What does Modelling Tells us on the Influence of Certain Weather Parameters on Oil Palm Production in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Background: Oil palm has been recognized as one of the most important crops especially in Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. Palm oil production has recently been lowered as a result of the influence of various factors, which include weather and climate. The distribution of temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall all influence the growth and development of palms, which later reflects in the production quantity of the fresh fruit bunches and palm oil. The objective of this study is to investigate the impacts of various weather factors especially (temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall) on oil palm production in Peninsular Malaysia. Methods: The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0 version was used to analyse the data, which include descriptive statistics and multilinear regression (MLR). The MLR model evaluated the strength of the relationship between oil palm yield (as a dependent variable) and temperature, solar radiation, wind speed, relative humidity and precipitation. Temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, solar radiation and rainfall, on the other hand, have been shown to have little effect on oil palm production and yield. Result: According to the R2 value, the independent variables only explained 20.2% of the variation in palm oil production. This study recommends operating within a comprehensive framework that includes scientific research, planting improved varieties, enhancing regional intellectual and academic leadership, engaging the participation of private and public stakeholders, highlighting participatory initiatives with researchers in consumer countries and enhancing growers’ ability to adapt best agroecological practises.