Targeting for High Yield – Going Back to Basics

Indonesia has overtaken Malaysia for the No. 1 spot as the world's largest hectarage planted with oil palm at 3.94 million ha and the largest producer of palm oil (CPO) at 14.0 million t in 2006, giving a national average of 3.55 million t of CPO per ha. Despite tremendous advancements in Research & Development, the Malaysian FFB yield and oil per ha had not attained the highest potential levels due to several limiting factors such as planting on marginal soils and unsatisfactory agricultural and management practices, among others. While the performance of the private sector plantations had shown satisfactory improvements, the same could not be said for the public and smallholders’ sectors, which had caused a dilution effect on the national average. Targeting for the highest yield potential has to start with the planting materials i.e. quality of seeds and nursery practices. Such practices include satisfactory establishment at the pre-nursery stage, fertilization and selection (culling). The second stage is the establishment of the main nursery where timely transplanting from the pre-nursery is critical. Other major operations include irrigation, fertilization, P & D control and selection (culling). The final objective to prepare the best planting materials for field planting must be met. Rising cost had prompted plantation (nursery) owners to order lesser number of seeds and reduce the culling rates, which is penny wise but pound foolish! There must be no compromise on this. The planting density in the field will influence the yield thus the target is to maximize the density, which has seen changes from the traditional 135 palms/ha to a higher density at 160 palms/ha depending on the type of planting material and terrain. The planting density is also influenced by the road and terrace densities. Thus a good design is a must to maximize land utilization. In India, where oil palms are being established on a “Grower Scheme” the points discussed are equally if not more important. Achieving a uniform stand will have a great bearing on achieving the highest yield potential.

Escalating cost of fertilizers, which now constitutes about 60% of the Upkeep & Cultivation costs, pose a challenge to oil palm growers but fortunately the current very high CPO prices have off-set the rising cost what lies for the future? Efficient management on judicial fertilizer applications is one answer to reduce wastage and enhance nutrient uptake and these include proper timing, correct dosage and most importantly stringent supervision! The use of fertilizer spreaders is one answer to more efficient applications. On the other hand in India where irrigation is more critical, efficient systems are being developed but basic information is essential to improve palm performance in relation to water and nutrient uptake. Crop recovery during the mature stage will include the harvesting system(s), standards, intervals and crop evacuation, all of which will have an impact to maximize crop recovery. The scarcity and high cost of labour in Malaysia is one major issue and the country has to rely heavily on foreign labour. India, on the other hand where crop is farmer grown, the labour constraint is less but FFB evacuation has limitations because of poor infra-structures. Pests such as rats and bagworms can cause considerable crop losses in the form of lower OER in the former and crop reduction in the latter. Be it Indonesia, Malaysia or India, good agricultural practices and integrated pest management including preventive measures such as avoiding bare ground cover condition and biological control is critical. High yield can only be achieved if good agricultural and management practices can be put in place.