Oil palm plays a large role in Southeast Asia, Malaysia. The British first brought it to Malaysia in 1875 and its first commercial planting was in 1917. However, the palm oil industry only started after Malaysia gained its independence in 1963 (Drabble, 2004). Malaysia has the ideal climate, gentle topography, and soil conditions that allow oil palm crops to grow well in its environment. Furthermore, the oil extracted from the oil palm plant, is one of the most versatile sources for food and non-food products, making it a crucial crop in several parts of the world.
The oil palm fruit yields two types of oils – palm oil and palm kernel oil. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit (Fig. 1), is edible, and is used primarily in food products.
On the other hand, palm kernel oil is extracted from the seed of the fruit (Fig. 2) and is used to manufacture non-food products such as soaps and cosmetics (Sime Darby, 2014). The leftover fibre from the palm oil can also be used in animal feed. (GreenPalm, 2014).
Palm oil is an important food supply to the world, especially as cooking oil, and can be present in a wide variety of products. Only 5% of palm oil is used for energy and fuels and the rest are produced into biodegradable products such as foods, confectionery, shampoo, cosmetics, washing detergents, candles, and toothpaste (Fig. 3). The palm oil industry expanded also because of several Malaysian government policies enacted to encourage large scale planting, such as crop diversification and increased industrialization.
Thus, over the past 5 decades, the palm oil industry has grown exponentially (Fig. 4) because of its economic usefulness for humans and suitability in the Malaysian environment, yet there is debate about oil palm’s environmental impacts, specifically on carbon storage that is still continuously mitigated by governmental and environmental policies.
Governmental policies are shaped to encourage higher productivity of palm oil in Malaysia. In the 1960s, because the Malaysian government wanted to focus on crop diversification as a means to eradicate poverty, it increased oil palm cultivation and land settlement schemes (Sime Darby, 2009). The 1970s called for increased industrialization and refining of palm oil as the government recognized oil palm’s potential as a complementary crop to rubber. Refineries and fractionation facilities emerged, introducing a wide range of palm oil products. Taxation and incentive policies also encouraged the export of refined palm products (Sime Darby, 2009). The government also established the Agriculture University of Malaysia to train agriculture and agro-industrial engineers and researchers (Sime Darby, 2009).
The importance of the palm oil trade for the Malaysian economy was also affirmed with the founding of Kuala Lumpur Commodity Exchange for price setting, hedging and dissemination of market info in the 1980s (Malaysia Palm Oil Council Publications). In 2000, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board was established to conduct research and development of oil palm and its beneficial uses. In 2006, the Malaysian government established the National Biofuel Policy to implement the B5 mandate, where all diesels sold in certain regions contain 5% palm oil, in order to increase market expansion and product diversification (Sime Darby, 2009).
Update:
Malaysia is on pace to produce 100 percent certified sustainable palm oil by 2019 and the government has announced that Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification will become mandatory for all Malaysian palm oil producers. Initiatives are already in place to help more producers, especially family farmers, who tend more than 40 percent of Malaysia’s oil palm-planted land – achieve certification.
The Malaysian government also introduced the Economic Transformation Program (ETP) in 2010 that identified the oil palm industry as one of the 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) to drive the nation’s economy. These policies have solidified palm oil as a crucial crop in Malaysia, accounting for 39% of world palm oil production and is the largest world exporter at 44%, making Malaysia an important resource for fulfilling the global need for oils and fats (Malaysian Palm Oil Industry 2012; May, 2012).
Aside from the governmental policies that increase palm oil production, the ideal climate conditions and Malaysia also contribute to its higher productivity. Located near the equator, Malaysia is hot and humid throughout the year with an average rainfall of 250cm a year and an average temperature of 27 °C (Saw, 2007). The hot temperature allows oil palm to produce many leaves and clusters of fruit (FAO, 2013). Furthermore, the large amount of sunshine available at the equator encourages strong photosynthesis, providing abundant nutrients for oil palm to grow (FAO, 2013). As seen in the water balance table (Fig. 5), the monthly temperature stays relatively consistent and the precipitation rates are high, particularly during the monsoon season from October to January.
Similarly, the WebWimp Water Balance Graph (Fig. 6) displays very high precipitation rates. Although precipitation is lower during the summer season in February, June, July, and August, the rates are nothing lower than 200mm. Furthermore, the rainy monsoon season from September to January have precipitation rates above 300mm. The surplus of water is generally above 70mm, and the overall wet climate makes the soil moist year round.
This is essential as a warm and humid climate assists in decomposition, creating more organic matter in the soil and providing the perfect environment for oil palm to grow.
The topography of Malaysia also affects the distribution of oil palm. Malaysia is divided between coastal regions, hills and valleys, and a mountainous interior (Fig. 7).
However, the most fertile land occurs on the flat coastlines. The gentle and flat land creates less soil erosion and allows for convenient transportation (FAO 2013). Furthermore, the various river tributaries flowing out from the mountains to the sea distribute the necessary water at the coastlines for the oil palm crops (Fig. 8). Therefore, most of the oil palm is grown on the coastlines of Malaysia, particularly in the Northeastern area, Sarawak.
Malaysia’s soils also provide great conditions for oil palm crops to grow. The soil predominantly consists of vertisols (yellow), and histosols (dark brown), which are present mainly on the coastlines of Northeastern Malaysia (Fig. 9).
Vertisols, which are rich in clays, have a high cation exchange capacity, making it easier to absorb exchangeable bases and allow the soil to provide moisture and retain nutrients and organic matter.
However, histosols are the most suitable for oil palm crops because it is peaty and consist mostly of organic matter. Its parent material is composed of decomposed plant tissues, and other decomposition creates a lot of organic material ideal for plant growth. Although there is little clay, histosols have a wet and high hydraulic conductivity and moderated available water capacity, generating a substantial amount of water and moisture in the area for oil palm to grow.
Both soils are important as they control the amount of soil water for oil palm crops, supporting the growth processes as it conducts nutrients to the plant roots and transfer materials down the soil profile (NSSC Soil Taxonomy, 1998).
Oil palm positively impacts the environment in several ways and is one of the more sustainable crops in terms of carbon storage to reduce climate change. Oil palm plantations are as effective as rain forests in acting as a carbon sink to absorb carbon dioxide. A closed canopy crop of palm oil at maturity mimics a tropical rainforest and may accumulate up to 100 to 120 tons per hectare of biomass (Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 2007; Palm Oil World, 2011).
Moreover, because palm plantations uses idle land or land previously planted with other crops, they do not encroach fertile and lush forest areas (Malaysia Palm Oil Board, 2012; Basiron, 2007; Mielling and Henson, 2011). Furthermore, oil palm is planted on 4.2 million hectares, less than 13% of Malaysia’s total land area. The country still has at least 56.5% of its total area under forest and nature reserves (Malaysia Palm Oil Board 2012; Palm Oil World, 2011). This allows for ample land in Malaysia for carbon storage to absorb carbon dioxide and mitigate global warming.
There is also no loss in carbon emissions as zero burning is practiced in clearing the old oil palm plantations during replanting. The old palms are pushed over, shredded and left to decompose, recycling the nutrients from the old crop (Palm Oil World, 2011). A peer review from five researchers of peat emissions from tropical peatlands to oil palm cultivation found no general consensus with regard to the amount of peat emission, ranging from 40 to 95 tons per hectare annually (EPA, 2014). In the majority of cases, research suggests that conversion of grassland to oil palm plantations in Malaysia resulted in low carbon emissions (Goodrick et al. 2015; Agus et al., 2013; Melling et al., 2007).
Oil palm’s adaptability to the Malaysian environment also contributes to its high growth output in Malaysia. It is a perennial crop and has a continual productive lifespan of 25-30 years. Even if the weather is bad, the crops will continue to grow, and it does not need annual land preparation and removal of topsoil, making it a more sustainable crop than others, which need to be regrown every year (Sime Darby, 2014). Furthermore, oil palm accounts for 5.5% of global land use for cultivation but produces 32% of global oils and fats in 2012 (Fig. 10). Its total yield is about 4.5 tons per hectare, making it the most productive oil crop in the world-- 10 times more productive then soyabean, which yielded only between 0.37 tons per hectare and 0.75 tons per hectare in 2011 (Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities Malaysia, 2011; Palm Oil World, 2011).
Figure 10: Oil Palm land use is 5.5% while its global production is 32% (Sime Darby, 2013)
Therefore, to produce the same volume of oil, oil palm will only need one-tenth of the area required by soyabean (Palm Oil World, 2011). This is an important consideration as there is more land for carbon storage than other crops, while still providing a prolific supply of oils to feed the increasing world population.
However, oil palm crops have negative effects on the environment through its lack of or decrease in carbon storage in Malaysia. As Malaysia is geographically small, arable land for new oil palm plantations is scarce. With a scarcity of suitable land, the only way forward is to increase yields significantly or move overseas in order to enhance Malaysia’s economy.
Over 80% of Sarawak's forests have been felled, and the logging throughout East Malaysia has polluted waterways, increased erosion, and damaged topsoil for agriculture (Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2008). Princeton University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology estimate that between 1990 and 2005, 55-60% of oil palm expansion in Malaysia and Indonesia occurred at the expense of virgin forests.
Furthermore, most of the land used for palm oil plantations is on peatlands, which cover an estimated 440 000km2. These contain thick layers of carbon-rich matter, with about 2900 years of carbon accumulation in a hectare of coastal peatlands (Kurnianto et al. 2015; Hansen et al. 2014; Cacho et al 2015). Traditional small farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia still practice slash and burn farming, where they clear and burn forests and use the ashes for fertilizer as cheaper alternatives (Augustyn, 2007). These practices have been carried out for hundreds of years and would decrease carbon storage by releasing large amounts of carbon dioxide from burning and destroying the forests (Cacho et al. (2015).
Despite the negative environmental impacts of oil palm, governmental policies have been made to mitigate the consequences. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) sets out to prevent the worst aspects of palm oil cultivation such as illegal deforestation, pollution, destruction of biodiversity, and poor employment conditions. With nearly 1,300 members, RSPO is currently the largest sustainability-focused organization within the palm oil sector.
However, its standards do not ban deforestation or destruction of peatlands for the development of oil palm plantations (Say No to Palm Oil, 2015). Moreover, farmers and indigenous people are displaced from their lands, and are sometimes threatened or arrested if they resist. Furthermore, there are still farmers that use unsustainable practices for cultivation of oil palm. Other environmental organizations such as Greenpeace International consider RSPO to be “little more than greenwash” (Balch, 2013).
In conclusion, the climate, topography, and soil conditions of Malaysia provide the perfect environment for the oil palm crop to thrive. The various uses and beneficial products that can be developed from oil palm and its components bolstered the Malaysian government to enact policies that expanded and solidified oil palm as an essential crop. Although there are efforts to make the cultivation of oil palm more sustainable, the impacts of oil palm on carbon storage are still irresolute and there is not enough extensive research about this topic to make a sound conclusion.
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