PETALING JAYA, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- A well-managed palm oil plantation isenvironmentally sustainable, yields more oil with less environmental costthan other oil crops, has high biological productivity and provides arenewable fuel source, according to Hereward Corley, an expert from theUnited Kingdom.

He said being highly productive, oil palm could provide a grower with goodincome from a smaller area than most other crops, and if palm oil replacedother forms of agriculture, pressure on the environment could actually bereduced.

Corley said this in his presentation paper entitled "Is the Oil PalmIndustry Sustainable?" at the International Palm Oil Congress (PIPOC) 2005here Tuesday.

"Most expansion (oil palm plantation) has been on previously forestedland, the crop is seen as a major threat to primary forest, but in factthe rate of expansion of the oil palm industry is very small relative tothe rate of tropical deforestation," he said.

He also noted that claims of oil palm being a key driver of rainforestdestruction were not supported by data, either historically or projectedinto the future.

Corley quoted a non-governmental organisation, Friends of Earth, whichstated that 87 percent of deforestation in Malaysia between 1985 and 2000could be attributed to oil palm plantation.

"That may be correct, but the palm oil industry itself only expanded byabout two million hectares over the period, equivalent to about 10 percentof the remaining forest area," he said.

Palm oil plantation, according to him, also has high biologicalproductivity and provided a renewable fuel source, and the industry wasworking towards zero discharge.

"Thus, where oil palm planting is part of a landscape level developmentplan, the crop can play an important role in preserving bio-diversity," hesaid.

In social terms, most oil palm developments provided good livingconditions for workers and smallholder growers, but healthy and safetyaspects, and particularly pesticide handling, needed more attention,Corley said.

He said the crop was making an increasing contribution to the economy ofseveral countries, and the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil aimed toensure that future development was undertaken in a responsible way.

The highest standards of social and environmental responsibility must bemaintained, and disputes over land ownership should be resolved prior toany development, he added.

Agriculturally, the oil palm appeared sustainable, in that yields on thesame land might continue to rise from one generation to the next, Corleysaid.

However, labour problems have caused national average yields to stagnatein Malaysia, and unless harvesting could be mechanised the long-termeconomic viability of the crop might be in doubt, he said.

"(But), intensive research to redesign the crop may provide a solution tothis problem," he added.

-- BERNAMA