MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Mitigating Effects of Climate Change
Mitigating Effects of Climate Change
22/05/2015 (Sun.Star) - As climate change threatens the agriculture sector, the government sees the need to bring back the country's forest cover by creating a carbon sink to mitigate its effects.
But advocacy group Philippine Palm Oil Development Council Inc. (PPDCI) said that reforestation efforts are best done when stakeholders learn to introduce the planting of oil palm either in farms as an intercrop or in the denuded forests.
The think-tank even highly recommended this in the priority reforestation program of the government dubbed "National Greening Program" (NGP).
The ultimate goal of NGP is more focused on achieving food security, poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation. The total target under NGP is 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years from 2011 to 2016.
Dr. Pablito Pamplona, board of director and secretary of PPDCI, said these crops sequester the carbon and thus prevent the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the process. The CO2 is one of the greenhouse gasses that worsen global warming by trapping in too much heat coming from the sun.
"Oil palm is found to be a better carbon sink than natural forest because it captures higher carbon/unit area," he said.
A study quoted by Pamplona found that a hectare of three-year-old oil palm trees can sequester 5.8 tons and can go as much as 45.2 tons when these trees are 24 years old as compared to the grassland, which can offset carbon at one ton per hectare.
Also, the planting techniques are just simple, as these crops do not need as much requirements as what other crops do. First, there's no need to cut the grasses and brushes, much less burning that will only scratch the ground for more environmental risks such as erosion and further damage on the soil.
"Just allow the cut grasses and trees to rot as organic fertilizer for the oil palm trees," he added.
In the reforestation program, the think-tank recommended this crop as it has higher survival rate of 95 percent under harsh grassland environment as compared to other crops.
He was dismayed over the use of commercial crops like cacao and coffee in the NGP, which will later on die, cut, and turn into charcoal by farmers for livelihood to sustain their families.
These two crops, he explained, can survive the grassland's harsh environment when intercropped with oil palm, which prevents soil erosion for its vast root system.
"Oil palm has massive root systems that reduce soil erosion in the sloping uplands," he said. "A new technique of crop-livestock integration, when applied, shall promote crop diversity and added income in the upland."
In neighboring Asean countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, restoring the forests has been successful as they succeeded in reforesting their degraded grasslands using common strategy use of oil palm trees and rubber.
Pamplona also discussed the economic gains of the oil palm industry to the farmers, saying the Asean neighbors are successful in bringing down poverty levels.
"Promoting inclusive growth occurs when the poor, upland dwellers, get equal benefits from the economic growth of the country," he said.
The country has been lagging behind its Asean neighbors when it comes to cranking up the number of oil palms planted.
In 2013, Indonesia expanded to 10.5 million hectares of oil palms, followed by Malaysia (6 million hectares, Thailand (850,000 hectares) while Philippines was the lowest with 72,000 hectares.
According to PPDCI, the income that can be generated with oil palm is relatively higher than other crops; easy to plant and maintain; early maturing and long years of harvest; and provides employment opportunities.
Oil palm is also able to produce more even with smaller areas as compared to coconuts.
Say, to produce 1,000 tons of vegetable oil, this crop only takes 234 hectares while coconut takes 1,190 hectares.
For his part, Davao City Investment Promotions Center (DCIPC) officer-in-charge Ivan Cortez said investors who are willing to invest on oil palm are very much welcome in the city.
In fact, there is one investor, who is a major player in Malaysia's oil palm industry, who came to visit to discuss the matter with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
The firm is looking at 1,000-hectare property in Marilog District.
If pushed through, members of the Ovu-Manuvo tribe will benefit from this venture as they will be tapped in the planting of the seedlings.
The official also said that this partnership will empower economically small farmers, especially the ones who own five hectares of land.
Environmental group Panalipdan Southern Mindanao urged the City Government to study before accepting investments on oil palm expansion in Marilog.
The environmental impact must also be considered before the economic gains.
"Paquibato is supposedly one of the important water resource base areas of the city while palm oil is not grown organically but dependent on chemical inputs which might pollute the local water resources in the uplands and affect the water supplies in the lowlands, a concern that we both shared," it said.
But Pamplona added that among other crops that produce oil, oil palm takes lesser use of fertilizers.
City Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang cited the need to develop the city's upland areas for agriculture as the urbanization of the center is simply not enough to sustain economic growth.
He suggested planting of high-value crops such as coffee, cacao, corn, and rubber as crops that will fit well in the highland communities like in Marilog and Paquibato.
But advocacy group Philippine Palm Oil Development Council Inc. (PPDCI) said that reforestation efforts are best done when stakeholders learn to introduce the planting of oil palm either in farms as an intercrop or in the denuded forests.
The think-tank even highly recommended this in the priority reforestation program of the government dubbed "National Greening Program" (NGP).
The ultimate goal of NGP is more focused on achieving food security, poverty reduction, climate change adaptation and mitigation. The total target under NGP is 1.5 billion trees in 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years from 2011 to 2016.
Dr. Pablito Pamplona, board of director and secretary of PPDCI, said these crops sequester the carbon and thus prevent the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the process. The CO2 is one of the greenhouse gasses that worsen global warming by trapping in too much heat coming from the sun.
"Oil palm is found to be a better carbon sink than natural forest because it captures higher carbon/unit area," he said.
A study quoted by Pamplona found that a hectare of three-year-old oil palm trees can sequester 5.8 tons and can go as much as 45.2 tons when these trees are 24 years old as compared to the grassland, which can offset carbon at one ton per hectare.
Also, the planting techniques are just simple, as these crops do not need as much requirements as what other crops do. First, there's no need to cut the grasses and brushes, much less burning that will only scratch the ground for more environmental risks such as erosion and further damage on the soil.
"Just allow the cut grasses and trees to rot as organic fertilizer for the oil palm trees," he added.
In the reforestation program, the think-tank recommended this crop as it has higher survival rate of 95 percent under harsh grassland environment as compared to other crops.
He was dismayed over the use of commercial crops like cacao and coffee in the NGP, which will later on die, cut, and turn into charcoal by farmers for livelihood to sustain their families.
These two crops, he explained, can survive the grassland's harsh environment when intercropped with oil palm, which prevents soil erosion for its vast root system.
"Oil palm has massive root systems that reduce soil erosion in the sloping uplands," he said. "A new technique of crop-livestock integration, when applied, shall promote crop diversity and added income in the upland."
In neighboring Asean countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, restoring the forests has been successful as they succeeded in reforesting their degraded grasslands using common strategy use of oil palm trees and rubber.
Pamplona also discussed the economic gains of the oil palm industry to the farmers, saying the Asean neighbors are successful in bringing down poverty levels.
"Promoting inclusive growth occurs when the poor, upland dwellers, get equal benefits from the economic growth of the country," he said.
The country has been lagging behind its Asean neighbors when it comes to cranking up the number of oil palms planted.
In 2013, Indonesia expanded to 10.5 million hectares of oil palms, followed by Malaysia (6 million hectares, Thailand (850,000 hectares) while Philippines was the lowest with 72,000 hectares.
According to PPDCI, the income that can be generated with oil palm is relatively higher than other crops; easy to plant and maintain; early maturing and long years of harvest; and provides employment opportunities.
Oil palm is also able to produce more even with smaller areas as compared to coconuts.
Say, to produce 1,000 tons of vegetable oil, this crop only takes 234 hectares while coconut takes 1,190 hectares.
For his part, Davao City Investment Promotions Center (DCIPC) officer-in-charge Ivan Cortez said investors who are willing to invest on oil palm are very much welcome in the city.
In fact, there is one investor, who is a major player in Malaysia's oil palm industry, who came to visit to discuss the matter with the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
The firm is looking at 1,000-hectare property in Marilog District.
If pushed through, members of the Ovu-Manuvo tribe will benefit from this venture as they will be tapped in the planting of the seedlings.
The official also said that this partnership will empower economically small farmers, especially the ones who own five hectares of land.
Environmental group Panalipdan Southern Mindanao urged the City Government to study before accepting investments on oil palm expansion in Marilog.
The environmental impact must also be considered before the economic gains.
"Paquibato is supposedly one of the important water resource base areas of the city while palm oil is not grown organically but dependent on chemical inputs which might pollute the local water resources in the uplands and affect the water supplies in the lowlands, a concern that we both shared," it said.
But Pamplona added that among other crops that produce oil, oil palm takes lesser use of fertilizers.
City Councilor Danilo Dayanghirang cited the need to develop the city's upland areas for agriculture as the urbanization of the center is simply not enough to sustain economic growth.
He suggested planting of high-value crops such as coffee, cacao, corn, and rubber as crops that will fit well in the highland communities like in Marilog and Paquibato.