MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Australia Backs Research Into Sustainable Palm Oil
Australia Backs Research Into Sustainable Palm Oil
15/04/2013 (Radio Australia) - Around the region, the palm oil industry has been roundly criticised on a range of environmental, social and health grounds.
But in Papua New Guinea, it's viewed as something of a success story.
Palm oil has become the nation's most important cash crop, supporting many thousands of small holder families as well as a big plantation sector.
To help ensure the industry remains sustainable, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research has been backing a four- year project looking at practical measures to boost yields, protect the environment and guarantee future food security.
Presenter:Geraldine Coutts
Speaker: Dr Murom Banabas, who leads an Australian funded project in PNG looking at the sustainable management of soil and water resources for palm oil production.
BANABAS: To put it into some kind of perspective, the oil palm industry in Papua New Guinea is actually the number one agriculture export crop earner for the country, so out of coffee and cocoa and the rest it's the number one, that's one. And then, it's also the at the moment, the second highest employer, second to the Public Service, so that's the value of it at the moment in Papua New Guinea. So and it's across or it's established across some five provinces, five, six provinces, so it's very important for the economy of those provinces where it is established.
COUTTS: And how much of that industry is conducted by smallholders, rather than by corporate plantations?
BANABAS: OK. The set up is like the smallholders sell their crop to the bigger companies or to the two big companies that which they extract oil and export and they also provide the infrastructure, the milling capacity, the credit for tools and so forth. So the smallholders make up some 40% to 46% of the whole industry in terms of hectarage planted..
COUTTS: And what kind of living does it give a small plantation holder, a smallholder?
BANABAS: OK. There are three types of smallholders. The first lot lot is (words indistinct) the government set of schemes. They have up to plant up to four hectares of land. They would be allocated six hectares and then two hectares for gardening, food crops and then the four hectares for oil palm. The other smallholders are the village landowners. They would own up to two hectares, yeah, so it's between two and say six hectares of oil palm (words indistinct)
COUTTS: And is there a problem with so much of the industry being in the hands of smallholders?
BANABAS: They do have their problems like every other industry. It's mostly, generally speaking, it's mostly socio-economic issues within the blocks, like land disputes, disagreements between the farmers and so forth. But having said that, they have ways around it in many of the areas, or it has led to negligence of the block and the industry works around, try to assist them to overcome some of these problems so they can produce palms, and at the same time, adding some improvements in their standard of living.
COUTTS: And so the education and the sort of best methods. Are there training programs for that and how's it going?
BANABAS: OK. We do have extensive extension methods for the farmers. We do provide trainings on farm visits, that's run through the extension arm of the industry. So what happens is they call up field days. We do on as the research organisation on how to provide technical information to the farmers, that happens in the form of team field days, field days, organised field days, radio broadcasts through the local radio stations, provincial stations and so forth.
COUTTS: And what about the environmental issue. I mean how's that being handled, because it's been criticised for the impact that it has on the local environment, soil degradation and habitat loss and run offs. Is that all being managed?
BANABAS: OK. This is so far addressed, yes. They address, we actually have this ACIAR- funded project that we are looking into, that is looking into coming up with environmental indicators that will be used by the industry to manage the very issues that you're mentioning. However, the current industry has strict guidelines in establishing and running the industry. It's just several years back, joined up with the RSPO, the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil Production, which is an international group of stakeholders that monitors the performance of the industry. So yes, it is addressing those issues.
COUTTS: All right. And so in your project, your four year project, you're halfway through now. Are you happy with the way it's going?
BANABAS: Oh, yes sure. We are, I'm happy. We have identified many of the what could be issues and we are looking at coming up with way that could address these issues by providing information to the industry or that they will use as they're indicators to address those issues both in the soil and the water environment.
COUTTS: And, with climate change, how much of an impact is that having, because PNG, of course, has its share of problems with, shall we say, extreme weather events. Does that have any impact on the palm oil industry?
BANABAS: OK. Yes, we do have a instances of impact on the oil palm industry, like what people claim like floods and all that due to climate change affecting the roads, washing off some of the oil palm blocks. So yes we are not isolated from factors that would be or are caused by climate change.
COUTTS: And the lessons that you've been learning in your program, are they applicable to any other crops in PNG. Can those lessons be passed on?
BANABAS: Oh yes, sure. In many ways the techniques or the methods of working in collecting samples, analysing samples and developing the whole all, what will I say, involving the industry and others, the methods of work and so forth. Yes, it's applicable to many of the tropical crops, put it that way, not only tropical crops, but it could be used elsewhere.
But in Papua New Guinea, it's viewed as something of a success story.
Palm oil has become the nation's most important cash crop, supporting many thousands of small holder families as well as a big plantation sector.
To help ensure the industry remains sustainable, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research has been backing a four- year project looking at practical measures to boost yields, protect the environment and guarantee future food security.
Presenter:Geraldine Coutts
Speaker: Dr Murom Banabas, who leads an Australian funded project in PNG looking at the sustainable management of soil and water resources for palm oil production.
BANABAS: To put it into some kind of perspective, the oil palm industry in Papua New Guinea is actually the number one agriculture export crop earner for the country, so out of coffee and cocoa and the rest it's the number one, that's one. And then, it's also the at the moment, the second highest employer, second to the Public Service, so that's the value of it at the moment in Papua New Guinea. So and it's across or it's established across some five provinces, five, six provinces, so it's very important for the economy of those provinces where it is established.
COUTTS: And how much of that industry is conducted by smallholders, rather than by corporate plantations?
BANABAS: OK. The set up is like the smallholders sell their crop to the bigger companies or to the two big companies that which they extract oil and export and they also provide the infrastructure, the milling capacity, the credit for tools and so forth. So the smallholders make up some 40% to 46% of the whole industry in terms of hectarage planted..
COUTTS: And what kind of living does it give a small plantation holder, a smallholder?
BANABAS: OK. There are three types of smallholders. The first lot lot is (words indistinct) the government set of schemes. They have up to plant up to four hectares of land. They would be allocated six hectares and then two hectares for gardening, food crops and then the four hectares for oil palm. The other smallholders are the village landowners. They would own up to two hectares, yeah, so it's between two and say six hectares of oil palm (words indistinct)
COUTTS: And is there a problem with so much of the industry being in the hands of smallholders?
BANABAS: They do have their problems like every other industry. It's mostly, generally speaking, it's mostly socio-economic issues within the blocks, like land disputes, disagreements between the farmers and so forth. But having said that, they have ways around it in many of the areas, or it has led to negligence of the block and the industry works around, try to assist them to overcome some of these problems so they can produce palms, and at the same time, adding some improvements in their standard of living.
COUTTS: And so the education and the sort of best methods. Are there training programs for that and how's it going?
BANABAS: OK. We do have extensive extension methods for the farmers. We do provide trainings on farm visits, that's run through the extension arm of the industry. So what happens is they call up field days. We do on as the research organisation on how to provide technical information to the farmers, that happens in the form of team field days, field days, organised field days, radio broadcasts through the local radio stations, provincial stations and so forth.
COUTTS: And what about the environmental issue. I mean how's that being handled, because it's been criticised for the impact that it has on the local environment, soil degradation and habitat loss and run offs. Is that all being managed?
BANABAS: OK. This is so far addressed, yes. They address, we actually have this ACIAR- funded project that we are looking into, that is looking into coming up with environmental indicators that will be used by the industry to manage the very issues that you're mentioning. However, the current industry has strict guidelines in establishing and running the industry. It's just several years back, joined up with the RSPO, the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil Production, which is an international group of stakeholders that monitors the performance of the industry. So yes, it is addressing those issues.
COUTTS: All right. And so in your project, your four year project, you're halfway through now. Are you happy with the way it's going?
BANABAS: Oh, yes sure. We are, I'm happy. We have identified many of the what could be issues and we are looking at coming up with way that could address these issues by providing information to the industry or that they will use as they're indicators to address those issues both in the soil and the water environment.
COUTTS: And, with climate change, how much of an impact is that having, because PNG, of course, has its share of problems with, shall we say, extreme weather events. Does that have any impact on the palm oil industry?
BANABAS: OK. Yes, we do have a instances of impact on the oil palm industry, like what people claim like floods and all that due to climate change affecting the roads, washing off some of the oil palm blocks. So yes we are not isolated from factors that would be or are caused by climate change.
COUTTS: And the lessons that you've been learning in your program, are they applicable to any other crops in PNG. Can those lessons be passed on?
BANABAS: Oh yes, sure. In many ways the techniques or the methods of working in collecting samples, analysing samples and developing the whole all, what will I say, involving the industry and others, the methods of work and so forth. Yes, it's applicable to many of the tropical crops, put it that way, not only tropical crops, but it could be used elsewhere.