1. +
Oil palm and Agroforestry Systems:
coupling yields with environmental
services, an experiment in the
Brazilian Amazon
Andrew Miccolis
ICRAF Brazil
Authors: Miccolis, A., Vasconcelos, S.,
Castellani, D., Carvalho, V.; Kato, O.;
Silva, A.
Presented by: Jonathan Cornelius (ICRAF)

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5. + Conventional Monocrop vs. Diversified
Oil Palm + Agroforestry Systems?
Conventional oil palm
monocrop system
Oil palm + agroforestry experiment, Year 5,
Tomé Açu, Pará, Brazil.
Photo: Debora Castellani

6. +
Hypotheses
 Oil
palm planted with agroforestry systems
might provide significant increases in soil C
stock and nutrient cycling through
management practices, such as intensive
pruning and mulching, and thus contribute
to climate change mitigation
 Diversified
oil palm agroforestry systems
might provide a socially, economically and
environmentally feasible alternative to
monocrop systems in the context of
smallholders

7. +
An experiment in Tomé-Açu, Pará State

8. +
Dendê Project: Oil palm + AFS
 Project
Partners: NATURA (major Brazilian
cosmetics company, EMBRAPA (Nat’l ag. Research
agency, CAMTA (Tomé Açu Farmers’Cooperative),
FINEP
3
Demonstration plots (6 ha each) = total 18 ha
 Oil
palm + around 17 species in biodiverse
systems

9. +
Oil Palm + AFS overall design:

3 x 6-hectare plots = total 18 ha

Double rows oil palm (9 x 7.5m)
+ cacao intercropped between OP

4 main treatments per plot:

Biodiverse = around 17
species/ha (+regrowth),
wider spacing for AF strips
(21 m)

Fertilizing species (6-7
species/ha), focus on
leguminous species, 15 m
AF strips
Rows of AFS (21, 18, 15 m),
depending on plot and treatment

Treatment definitions

1) “biodiverse” - mechanized
preparation (TRITUCAP)

2) “biodiverse” - manual prep.

3) “fertilizing species” manual prep

4) fertilizing species mechanized preparation

10. +
Key species planted in AFS
TREES
açaí
(Euterpe oleracea),
cacao (Theobroma cacao),
bacaba (Oenocarpus
bacaba),
ipê (Tabebuia spp.),
jatobá (Hymenaea courbaril)
and
ucúuba (Virola surinamentis),
pracaxi (Pentaclethra
macroloba)
gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium),
ingá (Inga edulis),
Bio-mass producing,
(“Fertilizing”) species
pig beans (Canavalia ensiformis),
pidgeon peas (Cajan cajanus),
mucuna (Mucuna cinereum),
mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia),
puerária (Pueraria phaseoloides),
banana (Musa sp),
crotalaria (Crotalaria spectabilis),
cassava (Manihot esculenta)
Lianas
Black pepper (Piper nigrum)
Passionfruit (passiflora sp.)

11. +
Low Biodiversity Oil
Palm AFS (T1)
High Biodiversity Oil
Palm AFS (T2)
mecanical prep
High Biodiversity Oil
Palm AFS (T3)
manual prep

12. +
Layout of biodiverse AFS + OP
Source: Castellani (2011)

13. +
Land use history on Demonstration
Plot:
 10
yr old secondary growth used
previously through conventional slash and
burn for rice, cassava, maize, cowpeas
 Above-ground biomass: 55.3 +/- 0.9 Mg
ha-1
 Periodic fires
 Nutrient-deficient soils

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Management techniques

Removing (weeding) vegetation from around oil palm (3-5
times/year)

Pruning/copacing of “fertilizing” species for mulching and
sunlight for secondary species: cacao, açai palm, bacaba
palm, black pepper

Cut and carrying mulch around oil palm trees and secondary
species (cocoa and others)

Organic fertilization in planting holes and compost from
CAMTA factory (mostly fruit residues) as mulch

15. +
Study methods: soil C stocks
 Calculated
soil C stock in young (3-yr old)
oil palm + AFS on one 6-ha plot
 Soil
samples under: high biodiversity (T1 and T2)
low biodiversity (T3) and different land
preparation methods (mechanized vs. manual)
 5 randomly selected plots (22.5 x 18m for AFS +
oil palm), covering 2 rows of OP and 1 row of AFS

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Study methods: soil C stocks

Soil samples taken August 2010 (yr 3):

0-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-30, and 30-50 cm, using auger probes.

Samples from different positions in OP + AFS: (a) under oil palm
canopy, (b) in-between oil palm trees, and (c) from AFS area.

Soil from Conventional AFS and Secondary Growth forest
sampled without a defined spatial pattern.

Composite samples of three soil cores taken at random for each
combination of treatment, sampling position, and depth.

All samples air-dried, ground, and passed through 2-mm sieve.
About 120 g of each sieved sample was used for particle size
and chemical analyses (Embrapa 1997).

17. +
Reference areas compared
 1)
10-15 yr old adjacent secondary growth
forest;
 Average canopy height: 15m
 Average density: 520 trees ha-1(>10cm
DAB)
 2) 9 yr old “conventional” agroforestry
system (w/out oil palm)
 Replaced black pepper monoculture
 20x20m plots in these 2 reference areas

18. +
Preliminary findings:
Soil carbon stocks
Soil Carbon Stocks in 3 systems
conventional AFS
10-15 yr regrowth
AF + OIL PALM
0
Series 1
10
AF + OIL PALM
73.5
20
30
40
10-15 yr regrowth
60
Obs: AF+ Oil Palm: 71-76 Mg C ha-1
Source: Carvalho et al 2014 (in print)
50
60
70
conventional AFS
57
80

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Overview - other key findings
 Oil
palm yields (FFB) OP + AFS greater than
monocrop OP at same age (4.5 yrs) under similar
conditions
Plot 1 (81 pl/ha)
Plot 2 (99 pl/ha)
Plot 3 (99 pl/ha)
8 tons ha-1 yr-1
6.4 tons
8.7 tons

OBS: Data based on actual harvests in year 4.

Monocrop oil palm around 143 pl/ha. Avg. yields: 5 tons ha-1 yr-1 (yr 4)
Source: Castellani et al 2013

 Biodiversity
indicators
Greater plant species diversity in OP+AFS than in
monocrop OP around same age (3yrs) (Kato et al 2011)
 Greater bird species diversity and richness indices
(Thom et al 2011) than in monocrop systems at same age
(3yrs)


20. +
Andrew Miccolis comments:
“Although we don’t have direct evidence yet, intensive slash and
mulch (coupled with organic fertilization techniques), leading to
improved soil properties and fertility is probably responsible for this
astonishingly higher productivity per plant at this age. OBS:
Monocrop oil palm around 143 pl/ha. Avg. yields: 5-6 tons ha-1 yr-1
(YR 4) according to literature from Brazil”

21. + Conclusions (preliminary)

Oil palm + Agroforestry systems outperformed adjacent
secondary growth and conventional agroforestry systems in
C stocks

Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) stood out among “fertilizing
species”, provided very high nutrient contents (dry mass)
under these conditions, met design criteria (pruning
frequency, biomass production)

Use of fertilizing species through pruning and mulching
reduced inputs and helped increase oil palm yields and c
stocks

Preliminary data (soil C, nutrient, yields) suggests oil
palm + AFS might be more sustainable alternative to
monocrop systems and play important role in climate
change mitigation, recovering degraded lands

Need for more research to draw direct linkages between
management practices and nutrient cycling, c stocks,

22. +
Thank you!