Innovative planting designs for oil palm-based agroforestry

Abstract

Despite its commercial success, intensive oil palm monoculture is facing both social and environmental constraints. Adapting the traditional plantation model towards more resilient and climate-smart farming systems will require deep changes. Agroforestry offers great potential for biodiversity and carbon storage benefits while maintaining high palm oil yields. The TRAILS multidisciplinary research project has installed a 39-ha prototype experiment in Sabah, Malaysia. The project includes different planting designs (interplanted rows, mixed tree plantation and forest islands) aimed at providing information about: i) the ability of oil palm to grow in competition with forest trees, ii) the best combination of tree species and their compatibility with the oil palm constraints for co-cultivation, and iii) the growth and developmental characteristics of a selected number of native forest species of interest. More specifically, we plan to describe changes in biodiversity and ecosystem services together with oil palm performance.