Adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate-resilient oil palm

Abstract

The impacts of climate change on oil palm are being witnessed in Malaysia, Indonesia, Columbia, and other oil palm-growing nations of the world. Climate change might worsen existing regional disparities as it will reduce oil palm yields mostly in lands located at lower latitudes, where many developing countries are situated. Being grown as an irrigated crop in India, oil palm is likely to be more vulnerable due to excessive use of natural resources particularly water with poor adaptive mechanisms. The water requirement is estimated to increase by 10% for every 1°C rise in temperature. Under such situations, when oil palm yield decreases, small and marginal oil palm growers would be affected most. Hence, consequences of climate change could be severe on livelihood security of the poor in the absence of better adaptation strategies. Strategies to enhance local adaptation capacity are therefore required to reduce climatic impacts and maintain regional stability in oil production. At the same time, oil palm offers several opportunities to mitigate the portion of global greenhouse gas emissions that are directly dependent upon land use and land-management techniques. This chapter reviews issues relating to impacts of climate change with special emphasis on adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate-resilient oil palm production. Adaptation and mitigation strategies in oil palm could be carried out to alleviate the potential negative effects of climate change. However, important synergies need to be identified as mitigation strategies may compete with local agricultural practices aimed at maintaining production. The specific research priorities for oil palm under Indian conditions to combat climate change have also been highlighted.