Webb, Michael J., Nelson, Paul N., Bessou, Cécile, Caliman, Jean-Pierre, and Sutarta, Edy S. (2015) Sustainable Management of Soil in Oil Palm Plantings: Proceedings of a Workshop held in Medan, Indonesia, 7–8 November 2013. ACIAR Proceedings No. 144 . Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra.

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Abstract

Oil palm is a globally important source of vegetable oil, being used in a wide variety of foods and other products. For many tropical countries it is an economically important crop, fulfilling local demand for vegetable oil and generating large export incomes. It is grown by plantation companies and smallholder families; often in a nucleus or plasma system where the smallholders supply oil palm fruit to a centralised mill. As demand for vegetable oil increases, due to growing and increasingly wealthy populations, the industry is expanding rapidly onto new land and there is an increasing need for ecological intensification of production. To ensure continuous production into the future and to safeguard the condi¬tion of the broader environment it is crucial that the condition of the soil in oil palm plantations be maintained or improved. In our rapidly changing environ¬ment, new management approaches will be needed to optimise production and sustainability. Such advances will rely heavily on science- and system-based understanding of oil palm agroecosystems. This workshop brought together 41 scientists from 10 countries to discuss and advance sustainability of soil management in oil palm production systems. The workshop and subsequent proceedings covered a broad range of topics: soil types and properties; water and nutrient cycling; effects of organic resi¬dues; biogeochemical processes; biological processes; monitoring, modelling and assessment, and; synthesis and discussion. The papers produced during the workshop will be useful to scientists and managers throughout the tropics. I hope that the information and approaches discussed in this volume will be used widely, stimulating better understanding and care of vital soil resources.

Research Statement

Research Background	Oil palm is a globally important source of vegetable oil, being used in a wide variety of foods and other products. For many tropical countries it is an economically important crop, fulfilling local demand for vegetable oil and generating large export incomes. It is grown by plantation companies and smallholder families; often in a nucleus or plasma system where the smallholders supply oil palm fruit to a centralised mill. As demand for vegetable oil increases, due to growing and increasingly wealthy populations, the industry is expanding rapidly onto new land and there is an increasing need for ecological intensification of production.
Research Contribution	The workshop and subsequent proceedings covered a broad range of topics: soil types and properties; water and nutrient cycling; effects of organic residues; biogeochemical processes; biological processes; monitoring, modelling and assessment, and; synthesis and discussion. The papers produced during the workshop will be useful to scientists and managers throughout the tropics.
Research Significance	To ensure continuous production into the future and to safeguard the condition of the broader environment it is crucial that the condition of the soil in oil palm plantations be maintained or improved. In our rapidly changing environment, new management approaches will be needed to optimise production and sustainability. Such advances will rely heavily on science- and system-based understanding of oil palm agroecosystems. This workshop brought together 41 scientists from 10 countries to discuss and advance sustainability of soil management in oil palm production systems.
Item ID:	51214
Item Type:	Book (Edited)
ISBN:	978-1-925133-63-9
Keywords:	sustainable agriculture, soil fertility, palm oil, hydrology, soil biology, nutrient cycling, modelling, monitoring, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, peat, land management
Date Deposited:	15 Oct 2017 23:42
FoR Codes:	07 AGRICULTURAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCES > 0701 Agriculture, Land and Farm Management > 070101 Agricultural Land Management @ 40% 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0503 Soil Sciences > 050303 Soil Biology @ 30% 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0503 Soil Sciences > 050304 Soil Chemistry (excl Carbon Sequestration Science) @ 30%
SEO Codes:	82 PLANT PRODUCTION AND PLANT PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 8203 Industrial Crops > 820399 Industrial Crops not elsewhere classified @ 50% 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9609 Land and Water Management > 960904 Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Land Management @ 50%
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