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Large-scale land conversion of peat for agricultural purposes requires clearance, drainage, fertilizer application, and liming to increase the pH and boost microbial activity. The objective of this present study was to compare the soil chemical properties of oil palm plantation one-three years oil palm planted and mature oil palm that were previously a secondary tropical peat swamp forest. Soil samples were collected randomly at difference age’s oil palm plantation from a Young Oil Palm Plantation (YOPP) in one year period of time at same place and Mature Oil Palm Plantation (MOPP) another place from oil palm plantation in Batang Igan, Sibu Sarawak, Malaysia. Approach: Forty eight soil samples were taken using a peat soil auger at 0-15 cm depths in every area. The samples were air dried and then sieved to pass 2 mm sieve. Soil pH in water and KCl, soil CEC, Organic Matter (OM), Organic Carbon (OC), Total Nitrogen (TN), Total Phosphorous (TP), Total Potassium (TK), carbon to nitrogen ratio and carbon to phosphorous ratio were determined using standard procedures. Statistical analysis showed that CEC, TC and OM content were statistically similar. Results: The soil pHwater, TN and C/N ration shows highly significant for all difference age's oil palm plantation. Difference with pHKCl and TK content shows no significantly difference between YOPP 2 years and 3 years but both areas significantly higher with MOPP. For TP and C/P ratio content has no significant difference for YOPP (2 years) and MOPP but significantly difference with YOPP (3 years). Conclusion: Regardless of difference age's oil palm plantation, total carbon, organic matter and CEC was statistically similar to different ages of oil palm plantation, but soil acidity, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, C/N and C/P ratio was significantly higher between three areas weather YOPP (2 years), YOPP (3 years) and MOPP.

Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is a plantation commodity that has a role in the Indonesian economy. The area of palm oil plantations in Indonesia reaches 14,300,000 hectares with 43,000,000 tons of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) production. The implementation of technology 4.0 on palm oil production is needed not only for technology innovation, but also for effectivity and efficiency on production process. This research aims to study the efficiency of resources use and the effectivity of output achievement on palm oil production. This research was done descriptively and quantitatively using primary data, which was direct interviews with the people who works in palm oil plantations, and the secondary data was obtained from research results, plantation company's yearly report, and other literature review. The research result showed that the implementation of technology 4.0 on the recording of employee attendance register and calculation of harvest density rate (HDR) including field and fruit quality was more efficient 25-50% in use of employee and time. The implementation of technology 4.0 was also more effective in achieving output compared to the manual method. The conclusion of this research is the implementation of technology 4.0 on some production process in palm oil plantation is more effective and efficient compared to the manual method. The starting budget on implementing technology 4.0 is higher by 30% compared to the manual method, but it becomes ten times cheaper on the next maintenance cost.

The synergy between forest and plantation is much sought after to maintain the complex role of forest areas. Forest should be managed for its socio-economic and ecological position while land-use change tends towards maximizing economic role. Indonesia is struggling to rehabilitate most of her production forests. Many cases show that the forestlands have been converted into monoculture oil palm or rubber plantation that caused severe ecological degradation and declined forest role in ecosystem maintenance. The government of Indonesia is seeking synergy between these two conflicting land uses types. Forest Management Unit (FMU) has been chosen as a model to carry out day to day management at field level beginning in 2010. Unfortunately, majority FMUs have not been in operation due to limited information at the field level, especially about the willingness of landowners to cooperate in the restoration of the production forest. In Dharmasraya District, West Sumatra, a 33,000 hectare of remaining production forest areas is undergoing deforestation due to forest conversion into oil palm and rubber carried out both by smallholder and large scale oil plantation companies. Based on a household survey among smallholders plantation in Dharmasraya District, West Sumatera Indonesia, the paper presents farmers’ willingness to integrate timber and non-timber plants into their oil palm plantation and discusses its implication for forest management especially in forest restoration management for FMU. The study found that at this time, it is hard for the landowner to integrate a timber tree into their smallholder oil palm and rubber plantation. They value land higher for the farm than for forest. Landowners feel secure with the customary land right than statutory land rights. Hence, the study suggests FMU Dharmasraya intensify forest extension service on forest function and persuade landowners to seek a balance between the ecological and economic role of forestland. More importantly, forest ecosystem service needs a proportional monetary valuation.

African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is a bulk feeder of nutrients. In this study, we aimed at devising strategies for efficient nutrient management in the oil palm plantations of the Krishna River basin located in Andhra Pradesh, India by assessing soil fertility status, establishing optimal leaf nutrient concentrations and identifying yield restrictive nutrients. In total, 67 oil palm plantations were surveyed from this area in 2020, soil samples were collected and analysed for different soil properties, including pH, EC, SOC, available P, K, S, exchangeable Ca and Mg, and hot water-soluble boron (HWB) in surface (from 0–20 cm depth), subsurface (from 20–40 cm depth) and deep (from 40–60 cm depth) soil layers. As per DRIS (Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System) indices estimated in this study, the order of requirement of nutrients is Nitrogen (N) > B > K > P > Mg for this area. Optimum leaf nutrient concentrations ranged between 2.07–4.29%, 0.13–0.27%, 0.52–0.94%, 0.44–0.76% and 44.97–102.70 mg/kg for N, P, K, Mg and B, respectively. In surveyed plantations, about 15, 6, 16, 9 and 12 percent of leaf samples had less than optimum concentration of N, P, K, Mg and B respectively. Nitrogen and Boron are the major yield limiting factors in this region. Leaf nutrient concentrations need to be maintained at the optimum ranges as estimated above for higher productivity in the Krishna basin area.

Soil carbon stocks under oil palm plantations in Bahia State, Brazil

Palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is an important plantation crop in Indonesia including in Riau Province. Palm oil productivity in Riau has decreased due to several factors, one of which is disease. An important disease in palm oil plantations is stem base rot (BPB) caused by the fungus Ganoderma sp. This study aims to identify the causes of BPB disease of palm oil in Deli Makmur Village, Kampar Regency and Jati Baru Village, Siak Regency. This research was conducted using survey and observation methods in palm oil plantations in two villages in Kampar and Siak Districts. The identification of pathogens was carried out based on morphological characteristics by making macroscopic and microscopic observations. Initial diagnosis based on symptoms and signs palm oil plants found in Deli Makmur Village and in Jati Baru Village showed symptoms of stem base rot (BPB). The results of morphological identification show that the pathogen causing BPB disease is Ganoderma sp. The macroscopic and microscopic characteristics of the two Ganoderma sp. fungal isolates are slightly different, where the fungal isolate from Deli Makmur Village mycelium grows sideways, has a smooth and very thick texture, there are concentric rings, crystals and cuticular cells. While the mushroom isolate from Jati Baru Village mycelium grows sideways, has a fine texture, is quite thick, and there are no ring-shaped concentric, crystals and cuticular cells.

The characteristics of tropical peatlands are still able to form a high diversity of plants. Conversion of tropical peatlands affects the composition of plants. The aim of this study was to find out effect of land use changes to the composition and diversity of plants in the Peat Hydrological Unit (PHU) Mendahara - Batanghari River. The research was conducted in three land use categories, namely secondary forest, coffee plantation, and oil palm plantation (subdivided into oil palm plantation 1 and oil palm plantation 2). In each study location, sample lane 20 m x 200 m were made. Overall, we found 77 species of plants. The results showed number of plant species decreased due to changes of land use. There are 51 - 53 species of plants in secondary forest areas (out of a total of 58 species) that are not found in oil palm and coffee plantations areas. Differences in composition were also shown in the low value of community similarity (<50%). In the oil palm and coffee plantation areas, plant communities tend to be dominated by pioneer plants such as Melicope lunu-ankenda, Coffea liberica, Macaranga triloba, and Melastoma malabathricum. Secondary forest was dominated by plants species that characterize peatlands such as Tetramerista glabra, Parastemon urophyllus, Knema percoriacea, Litsea costalis var. nidularis and Madhuca motleyana. Changes in land use also reduce the level of diversity (H 'and R) at various levels of growth. Whereas in the oil palm and coffee plantation areas tend to form uniform stands (indicated through index E which describes the abundance distribution in community and index C which describes the dominance of species). Generally, the distribution pattern of plants is clumped. Uniform distribution was found in K. percoriacea and L. costalis var. nidularis. Keywords: land use changes, peatland characteristics, plant composition, plant diversity

Oil palm plantations in Indonesia, including in Jambi Province, are categorized into large private plantation, state-owned plantation, and smallholder plantation. The productivity of smallholders is the lowest compared to the other 2 categories. At the district and sub-district level, the yield of smallholder oil palm is also vary, spreading from 1,675 to 6,680 kg CPO per ha per year. The large yield variation is inseparable from the plantation management among farmers. The objectives of this research are to study the yield gap and technical efficiency of production among smallholders, and to analyze the factors that affect the technical production inefficiency in smallholder oil palm plantation. The research was conducted in Muaro Jambi District as a main palm oil producing district in Jambi Province. Data was collected from a sampel of 120 independent smallholders. One way anova test was used to study the yield gap and double natural log (ln) of Cobb–Douglas stochastic frontier production function was used to analyze the technical efficiency and some factors affects its inefficiency. The results revealed that there were significant differences in yield among smallholders based on area size, level of education, and activeness in the farmer organizations. However, on average, the management of oil palm by independent smallholders is quite technically efficient. The factor that significantly affects the level of technical inefficiency are the size of the area and farmers’ level of education.

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations are one of the most rapidly expanding agroecosystems in the tropics, including Latin America. While many studies have demonstrated that large oil palm monocultures (>100 ha) are detrimental to biodiversity, including mammals, little is known about the impact of small-scale oil palm plantations, especially in the Neotropics. Here we used a camera trapping survey to compare species richness, community structure and relative abundances of mid to large-bodied terrestrial mammals in small-scale oil palm plantations (<100 ha) and secondary forest fragments within a highly modified landscape mosaic in the southeastern lowlands of Tabasco, Mexico. Contrary to our expectations, we found no differences in the overall mammal communities between the oil palm and forest fragments, including species richness or mean relative abundance. Individual species showed some apparent differences in their total detections between the two habitats, with 11 having greater detections in forest than oil palm, and only two with greater detections in oil palm. Further, oil palm sites were more similar to one another in terms of mammal community structure than the secondary forest fragments. We found that shorter distance to forest patches was related to higher mammal species richness in both forest fragments and oil palm plantations. Twelve terrestrial mammal species known to occur in forested areas in the state of Tabasco were never detected in either vegetation type in our surveys, highlighting the fact that the mammal community in this landscape had already been reduced to those species most resilient to human disturbance. Our findings suggest that small-scale oil palm plantations in this region are used at least to some degree by most mammals that are also found in the remaining secondary forest fragments in this landscape, but that access to nearby forest is important for these species. In order to recover more of the original mammal community and prevent further reductions in biodiversity, conservation priorities should center around reducing hunting pressure, allowing forest regeneration and increasing connectivity between protected areas and along waterways.

The impact of implementing an agroforestry system in oil palm plantations by integrating agarwood-producing plants (Aquilaria Malacensis Lamk.) with oil palm plants on the physical properties of the soil needs to be assessed. This study is crucial due to the shared land use by agarwood-producing and oil palm plants. The study aims to evaluate the effects of integrating agarwood-producing plants into oil palm plantations on soil physical properties, including soil texture, topsoil depth, and water retention capacity. The research was conducted from September 2024 to November 2024 in agroforestry land (1 ha) and monoculture land (1 ha) in Bukit Kemuning Village, Tapung Hulu Kampar - Riau. The study utilized survey methods and systematic sampling for soil sample collection. The findings indicated that the agroforestry system positively impacted soil physical properties, with improved soil texture (54.67% sandy clay), increased topsoil depth, and enhanced water retention capacity compared to oil palm monoculture land. This improvement can be attributed to the higher organic matter content resulting from the decomposition of agarwood plant litter. Therefore, the agroforestry system enhances soil fertility and promotes sustainable environmental management.

Oil palm plantations in Malaysia are expanding rapidly due to global oil and biofuel demand. This is of particular concern, as the conversion process of forested land to oil palm plantations and the maintenance of a plantation can significantly alter freshwater ecosystems. This is a result of the initial loss of a forested catchment, particularly the riparian vegetation, changes to the bed and banks of streams, sedimentation and changes to detrital inputs. In addition, various chemicals used on the plantations leach into the nearest waterways and can potentially affect freshwater macroinvertebrates. In the Malaysian region, these are largely endemic and generally incompletely known. This study assesses the impact of oil palm plantations on stream macroinvertebrates by comparing four steams flowing through undisturbed rainforest and four streams flowing through oil palm plantations in Sarawak, Malaysia. Freshwater macroinvertebrates were sampled using the standard three-minute kick sample method with accompanying chemical measurements. Although there were no distinct differences between the control and oil palm streams in the chemical data, the invertebrate communities provided a different interpretation of stream quality. Invertebrates were more abundant, species rich and diverse in rainforest streams than in oil palm ones. Most noticeably, two whole orders of insecta, Coleoptera (beetles) and Hemiptera (true bugs), were absent from the oil palm streams. This may be the result of the disappearance of natural bank habitats, the sensitivity to the pesticides targeted at the Rhinocerous beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros), or a combination of both.

Weeds are defined as plants that have the potential to disrupt or harm human interests, and as a result, humans have developed methods to control their proliferation. The weeds in oil palm plantations exhibit considerable diversity, encompassing grasses, sedges, and woody plants. This research aims to ascertain the diversity of weed species present in mature oil palm plantations in the Kuantan Singing District. The research was conducted using the proposed random sampling method. Data were collected through direct interviews, which included information such as the age of the plant and the type of herbicide and fertilizer used. The weed vegetation was analysed using the quadrant method on each plot of land. The observation plots were 10 m x 10 m in size, with 25 plots in each garden. The weeds are identified at each observation point through a visual examination of their morphological characteristics, which are then matched with those described in the relevant literature. The observations of plantation conditions indicate that the predominant age of the oil palm is 5-7 years, with a planting distance of 8x9 metres. The soil types observed in each plantation area included black sandy, white sandy, and rocky, with black sandy soil representing the dominant soil type. Farmers employ both mechanical and chemical techniques to control weeds. The frequency of control is once every three months. A total of 14, 12, and 9 weed species were identified in the Central Kuantan, Inuman, and Sintajo Raya sub-districts, respectively. The results of the observation of the types of weeds found in the people's coconut plantations on yield crops revealed the presence of five types of narrow-leaf weeds, ten types of broad-leaf weeds, and four types of fern weeds.

The potential for CO2 uptake in oil palm which is supported by the presence of solar radiation reception space can support the photosynthesis process to take place properly. This study aims to show the correlation between the results of identifying the distribution of oil palm through aerial photographs, namely drones, and the potential for CO2 uptake. The potential for CO2 uptake in oil palms for five samples of planting years is viewed from the aspect of canopy projection space density, cropping patterns, and spacing which is clarified by the allometric multiplied results of the potential CO2-eq uptake. In general, the five samples of oil palm planting years apply a triangular cropping pattern with a spacing of 9 m × 9 m. The canopy projection for the 2017 planting year, shows that oil palm plants are still at a distance from one another because the canopy is still short, in the 2011 planting year shows the canopy projection that has touched each other but there is still room for receiving solar radiation that can occur evenly so that between the two planting years Oil palms in the planting years 2005, 2003, and 1997 showed a mutually contrasting canopy projection between the oil palms so that even though the space for receiving solar radiation is small. The potential for CO2 uptake was greater because apart from being obtained from the atmosphere, it can also be obtained from understorey plants and organs decomposed plants. It concluded that the higher the density of the distribution of palm oil makes large the potential uptake of CO2 emissions. It is hoped that the identification of the potential for CO2 absorption in oil palm can use a multi-spectral drone as an aerial photo facility.

Abstract. Purba A, Hayati R, Putri LAP, Chalil D, Afandi D, Syahputra I, Basyuni M. 2020. Genetic diversity and structure of Ganoderma boninense isolates from oil palm and other plantation crops. Biodiversitas 21: 451-456. Oil palm is an economically important plant, which one of the most important sources of vegetable oil in the world. However, oil palm plantation and other crops face the treat basal stem rot (BSR) disease by Ganoderma boninense. A study on genetic diversity and structure of G. boninense is therefore needed in order to formulate improved control strategies for this disease. This work aimed to analyze the genetic diversity and structure of the G. boninense isolates derived from different hosts, 131 oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), six rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), three coconuts (Cocos nucifera), and three lontar palm (Borassus flabellifer). Genetic diversity and population structure of G. boninense isolates were investigated using six SSR markers with GenAlex 6.502 software. Results showed that several microsatellite loci indicated specific primary success rates, such as KT124402, KT124399, and KT124394, depicting high polymorphism content (&gt;75%). This result suggested that these markers were equally effective in determining the polymorphisms of G. boninense isolates. A hierarchical analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed that genetic diversity mostly found among individuals within a population (88%), then among populations (8%), and within individuals (4%).. Phylogeny analysis showed two clusters of Ganoderma isolates. which was considered variation as dissimilar across with origin. The present study indicated that G. boninense from oil palm was predominantly comprised of a genetically distinct individual.

Oil palm plantations (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) in Indonesia have been considered as a leading sector to increase the country's economic growth, create jobs, and improve the distribution of people's income The production of oil palm fruit commodities in 2019 reached a total of 51,443,315 tonnes (Director General of Plantations, 2020). Its export volume in 2019 was 29,135,179 tonnes, equivalent to US$ 20,802,708,000. Oil palm crop production in Indonesia is managed by three groups: state-owned plantation companies, private plantation companies, and smallholder plantations. Oil palm plantation areas spanned 14,677,560 hectares in 2019, 41% of which were community-based plantations. These areas produced 14,846,112 tonnes of palm oil in the same year, accounting for 16% of the national palm oil crop production volume (Directorate General of Plantations, 2020). The development of oil palm plantation areas has made a major contribution to the country's foreign exchange reserves, added to local revenue, encouraged the acceleration of economic development, and encouraged poverty alleviation in rural areas. This study aims to analyse the economic, social, environmental, institutional, and technological influences on the sustainability of independent oil palm farms in Sintang District. The research method used is the Structural Equation Model (SEM) operated through the AMOS programme. While the tools used in this study using a questionnaire with 216 respondents. From a total population of 491 respondents. The findings of this study indicate that the C.R value of the economic dimension is 4.026, social is 2.920, environmental is 3.237, institutional is 3.247, and technology is 2.694. This shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between the dimensions of the sustainability of independent oil palm farming.