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Oil palm is presently the most important oil-producing crop worldwide in terms of oil production and consumption. However, oil palm cultivation faces important challenges such as adverse climatic conditions, expensive fertilization requirements, and fungal pathogens, including Ganoderma . Intense efforts in oil palm breeding are devoted to improving both oil production yield and resistance to environmental cues. Metabolomics can be of interest because it provides many quantitative traits and metabolic signatures that can be selected for to optimize oil palm performance. Here, we briefly review how metabolomics can help oil palm breeding, and to do so, we give examples of recent metabolomics analyses and provide a roadmap to use metabolomics-assisted breeding.

Agriculture is expanding rapidly across the tropics. While cultivation can boost socioeconomic conditions and food security, it also threatens native ecosystems. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), which is grown pantropically, is the most productive vegetable oil crop worldwide. The impacts of oil palm cultivation have been studied extensively in Southeast Asia and - to a lesser extent - in Latin America but, in comparison, very little is known about its impacts in Africa: oil palm's native range, and where cultivation is expanding rapidly. In this paper, we introduce a large-scale research programme - the Sustainable Oil Palm in West Africa (SOPWA) Project - that is evaluating the relative ecological impacts of oil palm cultivation under traditional (i.e., by local people) and industrial (i.e., by a large-scale corporation) management in Liberia. Our paper is twofold in focus. First, we use systematic mapping to appraise the literature on oil palm research in an African context, assessing the geographic and disciplinary focus of existing research. We found 757 publications occurring in 36 African countries. Studies tended to focus on the impacts of palm oil consumption on human health and wellbeing. We found no research that has evaluated the whole-ecosystem (i.e., multiple taxa and ecosystem functions) impacts of oil palm cultivation in Africa, a knowledge gap which the SOPWA Project directly addresses. Second, we describe the SOPWA Project's study design and-using canopy cover, ground vegetation cover, and soil temperature data as a case study-demonstrate its utility for assessing differences between areas of rainforest and oil palm agriculture. We outline the socioecological data collected by the SOPWA Project to date and describe the potential for future research, to encourage new collaborations and additional similar projects of its kind in West Africa. Increased research in Africa is needed urgently to understand the combined ecological and sociocultural impacts of oil palm and other agriculture in this unique region. This will help to ensure long-term sustainability of the oil palm industry-and, indeed, all tropical agricultural activity-in Africa., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest Co-authors with a Forestry Development Authority (FDA), Golden Veroleum Liberia (GVL), and Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Research Institute (SMARTRI) affiliation were employed by their respective institutes while research was conducted. University of Cambridge retains all intellectual property rights and data-use for all researchers involved in this study. This research is therefore a collaboration between all affiliated parties., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Well-designed approaches to ecological restoration can benefit nature and society. This is particularly the case in tropical agroecosystems, where restoration can provide substantial socioecological benefits at relatively low costs. To successfully restore tropical agroecosystems and maximise benefits, initiatives must begin by considering 'who' should be involved in and benefit from restoration, and 'what', 'where', and 'how' restoration should occur. Based on collective experience of restoring tropical agroecosystems worldwide, we present nine actions to guide future restoration of these systems, supported by case studies that demonstrate our actions being used successfully in practice and highlighting cases where poorly designed restoration has been damaging. We call for increased restoration activity in tropical agroecosystems during the current UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests Authors are affiliated with the restoration projects that are outlined in the case studies in this manuscript: A.R. (Restoring the Madagascan Fandriana-Marolambo landscape); M.D.P., A.A.K.A., D.B., J.-P.C., P.H., H.K., M.N., E.C.T., D.C.Z., and S.H.L. (Restoring cultivated oil palm landscapes in Indonesia and Malaysia); F.A. and A.D.G.C. (Restoring the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest)., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Extensive oil palm plantations have often resulted in the decrease of soil organic carbon (SOC). Several options exist to counter this, such as recycling empty fruit bunches (EFB) as a soil amendment. However, the extent to which EFB increase SOC has been disputed. Since EFB could also be used as a climate change mitigation tool, it is necessary to truly understand their impact on SOC. The investigation of the impact of nine EFB treatments (differing in frequency and application rates) on a 27-year-old large-scale experiment (Lampung, Sumatra, Indonesia) revealed that, while EFB impacts are heterogeneous throughout the plantation, they can positively affect total SOC and permanganate oxidisable carbon (POX-C) both at shallow and deep depths (measured up to 100 cm). POX-C was closely correlated to SOC, but showed significant increases compared to the untreated control in all treatments, while total SOC was only increased in a few treatments with small and frequent rates of EFB application. Overall, between 12 (±16) and 56 (±12) t ha - 1 of carbon were sequestered under the harvesting path after 21 years. Focussing on the mineral nutrition value of the EFB, oil palm companies apply a rate of 60 t of EFB every second year for their commercial production, and the analysis of three commercial plots showed that the commercial rate only increased POX-C while it had no effect on the total SOC and SOC stocks. It seems obvious that a change of paradigm is necessary to consider EFB recycling as a new management perspective, where the potential for carbon sequestration becomes an important variable for climate change mitigation besides the initial objective of integrating EFB application into the fertiliser management plan of a plantation., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Asian weaver ants ( Oecophyllasmaragdina ) are an important biocontrol agent in agricultural habitats. We conducted surveys in oil palm plantations in Riau, Indonesia for an obligate myrmecophilous butterfly larvae, Liphyrabrassolis (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae), that is known to consume weaver ant larvae in other habitat types. We found L.brassolis larvae in five of the twenty nests surveyed, with larval presence not being related to weaver ant nest size. We also observed L.brassolis larvae in a weaver ant mass rearing facility. This is the first report of L.brassolis from oil palm plantations and may have implications for the use of weaver ants as biological control agents., (Andreas Dwi Advento, Kalsum M Yusah, Hasber Salim, Mohammad Naim, Jean-Pierre Caliman, Tom Maurice Fayle.)

Expansion of oil palm has caused widespread declines in biodiversity and changes in ecosystem functioning across the tropics. A major driver of these changes is loss of habitat heterogeneity as forests are converted into oil palm plantations. Therefore, one strategy to help support biodiversity and functioning in oil palm is to increase habitat heterogeneity, for instance, by retaining forested buffers around rivers when new plantations are established, or maintaining buffers made of mature oil palms ("mature palm buffers") when old plantations are replanted. While forested buffers are known to benefit oil palm systems, the impacts of mature palm buffers are less certain. In this study, we assessed the benefits of mature palm buffers, which were being passively restored (in this case, meaning that buffers were treated with no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers) by sampling environmental conditions and arthropods within buffers and in surrounding non-buffer areas (i.e., areas that were 25 and 125 m from buffers, and receiving normal business-as-usual management) across an 8-year chronosequence in industrial oil palm plantations (Sumatra, Indonesia). We ask (1) Do environmental conditions and biodiversity differ between buffer and non-buffer areas? (2) Do buffers affect environmental conditions and biodiversity in adjacent non-buffer areas (i.e., areas that were 25 m from buffers)? (3) Do buffers become more environmentally complex and biodiverse over time? We found that buffers can have environmental conditions (canopy openness, variation in openness, vegetation height, ground cover, and soil temperature) and levels of arthropod biodiversity (total arthropod abundance and spider abundance in the understory and spider species-level community composition in all microhabitats) that are different from those in non-buffer areas, but that these differences are inconsistent across the oil palm commercial life cycle. We also found that buffers might contribute to small increases in vegetation height and changes in ground cover in adjacent non-buffer areas, but do not increase levels of arthropod biodiversity in these areas. Finally, we found that canopy openness, variation in openness, and ground cover, but no aspects of arthropod biodiversity, change within buffers over time. Collectively, our findings indicate that mature palm buffers that are being passively restored can have greater environmental complexity and higher levels of arthropod biodiversity than non-buffer areas, particularly in comparison to recently replanted oil palm, but these benefits are not consistent across the crop commercial life cycle. If the goal of maintaining riparian buffers is to consistently increase habitat heterogeneity and improve biodiversity, an alternative to mature palm buffers or a move toward more active restoration of these areas is, therefore, probably required., (© 2022 The Authors. Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.)

Smallholder farmers produce over 40% of global palm oil, the world's most traded and controversial vegetable oil. Awareness of the effects of palm oil production on ecosystems and human communities has increased drastically in recent years, with ever louder calls for the private and public sector to develop programs to support sustainable cultivation by smallholder farmers. To effectively influence smallholder practices and ensure positive social outcomes, such schemes must consider the variety in perspectives of farmers and align with their priorities. We conducted social surveys on smallholder farmers in Indonesia and Malaysia with varying degrees of participation in programs that offer advice and support with plantation management ("management-assistance programs") led by an industrial palm oil producer in Indonesia and a conservation-focused NGO in Malaysia. We surveyed farmers on their demographics, attitudes, and management decisions. Our analyses act as case studies to investigate the similarities and differences between smallholder palm oil producers involved in different schemes, allowing us to determine the alignment between the intentions of partnership programs and the current realities of smallholder plantations. The relationship between heterogeneity of social factors and management decisions and degree of program involvement differed across different groups and region: Indonesian smallholders most closely partnered with the private sector were the most varied in socio-demographics and attitudes but showed little variation in management inputs, while Malaysian smallholders most closely partnered with an NGO were the most heterogenous across all survey sections. Specifically, Indonesian farmers partnered with the private sector used less herbicide, more fertilizer, and had higher yield and total household income than farmers completely uninvolved with management assistance programs. In Malaysia, farmers partnered with an NGO also had higher yield and fertilizer application than independent farmers, however they used significantly more herbicide and had lower total household income. Our findings demonstrate the wide variety of smallholder farmers in both regions, directly opposing a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to sustainability. The wide variety of existing management practices also provides a potentially valuable natural experiment to identify high-yield, environmentally-friendly management approaches. When taken in context, our findings may inform the interventions of management-assistance programs, ensuring they are approaching the most relevant farmer groups in the most effective way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability to keep stable, healthy colonies in laboratory settings is fundamental for conducting research on ants and particularly important for developing management tools for pest species. An important component for successful ant rearing is a suitable diet and a number of diets for feeding ants have been developed. Calcium caseinate as a protein supplement has been a widely used ingredient in ant diets, but it has become difficult to obtain. Therefore, there is a need to find an alternative protein supplement for rearing ants in captivity. Using the ant Nylanderia fulva as a model, the suitability of four alternative diets was tested against a calcium caseinate containing diet: (1) whey protein isolate fortified with calcium, (2) whey protein isolate, (3) sodium caseinate, and (4) cricket powder. We tested the performance of colony fragments fed on diets by comparing worker and queen mortality, as well as brood production for 6 weeks. Diet containing cricket powder performed better than all other diets, reflected by lower worker mortality and the addition of new workers and brood to the colony fragment, resulting in colony growth. Considering recent developments in the production of cricket powder making it a low cost and readily accessible ingredient, it should prove an effective protein supplement for rearing ants in captivity for other species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To support the search for alternate chemical-free strategies to enhance plant growth and control plant diseases, we present an overview of the potential use of Biochar (BC) a product synthesized through pyrolysis from organic and agricultural waste used as a soil amendment, in suppressing broad range plant pathogens. A broad-spectrum BC effect contributes to the control of soil and foliar pathogens by altering the root exudates mechanism of the host plant, soil health and nutrient mobilization that affect the colonization of antagonistic microorganisms. Induction of plant defense mechanism by adding BC in potting medium to reduce foliar pathogens by the activation of defensive responses and induction of reactive oxygen species signaling in the plant system. Although few reports have been found for controlling oomycetes, viruses and bacterial pathogens through the application of BC, reports indicated that adding BC has potentially changed the soil microbiota colonization which contributes to disease suppression. BC also controls nematodes and harmful insects of plants. In addition, the main mechanisms of action for plant parasitic nematodes are changes in soil structure and could increase the biocontrol microorganism in the rhizosphere which resists nematodes colonizing and penetrating the plant system. Using BC-based amendments is a promising strategy with a carbon sequestration strategy, created on zero waste, as part of the integrated management of pathogens and parasites. Comprehensively, it is needed to be standardized the dosage and feedstock of BC in terms of sustainable production and disease control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A life cycle assessment (LCA) study was undertaken for the orchard stage of the NZ avocado value chain, to guide the development of indicators for facilitating continuous improvement in its environmental profile. Methods: The functional unit (FU) was 1 kg Hass avocados produced in NZ, up to the orchard gate. The baseline model assessed avocados produced in fully productive orchards, using input data collected from 49 orchards across 281 ha in the three main avocado growing regions of New Zealand. In addition, the non-productive and low production years of avocado orchards were assessed using data from four newly established avocado operations spread across 489 ha. Climate change, eutrophication, water use, freshwater ecotoxicity and terrestrial ecotoxicity results were calculated for each orchard. Finally, national scores were calculated for each impact category from the weighted averages of the individual orchard results in the baseline sample of the three studied regions. Results: There was significant variability between orchards in different input quantities, as well as impact scores. The impact assessment results showed that fuel use and fertiliser/soil conditioner production and use on orchard were consistently the main hotspots for all impact categories except water use, where impacts were generally dominated by indirect water use (irrespective of whether the orchards were irrigated or not). When considering the entire orchard lifespan, the commercially productive stage of the orchard life contributed the most to all impact category results. However, the impacts associated with 1 kg avocados, when allocated based on the total impacts across the orchard lifespan, were 13–26% higher than the baseline results which considered only the commercially productive years of the orchard life. Conclusion: The study identified the priority areas for focussed improvement efforts (in particular, fertiliser and fuel use for all impact categories, and agrichemical use for the ecotoxicity impacts). Second, the regional- and national-level impact scores obtained in this study can be used as benchmarks in indicator development to show growers their relative ranking in terms of environmental performance. When using the indicators and benchmarks in a monitoring scheme, consideration should be given to developing separate benchmarks (using area-based functional units) for young orchards. It will also be necessary to develop a better understanding of the reasons for the variability in inputs and impacts so that benchmarks can be tailored to account fairly and equitably for the variability between orchards and regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental challenge is to understand and navigate trade-offs between ecosystem services (ES) in dynamic landscapes and to account for interactions between local people and broad-scale drivers, such as agricultural intensification. Many analyses of ES trade-offs rely on static mapping and biophysical indicators while disregarding the multiple uses, values, and desires for ES (UVD-ES) that local people associate with their changing landscapes. Here, a participatory UVD-ES framework was applied to assess differences in the use, values, and desire of ES between three zones with different land-use intensities (with pre-frontier, frontier, and post-frontier landscapes) in West Kalimantan (Indonesia). The analysis revealed that (1) almost the full suite of ES uses has become destabilized as a result of agricultural intensification; (2) ES more closely associated with agricultural intensification were largely desired by local people yet they still valued a diversity of traditional ES, such as those derived from the provision of non-timber forest products, fish, and other ES associated with non-material aspects including those tied to traditional culture; (3) the mismatch in used ES versus valued ES increased with agricultural intensification due to a decrease in the flow of non-timber forest products, aquatic, regulating, and non-material (cultural) ES. Together, exploring UVD-ES patterns in a participatory way helped to reveal locally relevant social-ecological drivers of ES and a multidimensional perspective of ES trade-offs. Our UVD-ES framework offers an opportunity to foster participation as a way to reconnect global environmental research agendas with local and regional landscape contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Functional–structural plant models are increasingly being used by plant scientists to address a wide variety of questions. However, the calibration of these complex models is often challenging, mainly because of their high computational cost, and, as a result, error propagation is usually ignored. Here we applied an automatic method to the calibration of WALTer: a functional–structural wheat model that simulates the plasticity of tillering in response to competition for light. We used a Bayesian calibration method to jointly estimate the values of five parameters and quantify their uncertainty by fitting the model outputs to tillering dynamics data. We made recourse to Gaussian process metamodels in order to alleviate the computational cost of WALTer. These metamodels are built from an adaptive design that consists of successive runs of WALTer chosen by an efficient global optimization algorithm specifically adapted to this particular calibration task. The method presented here performed well on both synthetic and experimental data. It is an efficient approach for the calibration of WALTer and should be of interest for the calibration of other functional–structural plant models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ganoderma sp., the fungal agent causing basal stem rot (BSR), poses a severe threat to global oil palm production. Alarming increases in BSR occurrences within oil palm growing zones are attributed to varying effectiveness in its current management strategies. Asymptomatic progression of the disease and the continuous monoculture of oil palm pose challenges for prompt and effective management. Therefore, the development of precise, early, and timely detection techniques is crucial for successful BSR management. Conventional methods such as visual assessments, culture-based assays, and biochemical and physiological approaches prove time-consuming and lack specificity. Serological-based diagnostic methods, unsuitable for fungal diagnostics due to low sensitivity, assay affinity, cross-contamination which further underscores the need for improved techniques. Molecular PCR-based assays, utilizing universal, genus-specific, and species-specific primers, along with functional primers, can overcome the limitations of conventional and serological methods in fungal diagnostics. Recent advancements, including real-time PCR, biosensors, and isothermal amplification methods, facilitate accurate, specific, and sensitive Ganoderma detection. Comparative whole genomic analysis enables high-resolution discrimination of Ganoderma at the strain level. Additionally, omics tools such as transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics can identify potential biomarkers for early detection of Ganoderma infection. Innovative on-field diagnostic techniques, including remote methods like volatile organic compounds profiling, tomography, hyperspectral and multispectral imaging, terrestrial laser scanning, and Red-Green-Blue cameras, contribute to a comprehensive diagnostic approach. Ultimately, the development of point-of-care, early, and cost-effective diagnostic techniques accessible to farmers is vital for the timely management of BSR in oil palm plantations., (© 2024. Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i.)

Every year at the onset of winter season (October–November), crop residue/parali/stubble burning starts in Punjab and Haryana, leading to heavy air pollution in Delhi, and adversely affecting human and environmental health. During this time, the combination of unfavourable meteorological conditions, additional emissions from stubble burning, and firework activities in this area causes the air quality to further deteriorate. In this study, we have attempted to understand the influence of parali and firecracker incidents on air pollutants' variability over Delhi during the last three years (2020 to 2022). For this purpose, daily average particulate matter and gaseous pollutants data were fetched from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), and daily total fire counts and fire radiative power (FRP) data were retrieved from NASA's Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS). A bigger area of severe burning is suggested by higher FRP values and higher fire counts in the middle of November in all the years considered. Three years satellite-based FIRMS data over Punjab and Haryana show the highest number of active fire counts in 2021 (n = 80,505) followed by 2020 (n = 75,428), and 2022 (n = 49,194). More than 90% parali burning incidents were observed in Punjab state only despite the considerable variability in numbers among the years. The significant effect of parali burning was seen on pollutant concentration variability. As the number of fire count increases or decreases in Punjab and Haryana, there is a corresponding increase or decrease in the particulate matter concentration with a time lag of few days (1 to 2 days). The trend in backward air mass trajectories suggests that the variable response time of pollutants' concentration is due to local and distant sources with different air mass speeds. Our estimates suggest that stubble burning contributes 50–75% increment in PM2.5 and 40 to 45% increase in PM10 concentration between October and November. A good positive correlation between PM2.5, PM10, NOX, and CO and fire counts (up to 0.8) suggests a strong influence of stubble burning on air quality over Delhi. Furthermore, the firecracker activities significantly increase the concentration of particulate matter with ~100% increment in PM2.5 and ~55% increment in PM10 mass concentrations for a relatively shorter period (1 to 2 days). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degraded areas in Southern Brazil are undergoing rapid conversion from abandoned fields into agroforestry system. Our focus was to investigate the impact of land use and soil properties on soil fauna and quality in an agroforestry system and a natural ecosystem. The agroforestry system had the presence of Cicadidae (0.1 ind trap−1), Diplura (0.01 ind trap−1), Gryllidae (0.2 ind trap−1), Gyrinidae (0.07 ind trap−1), and Larvae (0.3 ind trap−1), and it presents lower SOC (less 44.3%) and higher total N (more 29.8%) and P contents (more 68.8%) when compared with the natural ecosystem. Richness and diversity declined (less than 16.3 and 31.8%, respectively) with increasing soil pH. Natural ecosystem showed the greatest diversity (H' = 2.44) of soil fauna. A negative correlation was observed between diversity and soil pH (−0.91), and positive correlations among diversity and SOC (0.97), richness (0.88), and dominance (0.93). In conclusion, fauna abundance, precipitation, and soil pH played essential roles in soil quality through ecosystem services, habitat, and energy provision, which in turn promoted the entire soil food web. Thus, the findings in the agroforestry system and natural ecosystem help us to understand how land uses impact soil fauna, and soil quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reliance of conventional oil palm production on agrochemicals to control understory vegetation has caused devastating impacts on the environment. Overuse of chemical herbicides leads to the decline of native biodiversity and production-related ecosystem services, including biological pest control. In contrast to herbicide applications, livestock integration is a chemical-free approach to eradicate weeds without negative consequences on the environment. In this sentinel prey experiment, we assessed the predation pressure (based upon the number of bite marks left by natural predators such as arthropods, birds, and mammals) in three oil palm plantations with different weeding practices (i.e., rotational grazing, free-range grazing, and conventional weeding) located on the south-west part of Peninsular Malaysia. We also investigated the effects of site level characteristics on the predation pressures of artificial caterpillars. Across all types of weeding systems, we found that the majority of the predation attempts on the deployed artificial caterpillars were made by arthropods (532 attempts), whereas mammals (66 attempts) and birds (60 attempts) played much smaller roles. Our results showed that predation pressures were consistent across sites indicating that oil palm-cattle integrated plantations (either free-range or rotational grazing systems) would experience similar level of pest control services as conventional herbicide-sprayed plantations. Our results also indicate the influence of site-level habitat variables (i.e., mean of palm heights, canopy cover, and elevation) on predation pressures. Our results suggest that livestock-oil palm integration may sustain natural predation with little or no herbicide input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions occur as a consequence of the turnover of soil nitrogen (N), but gross N transformations and N2O production are often not studied in combination, so the relationships are poorly understood. Here, we quantified gross N transformations and the N2O production pathway of alkaline fluvo-aquic soils under different fertilization regimes collected from a long-term field experiment in the North China Plain and compared them with six acidic UK soils (one was alkaline for reference) with high soil organic carbon (SOC). We found that nitrification was the dominant N2O production pathway in the alkaline Chinese soil with a contribution of nitrification to N2O emissions (N2Onit) of 81%. By contrast, denitrification was the main N2O production pathway for the acidic UK soils with the contribution of denitrification to N2O emissions (N2Oden) of 66%. Long-term manure applications significantly increased N2Oden, compared to the synthetic N and no N treatments (25% vs. 18%). The N2Onit was positively correlated with gross autotrophic nitrification rates and pH but negatively correlated with gross N mineralization, SOC, soil total N content, and C:N ratios. Our findings highlight the importance of soil pH in controlling the N2O production in cropland soils, and suggest that the increased contribution of denitrification to N2O emissions should be considered, when increasing SOC through long-term manure and straw management for carbon sequestration and soil fertility improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of the oil palm plantations impact on biodiversity mostly compares oil palm plantations to natural forests. However, in reality, most land cover types before oil palm plantation establishment are no longer primary forests. Observations were made on two oil palm plantations (2 companies) in the West Kalimantan Province. Tracking data on the origin of land cover types was carried out using an interview method and analysis of the interpretation of land satellite imagery. The results showed that the baseline of oil palm plantations studied were shrubs/fields and secondary forests. The number of species (mammals and birds) in the oil palm area was higher than in the baseline area. The establishment of oil palm plantations originally in the form of shrubs or fields has affected the increasing diversity of mammals (3 species) and birds (11 species). The same results were also observed in areas that were originally in the form of secondary fields and forests, which also increased the number of species of mammals (5 species) and birds (18 species). Thus, it can be concluded that the land cover changes in 2 oil palm plantations studied has a positive impact on the mammals and birds’ species diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of croplands can be enhanced by targeted management, which boosts soil fertility and contributes to climate change mitigation. One SOC sequestration option is adopting cover crops. The aim of this study was to quantify the SOC sequestration potential of cover crops in Germany. Methods: We simulated SOC scenarios on 1,267 cropland sites with site-specific management data using an SOC model ensemble consisting of RothC and C-TOOL. A new method was developed to estimate carbon input from cover crops that included the effects of climate, sowing date and species on cover crop biomass production. Results: The recent cover crop area could be tripled to 30% of arable land in Germany. This would enhance total carbon input by 12% and increase SOC stocks by 35 Tg within 50 years, corresponding to an annual increase of 0.06 Mg C ha-1, 2.5 Tg CO2 or 0.8 per mill of current SOC stocks in 0–30 cm depth. On sites with cover crops, 0.28–0.33 Mg C ha-1 a-1 would be accumulated within 50 years. Our simulations predicted that even if the full potential for cover crop growth were realised, there would still be a decline in SOC stocks in German croplands within 50 years due to the underlining negative SOC trend. Conclusions: Cover crops alone cannot turn croplands from carbon sources to sinks. However, growing them reduces bare fallow periods and SOC losses and thus is an effective climate change mitigation strategy in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accuracy of fertiliser recommendations can be improved by knowledge of use efficiency of applied nutrients. The aim of this work was to determine the efficiency with which mature oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) recovers and uses fertiliser K and Mg under different environmental conditions in Sumatra, Indonesia. The work was carried out in seven factorial fertiliser trials (NPKMg) at sites with contrasting soils, slope and rainfall (1500–3500 mm annual average). We recorded the palms' fresh fruit bunch yield (weekly), vegetative growth and nutrient content (annually), and soil properties (once during the study) over three years. Nutrient content of the above-ground palm components was calculated by multiplying concentration by biomass. Palm responses to K and Mg application were analysed at non-limiting values of the other nutrients. Fresh fruit bunch yield was significantly increased by application of K in five of the seven sites (by 4.8–11.9 t ha−1) and by Mg in two of the seven sites (by 7.2–12.3 t ha−1). Application of these fertilisers also significantly increased growth and nutrient content in most situations. Nutrient use efficiency declined with increasing yield and nutrient uptake. In the five sites with most positive yield responses to K, agronomic efficiency of K and Mg differed between sites due to differences in recovery efficiency. Recovery efficiency was correlated positively to soil K, Mg and silt content and rainfall, and negatively to slope and soil moisture deficit. In contrast, physiological efficiency of K and Mg use was similar across sites, despite differences in palm age and planting density. It thus appeared that physiological efficiency was determined by genotype and that variation in agronomic efficiency was mostly a result of differences in recovery efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many publications lack sufficient background information (e.g. location) to be interpreted, replicated, or reused for synthesis. This impedes scientific progress and the application of science to practice. Reporting guidelines (e.g. checklists) improve reporting standards. They have been widely taken up in the medical sciences, but not in ecological and agricultural research. Here, we use a community-centred approach to develop a reporting checklist (AgroEcoList 1.0) through surveys and workshops with 23 experts and the wider agroecological community. To put AgroEcoList in context, we also assessed the agroecological community's perception of reporting standards in agroecology. A total of 345 researchers, reviewers, and editors, responded to our survey. Although only 32% of respondents had prior knowledge of reporting guidelines, 76% of those that had said guidelines improved reporting standards. Overall, respondents agreed on the need of AgroEcolist 1.0; only 24% of respondents had used reporting guidelines before, but 78% indicated they would use AgroEcoList 1.0. We updated AgroecoList 1.0 based on respondents' feedback and user-testing. AgroecoList 1.0 consists of 42 variables in seven groups: experimental/sampling set-up, study site, soil, livestock management, crop and grassland management, outputs, and finances. It is presented here, and is also available on github (https://github.com/AgroecoList/Agroecolist). AgroEcoList 1.0 can serve as a guide for authors, reviewers, and editors to improve reporting standards in agricultural ecology. Our community-centred approach is a replicable method that could be adapted to develop reporting checklists in other fields. Reporting guidelines such as AgroEcoList can improve reporting standards and therefore the application of research to practice, and we recommend that they are adopted more widely in agriculture and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm agroforestry systems associated with conservation management practices have been proposed as a more sustainable alternative to monoculture. We examined whether oil palm agroforestry systems (less and more diversified) under conservation management contribute to improving soil fertility (an indicator of soil sustainability), using a secondary forest fragment as a reference. We analyzed the effects of the agroforestry systems and the secondary forest on the following variables in the arable layer (0–20 cm) and in the layers along the soil profile (0–5, 5–10, 10–20, and 20–30 cm): active acidity (pH), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), phosphorus (P), aluminum (Al), organic matter, potential acidity (H + Al), potential cation-exchange capacity (CEC), effective cation-exchange capacity (ECEC), Al saturation (AS), and base saturation (BS). Overall, soil acidity was lower in the agroforestry systems than in the forest, in all layers. In the arable layer, the pH, Ca, Mg, K, P, and BS values were higher in the agroforestry systems than in the forest. Liming, inorganic and organic fertilization, and the maintenance of organic matter on the soil may have contributed to improving soil fertility in the oil palm agroforestry systems. Our results suggest that, in the eastern Amazon, oil palm growing in agroforestry systems associated with conservation practices can contribute to the maintenance of soil fertility at adequate levels for the species cultivated in these systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm dominates global oil production, trade, and consumption. Nigeria is one of the leading palm oil producers and consumers. A significant challenge of the palm oil industry is to reduce the environmental impacts (e.g. pollution and carbon footprint) and integrate a circular economy in operation. This study aims to comparatively quantify the environmental impacts of technologies used by different mills. We applied a life cycle assessment in the case of Nigeria. The study covers the reception and processing of fresh fruit bunch (FFB) to end-product palm oil. The inputs include generated empty fruit bunch (EFB), mesocarp fibre, palm kernel shell, palm oil mill effluent, diesel, water and all outputs to the environment for a functional unit of 1-tonne FFB. The results showed that large-scale mills perform worse (468 kg CO2-eq per t FFB) than the semi-mechanised and smallholder mills in effects on climate change but better in the other impact categories, including human toxicity, ecotoxicity, and fine particulate matter formation. In large-scale mills, the climate change impacts decrease by 75% when the raw palm oil mill effluent (POME) is used in composting EFB. Similarly, climate change impacts reduce by 44% when biogas from POME substitutes diesel in the semi-mechanised and smallholder mills. We conclude that regulatory measures are needed to ensure improved management practices in the production processes. Particular attention should be paid to the generation and reuse of biomass and POME. This study provides a handy reference to assist the sustainable energy transition in Nigeria's and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa's oil palm industry to mitigate climate change and form a cleaner bioeconomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen fertilizer application is crucial in maintaining soil fertility and crop productivity in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) plantations. However, the effects of N addition on soil's chemical and biological properties, particularly tropical peat are still unclear. This study investigated the impact of N fertilizer addition on peat properties, greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes, soil bacterial and fungal diversity in an oil palm plantation on tropical peat. A long-term field experiment (from 2012 to 2013 and 2016 to 2017) was conducted to compare the application of 124.3 kg N ha −1 y −1 of ammonium sulfate (the treatment) to no N application (the control). Baseline data were collected from a primary peat swamp. Overall, N fertilizer input slightly decreased soil pH, total carbon (C), total N, pyrophosphate solubility index (PSI) but increased nitrate (NO3−), ammonium (NH4+) concentration, methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes. The result suggested a reduction in soil bacterial diversity but an increase in soil fungal diversity. Forest soil showed naturally low NO3− concentration but a NH4+ concentration comparable to that in the oil palm plantation. These findings provide evidence of changes in soil chemical and biological properties from long-term ammonium sulfate application on tropical peat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently an intense debate about the potential for additional organic carbon storage in soil, the strategies by which it may be accomplished and what the actual benefits might be for agriculture and the climate. Controversy forms an essential part of the scientific process, but on the topic of soil carbon storage, it may confuse the agricultural community and the general public and may delay actions to fight climate change. In an attempt to shed light on this topic, the originality of this article lies in its intention to provide a balanced description of contradictory scientific opinions on soil carbon storage and to examine how the scientific community can support decision-making despite the controversy. In the first part, we review and attempt to reconcile conflicting views on the mechanisms controlling organic carbon dynamics in soil. We discuss the divergent opinions about chemical recalcitrance, the microbial or plant origin of persistent soil organic matter, the contribution of particulate organic matter to additional organic carbon storage in soil, and the spatial and energetic inaccessibility of soil organic matter to decomposers. In the second part, we examine the advantages and limitations of big data management and modeling, which are essential tools to link the latest scientific theories with the actions taken by stakeholders. Finally, we show how the analysis and discussion of controversies can guide scientists in supporting stakeholders for the design of (i) appropriate trade-offs for biomass use in agriculture and forestry and (ii) climate-smart management practices, keeping in mind their still unresolved effects on soil carbon storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Anticoagulants have been used in New Zealand for decades, but few data are available on the sustainability of these toxins for rodent control. It is important to regularly monitor for resistance in long-term brodifacoum-use areas and establish a database for future references. Aims: This study aimed to estimate the effective dose (ED50) of brodifacoum for ship rats from an area of New Zealand with no history of brodifacoum use, in order to establish a blood-clotting response test for assessing resistance in rodent populations from other areas. Methods: A ranging study was conducted whereby successive groups of ship rats were administered brodifacoum doses that were increased or decreased progressively, until an International Normalised Ratio (INR) of 3.6 was reached. Linear regression was used to model the relationship between dose and INR, and ED50 dose was estimated using the resulting model. Results: None of the rats appeared susceptible to brodifacoum at previously reported LD50 exposures for this species. The ED50 of brodifacoum was estimated to be 2.88 mg/kg for males and 3.81 mg/kg for females. These values are 6–8 times greater than the previously published lethal dose values for ship rats in New Zealand. Conclusions: Blood-clotting inhibition was detected in the rats only following high doses of brodifacoum, which may indicate resistance within the sampled population. Implications: Relatively low susceptibility, or resistance, to brodifacoum in New Zealand ship rats may be mediated by spatial connections between areas with different histories and patterns of anticoagulant rodenticide use. In this study we determine the effective dose (ED50) of brodifacoum for ship rats from an area with no history of brodifacoum use to establish a blood-clotting response test for assessing resistance in areas where brodifacoum has been used extensively. The ED50 of brodifacoum was estimated to be 6–8 times the published lethal dose of brodifacoum in New Zealand, suggesting brodifacoum resistance may develop even in areas of negligible or low brodifacoum use that are spatially connected to other areas where these poisons are used. Photograph by Jaskaran Dhillon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural expansion in Southeast Asia has converted most natural landscapes into mosaics of forest interspersed with plantations, dominated by the presence of generalist species that benefit from resource predictability. Dietary shifts, however, can result in metabolic alterations and the exposure of new parasites that can impact animal fitness and population survival. Our study focuses on the Asian water monitor lizard (Varanus salvator), one of the largest predators in the Asian wetlands, as a model species to understand the health consequences of living in a human-dominated landscape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. We evaluated the effects of dietary diversity on the metabolism of monitor lizards and the impact on the composition of their parasite communities in an oil palm-dominated landscape. Our results showed that (1) rodent-dominated diets were associated with high levels of lipids, proteins and electrolytes, akin to a fast-food -based diet of little representativeness of the full nutritional requirements, but highly available, and (2) lizards feeding on diverse diets hosted more diverse parasite communities, however, at overall lower parasite prevalence. Furthermore, we observed that the effect of diet on lipid concentration differed depending on the size of individual home ranges, suggesting that sedentarism plays an important role in the accumulation of cholesterol and triglycerides. Parasite communities were also affected by a homogeneous dietary behaviour, as well as by habitat type. Dietary diversity had a negative effect on both parasite richness and prevalence in plantations, but not in forested areas. Our study indicates that human-dominated landscapes can pose a negative effect on generalist species and hints to the unforeseen health consequences for more vulnerable taxa using the same landscapes. Thus, it highlights the potential role of such a widely distributed generalist as model species to monitor physiological effects in the ecosystem in an oil palm-dominated landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The status and ecology of small carnivores on Java is poorly documented. We conducted a camera trapping survey in the Wonorejo Mangroves, a coastal wetland east of the city of Surabaya in north-eastern Java. This survey yielded photographs of the small Indian civet Viverricula indica, Javan mongoose Urva javanica, Sunda leopard cat Prionailurus javanensis, Asian small-clawed otter Aonyx cinereus, and Sunda palm civet Paradoxurus musangus. They all used dykes between aquaculture ponds to forage and move between vegetation patches, but at different times and frequencies. We strongly recommend surveying the remaining wetlands on Java to acquire baseline data on the status and conservation needs of small carnivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development in sustainable energy sources has become a concern for scientists around the globe, especially for the production of efficient biofuels. In the current study, simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) process with activated immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC90 was used to reduce the production cost of ethanol from alkaline-pretreated oil palm trunk (OPT) fibers owing to the reusable property of immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC90 cells. The highest ethanol concentration of 104.52 g/L using glucose as substrate was observed with immobilized Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC90 cells in first 48 h of fermentation. In contrast, at similar stage, the free cells managed to produce ethanol concentration of 85.87 g/L. The SSF process was carried out with 10% (w/v) and 20% (w/v) OPT fibers as carbon source to produce ethanol without adding extra nutrients in batch and fed-batch SSF process with activated immobilized cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC90. The maximum ethanol concentration and ethanol yield using batch SSF were 29.68 g/L and 0.32 g/g, respectively. However, in fed-batch SSF, the maximum ethanol concentration and yield were 51.68 g/L and 0.28 g/g, respectively. The results depicted that activated immobilized cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC90 can produce ethanol without nitrogen source which is an encouraging approach to attain cost-effective 2G ethanol production from pretreated oil palm trunk (OPT) fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree cultivation spacing can influence productivity and wood quality, with silvicultural, technological and economic implications. This study aimed to estimate the production and provide an economic analysis of Eucalyptus urophylla × Eucalyptus grandis stands as a function of planting spacing in a small rural property. The study was carried out in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais state, with the hybrid clone (GG100) established in 2 × 1 m, 2 × 2 m, 3 × 2 m and 3 × 3 m spacing. Inventories were carried out at 14, 54 and 84 months in four plots from each spacing, with 24 plants. Diameter at breast height (DBH), total height and survival rate were evaluated. The study evaluated the logistic model of growth and yield for the different spacings and analysed production costs, characterising the expenditure elements related to inputs and labour. For the economic analysis, we considered a discount rate of 8% p.a. and the valuation methods of net present value (NPV), annual equivalent value (AEV), average production cost (APC), and cost–benefit ratio (CBR). Spacing influenced diameter distribution, tree height and productivity. The optimal harvest age showed a tendency to decrease in smaller spacing. The increase in plant density (smaller spacing) did not promote a proportional increase in volumetric production. Our results indicated economic viability from 60 months onwards for all spacing, except for 2 × 1 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth and productivity of a crop such as the oil palm are influenced by their complex interactions with the environment. However, the stochasticity of intricate biological systems such as plants is a challenge for accurate assessment of the interaction magnitude. In this study, oil palm clones produced from tissue culture process as a genetically uniform planting material were planted in two different environments of open field and biosafety screenhouse. The metabolome of various plant parts including spear leaf, mature leaf and root tissues was investigated using liquid and gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry detection and chemometrics data analysis for reliable metabolite characterization. The oil palm metabolome information was correlated with morphological information and the environmental parameters of temperature, humidity, amount of light and precipitation from the two sites to discern the relationship and effect of the environmental factors on the crop. Although derived from a similar origin, the oil palm morphology and metabolome were impacted by their planting environment especially the amount of light. Several biosynthetic and metabolism pathways were affected by the different environment, marked by the abundance of primary and secondary metabolites such as galactinol, threitol, sucrose, phenyl-β-glucopyranoside, dopamine, pipecolic, chelidonic and gluconic acids, phenolics such as vanillic acid, caftaric acid, orientin and isoorientin, neohesperidin, epicatechin, and isomers of caffeoylshikimic acid. This finding illustrates phenotypic responses that may not be studied effectively by genetic studies alone and provides useful insights for future diagnostic analysis of crop assessment and improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic spectroscopy (DS) theoretically eliminates individual differences and the impact of measurement conditions on accuracy and can achieve high-precision noninvasive blood component analysis. To further improve the extraction quality of DS, this paper proposes a photoplethysmography (PPG) signal waveform proportion extraction method, which realizes the extraction of DS by calculating the proportion coefficient between PPG waveforms. To verify the effectiveness of our method, the transmission spectra of 146 volunteers' fingers and the true value of platelet content (wavelength 600–1100 nm, platelet content range 32 × 109/L–512 × 109/L) were collected. Then the DS was extracted by the single-trail method and this method, and the prediction model is established by PLS. The experimental data showed, compared with the single-trail method, that the modeling effect of the PPG waveform proportion method is significantly improved, the Rc increased 9.61%, the RMSEc decreased 31.56%, the MAPc decreased from 12 to 6%, and the Rp increased 42.92%, the RMSEP reduced 24.39%, and MAPp decreased from 13 to 11%. The results show that the PPG waveform proportion method proposed in this paper has a higher model correlation coefficient and lower prediction error, significantly improves the extraction quality of DS, further improves the accuracy of noninvasive blood component quantitative analysis, and helps to promote the application process of noninvasive detection of blood components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are used worldwide for the control of rodent pests and are the main method of control of rat pest populations in agricultural areas. The main aim of this review is to discuss the risk of ARs to non-target wildlife in oil palm areas in Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia and Malaysia. We discussed AR use in oil palm areas and toxicities of ARs on target and non-target animals. We also reviewed published literature on wildlife species reported in oil palm areas in Southeast Asia and utilizing this information, we assessed the hazard risk of ARs to non-target wildlife in oil palm plantations. ARs are a secondary exposure hazard to rodent-consuming mammalian carnivores, such as leopard cats and civets, and rodent-consuming raptors, such as barn owls. Consumption of dead poisoned prey puts scavengers, such as water monitors, at high risk for AR exposure. Domestic livestock and granivorous birds are at high risk for AR exposure via primary exposure to toxic bait, while omnivores such as macaques and wild pigs are at moderate risk for both primary and secondary exposure to ARs. The effects of ARs on barn owls have been well studied in the field and in laboratory secondary toxicity studies. Thus, the nest-box occupancy and reproductive parameters of local barn owl populations can be monitored as an indicator of the AR exposure level in the area. Clinical Trials Registration: No clinical trials were involved in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although oil palm expansion has had severe environmental impacts, oil palm also has the highest yield per hectare of any vegetable oil crop. Compared to many other crops, it has the potential to support high complexity habitats, with minimal chemical input, and relatively high levels of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, there has been little synthesis of available research on oil palm management strategies to support delivery of more sustainable cultivation. In this paper, we provide a systematic map compiling all available evidence assessing within-plantation oil palm management practices at the cultivation stage, with a focus on practices that affect biodiversity and environmental processes. Using approaches adapted from systematic review protocols, we catalogued oil palm management publications to provide details of geographic location, year, interventions tested (i.e. agricultural practices), targeted outcomes of interventions, co-occurrences between different interventions and outcomes (including multiple outcomes), and study design. Most studies were conducted in Southeast Asia, with fewer studies conducted in South America or Africa. Twenty-six interventions were observed in the literature, across six categories: soil, understory, within-crop, landscape-level, replanting, and mixed/multiple interventions. The most common interventions tested were landscape-scale interventions, such as maintaining forest fragments/buffer zones, whereas interventions involved in replanting were the least researched. Eight outcomes were considered: soil fertility, soil erosion, water quality and availability, pest control, replanting, maintenance of biodiversity and areas of high conservation value, and reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Studies researching biodiversity were the most common, whereas comparatively few studies considered replanting and reducing emissions. Most primary studies were observational, with experimental studies being rarer, especially in biodiversity research. We match our findings to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's environmental sustainability criteria to illustrate how policymakers and producers may use our map to access evidence supporting cultivation-stage oil palm sustainability management. This study provides valuable information to inform best management practices and direction for necessary future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most prevalent mental health disorder after childbirth, notably during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, PPD is known to have a long-term influence on the mother and the newborn, and the role of social support network is crucial in early illness recognition. This study aims to evaluate the social support networks' level of knowledge, attitudes and beliefs regarding PPD and examine their sociodemographic variables and exposure to the public information relating to PPD during the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted via an online Google Form disseminated to people in Klang Valley through WhatsApp, Email, Facebook, Instagram and other available social media among postpartum women's social support networks aged 18 years and living in the Klang Valley area (N = 394). Data were collected from 1 March to 5 July 2021 and analysed using the Mann–Whitney U-test and generalised linear mixed models. Results: During the COVID-19 epidemic in Klang Valley, most participants had good knowledge, negative attitudes and awareness of PPD. Marital status, gender and parity all had significant correlations with the amount of awareness regarding PPD. Ethnicity, gender, parity and educational level showed significant association with attitude towards PPD. No significant relationship was noted between sociodemographic variables and PPD beliefs. Public awareness of PPD was also associated with knowledge and attitude towards it. Conclusions: A significant positive knowledge, negative attitude and negative awareness level of PPD exist among social support networks for postnatal women. However, no significant effect of belief on PPD awareness level was noted. Implications: Insight campaigns and public education about PPD should be conducted to enhance postnatal mothers' awareness and knowledge. Postnatal care, mental check-ups and counselling sessions for the new mothers are recommended. In future studies, a closer assessment of postpartum social support, variances and similarities across women from diverse racial/ethnic origins is critical. Strengths and limitations: This cross-sectional study is one of the early studies on the area of PPD in the Malaysian region during COVID-19. Numerous data have been collected using low-cost approaches using self-administered surveys through Google Forms in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: In oil palm, similar fertilization treatments can result in leaflet potassium and magnesium concentrations that vary significantly from one progeny to another. This hinders the development of standardized fertilizer recommendations for this crop, as they are usually calculated based on optimum leaflet nutrient concentrations. Methods: Four high-yielding oil palm progenies with contrasting leaflet K and Mg concentrations (C1, C2, and C3 of Deli x La Mé origin and C4 of Deli x Yangambi origin) were treated with combinations of three levels of KCl and MgSO4, in a completely randomized split-plot factorial design with six replicates, where progenies were a sub-factor. Results: For a given level of KCl or MgSO4, different leaflet K and Mg concentrations were found between progenies (p < 0.0001). Leaflet K concentration and yield response to KCl applications revealed that the four oil palm progenies have different optimum leaflet K concentrations. In our study period (5–8 YAP), progenies C1 and C3 showed their highest fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yields (13.62 and 16.54 t ha−1 year−1, respectively) at K2, whereas progenies C2 and C4 showed their highest yields (14.62 and 12.39 t ha−1 year−1, respectively) at K1. Conclusion: Our study highlighted specific optimum leaflet K and Mg concentrations for different oil palm progenies in a given environment. It paves the way for adopting K and Mg fertilizer application rates adapted to specific requirements of each type of oil palm planting material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sapindus mukorossi G. has been considered as a potential feedstock for forest-based biodiesel in China. To optimize the cultivation of soapberry and ensure its sustainable supply, an environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted using a chronological approach combined with extrapolation. Soapberry plantations with two degrees of cultivation intensities were comparatively analyzed. For the studied environmental categories, nitrogen fertilization accounted for half or more of the global warming potential, primary energy demand, acidification, and eutrophication potential. The main contributors to ozone depletion were pesticides and potassium fertilizer. The plantations with a relatively low cultivation intensity presented better environmental performance, mainly due to the lower input of fertilizers, but they are not a priority choice for soapberry cultivation because of low yield. Stakeholders should focus on how to reduce the environmental impacts of the plantations with a relatively high cultivation intensity in this area. Overall, classified management, increasing the yield, reducing the inputs of chemicals, and decreasing the unproductive years are the key ways to improve the environmental performance of soapberry cultivation in Southeast China. Woody biomass carbon should be included in LCAs, and 3.71–5.11 t CO2 can be fixed by soapberry plantations per ha year, indicating that soapberry cultivation provides a net carbon sink. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is believed to be caused by natural processes such as volcanic eruptions, which release ash into the atmosphere, and anthropogenic activities that increase the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), which trap energy and cause intense warming. This article conducts a comprehensive review of existing literature relating to climate change and its impact on oil palm production in Malaysia. To enable analysis, articles were arranged, sorted, and categorized into various themes and associations based on the title of the article, abstract, and later the content. The findings reveal that climate change causes variability in the intensity and duration of rainfall, which ultimately affects the production of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and the quality of crude palm oil (CPO). The decline in FFB increased the price of crude palm oil. The impacts of climate change on oil palm vary and are felt differently in different regions. Climate change increases the vulnerability and exposure of oil palms to various diseases, exposes them to water stress, and disrupts metabolic activities. The surface temperature in Malaysia is anticipated to rise by 1.5 to 2 °C, worsening the adaptation plans. Oil palm growers explore possible ways to adapt to and withstand the impacts of climate change by adopting the use of an improved variety of oil palm seedlings, soil management and fertility preservation, silt pit, mulching, intercropping, livelihood diversification, buying insurance, and best water conservation practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population growth and improving living standards are leading to a growing demand for beef. The understorey in the 19 million hectares of oil palm plantation worldwide represent a source of cattle feed, while also sparing additional land conversion for grazing. Research on cattle grazing under oil palm is novel and knowledge is lacking on long-term profitability and sustainability of the system, a major deterrent to cattle–oil palm farming system adoption. Here we review the current literature on cattle grazing in oil palm plantations, to highlight the knowns and unknowns of grazing impacts on the understorey, cattle and oil palm productivity, as well as economic implications. This review’s major outcomes are the following: (i) although understorey utilization as feed is a major advantage of cattle–oil palm integrated farming systems, declining understorey productivity under ageing plantation indicates the need for alternative solutions for sustained cattle productivity over the plantation’s lifecycle; (ii) oil palm yields were reported to increase under cattle integration but evidence was weak, both oil palm yields and the pathways through which oil palm yields are impacted by cattle grazing should be further explored; (iii) economic analyses showed cattle grazing under oil palm plantations was profitable for large-scale oil palm producers due to cattle sales, and returns were further enhanced by reductions in weeding and fertilizer costs; (iv) sustainable cattle grazing was found to be difficult in smallholder oil palm plantations due to land constraints and the current practice of free-grazing; options for improving grazing sustainability and profitability in these systems should be explored. This systematic review concluded that cattle integration in oil palm plantations has great potential but further research is required to develop locally specific productive and sustainable systems of grazed cattle integration with oil palm plantations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]