over a period of at least 8 years.