Plantation In Malaysia Research Articles

Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations by Andrew C. Willford. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014. 336 pp.

Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations by Andrew C. Willford. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014. 336 pp.

Developing a methodology for water footprint of palm oil based on a methodological review

The increased use of freshwater for domestic, industrial and agricultural activities has rapidly led to the scarcity of global water supplies with agricultural industry being the main consumer of fresh water, accounting to approximately 85% of the global freshwater consumption. Palm oil is the biggest and fastest growing vegetable oil on the world market and oil palm plantations are covering large land areas especially in Indonesia and Malaysia. Several environmental problems related to oil palm plantation have been reported, such as biodiversity loss, land use change, huge water consumption and river pollution. Water footprint analysis has been used to indicate the water consumption of a country, product, services or even an individual. However, methods to assess water usage in crude palm oil plantations is not available to date. Thus, this paper aims to provide a method in calculating water footprint for crude palm oil productions in Malaysia. The most appropriate method was identified based on an extensive literature survey. ISO 14046 was chosen as a guideline because it is an international standard in reporting and assessing water footprint (WF) with LCA approach. This study preferred the use of the comprehensive water footprint assessment compared to the stand-alone assessment because this approach can assess all the potential environmental impact related to water which are associated with a product, process or organization. It is expected that the water degradation level in this plantation can be identified to provide guidelines to the government, plantation companies as well as developers for the development of sustainable palm oil plantation in Malaysia.

Andrew C. Willford . Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations. Singapore: NUS Press, 2014. 318 pp.

Andrew C. Willford . Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations. Singapore: NUS Press, 2014. 318 pp.

Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations

Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations

The potential of rubber and acacia plantations for forest carbon stocks in Malaysia

In Malaysia, the primary forested land change process is due to the establishment of plantations on logged-over forests and areas used for shifting cultivation. While standing carbon stocks of natural forest have been the focus of many studies, reports on the carbon stocks in Acacia and rubber plantations in Malaysia is sparse. Therefore, this article attempts to collate and analyse Malaysian datasets on total carbon stocks for aboveground biomass in the Acacia and rubber plantations by applying the biomass expansion factor for the period from 1990 to 2013. The forest plantations have higher growth rates, and the harvesting waste and residues left behind are significantly more than the natural forests. Therefore, it leads to greater emission compared to the natural forests. Hence, Acacia and rubber plantations were not able to sequester and store carbon at the same amount as the natural forest, which resulted in carbon credit on the forest carbon stock.

Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations. AndrewWillford. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014. 318 pp.

Tamils and the Haunting of Justice: History and Recognition in Malaysia's Plantations. AndrewWillford. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2014. 318 pp.

Physio-chemical Studies of Locally Sourced Non-Edible Oil: Prospective Feedstock for Renewable Diesel Production in Malaysia

Physio-chemical properties of locally available waste cooking oil (WCO), jatropha oil (JO) - Jatropha curcas, rubber seed oil (RSO) - Hevea brasiliensis, kapok seed oil (KSO) - Ceiba pentandra and castor oil (CO) - Ricinus communis were characterized to assess and evaluate their potential use as renewable diesel production feedstock in Malaysia. Physio-chemical properties such as density, kinematic viscosity, moisture content, flash point, calorific value, iodine value, acid value and fatty acid composition were determined under standard analytical methods established by American Oil Chemists’ Society (AOCS) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Among the non-edible oil evaluated, the promising physio-chemical properties of RSO and WCO were found to be most applicable to serve as the raw feedstock due to its low iodine content, high free fatty acid content and high flash point. Furthermore, RSO feedstock can reach up to the capacity of 60 million ton per annum with a total 1.2 million hectares of existing rubber tree plantation in Malaysia, which is approximately 500-fold more than that of the annual waste cooking oil available in Malaysia (0.12 million ton per year). Thus, it can be concluded that RSO has the most promising potential in serving as the raw material for renewable diesel production in Malaysia.

Selection and Screening of Superior Genotypes for Quality Planting Stock Based on Vegetative Growth Performance of Some Selected 12-Year-Old <i>Acacia</i> Species

Production of quality wood is a big problem in forestry plantation since trees grown in plantation of some high value temperate and tropical hardwood species tend to produce low value, short butt logs and bolts due to crooked stems, low fork heights and delayed shedding of lower branches. Result from existing Acacia plantation in Malaysia indicated that most existing Acacia plantation trees especially Acacia auriculiformis and Acacia mangium, fork very heavily which leads to the formation of multiple leaders more than one and some are fork so close to the ground that they will produce little to no merchantable wood. In this context, a research study was initiated to select and recommend the best performing tree species or provenance suited for timber production in Malaysia with respect to growth and other characteristics. Species/provenance/progeny test was conducted on four species of Acacia namely, A. mangium, A. auriculiformis, A. crassicarpa and A. aulococarpa, each with 4 provenances originated from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Queensland (QL). The growth performance of the provenances was monitored in terms of some quantitative and qualitative characteristics to evaluate the genetic variation and growth performance of a base breeding population. 20 progenies for each species were selected and randomly planted with 16 trees representing each progenies in a trial plot laid out in a randomized complete block design consisting of four blocks as replication. The study showed that there were significant different (p mangium performed better compared to other Acacia species in all of the aspect tested and it was followed by A. crassicarpa, A. aulococarpa and A. auriculiformis. There were also significant differences between provenance within regions and progenies within provenances in all quantitative and qualitative traits tested in this study. Generally, provenance and progenies selected from PNG excelled those from QL both in quantitative and qualitative characteristics. The top performing progenies of Acacia species are CG 1854 of (Bensbach WP) and KN000107 (SW of Boset WP) of A. mangium, BVG2609 (Bensbach WP) of A. crassicarpa, BVG 00835 (WP Morehead) and MM1016 (Arufi E Morehead WP) of A. aulococarpa and JSL363 (Wenlock River) and BVG 2657 (Bansbach) of A. auriculiformis.

PUSH AND PULL FACTORS OF SUBURBAN LOCAL YOUTH TOWARDS CAREER IN OIL PALM PLANTATION

The rapid expansion of oil palm plantation in Malaysia in 1990, 2.03 million hectares to 5.39 million hectares in 2014 (Malaysia Palm Oil Board 2015) caused required high labour intensive in this sector. More than 78 % of labor (Azman 2014) in this sectors mainly came from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Philippines. Malaysia has become the main attention for the foreign labours to work in this country due to the wages more competitive and generative working condition especially the plantation sector provide the conducive accommodation compared to their origin country. The pressing issue now is the rising social issues of the illegal foreign workers and influx of the foreign workers without work permit. One of the best solutions is hire the local youth to works in oil palm plantation. The main problem is compounded by the fact that it is difficult to hire the local youth workers due to the migration of local youth from government settlers scheme oil palm plantation located in the sub urban area. As a result this scheme area dominated with foreign labour. This study which was conducted in the State of Johore wants to find the push and pull factors\towards the career in oil palm plantation which involved the repulsion, inclination and attraction based on their perceptions .A survey method through questionnaire was used to collect data from 278 of local youth between 16 years to 40 years old as focused respondents which were selected using random sampling method. Descriptive analysis was applied based on their demographic factors and the involvement of the local youth in oil palm plantation. Keywords : Career in Oil Palm, Perceptions, Push and Pull Factors, Suburban Local Youth,

Are riparian forest reserves sources of invertebrate biodiversity spillover and associated ecosystem functions in oil palm landscapes?

The world's forested landscapes are increasingly fragmented. The effects of fragmentation on community composition have received more attention than the effects on ecological processes, particularly in the tropics. The extent to which populations from forest fragments move (spillover) into surrounding agricultural areas is of particular interest. This process can retain connectivity between populations and alter the rate of beneficial or detrimental ecological functions. We tested whether riparian forest fragments (riparian reserves), are sources of two functionally important invertebrate groups (dung beetles and scavenging ants) within oil palm plantations in Malaysia. We also assessed whether forest fragments enhance rates of associated ecosystem functions (dung and bait removal). We found that oil palm sites with and without adjacent riparian reserves had similar overall beetle and ant communities and functional rates. However, dung beetle species richness, abundance and diversity declined with distance from a riparian reserve, providing evidence for a weak spillover effect. In addition, dung beetle community metrics within a riparian reserve predicted corresponding values in adjacent oil palm areas. These relationships did not hold for dung removal, ant community metrics or bait removal. Taken together, our results indicate that although riparian reserves are an important habitat in their own right, under the conditions in which we sampled they have a limited role as sources of functionally important invertebrates. Crucially, our results suggest that contiguous habitat corridors are important for maintaining connectivity of invertebrate populations, as forest dependent species may not easily be able to disperse through the agricultural matrix.

Rates and drivers of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia, 2000-2012.

The mangrove forests of Southeast Asia are highly biodiverse and provide multiple ecosystem services upon which millions of people depend. Mangroves enhance fisheries and coastal protection, and store among the highest densities of carbon of any ecosystem globally. Mangrove forests have experienced extensive deforestation owing to global demand for commodities, and previous studies have identified the expansion of aquaculture as largely responsible. The proportional conversion of mangroves to different land use types has not been systematically quantified across Southeast Asia, however, particularly in recent years. In this study we apply a combined geographic information system and remote sensing method to quantify the key proximate drivers (i.e., replacement land uses) of mangrove deforestation in Southeast Asia between 2000 and 2012. Mangrove forests were lost at an average rate of 0.18% per year, which is lower than previously published estimates. In total, more than 100,000 ha of mangroves were removed during the study period, with aquaculture accounting for 30% of this total forest change. The rapid expansion of rice agriculture in Myanmar, and the sustained conversion of mangroves to oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, are identified as additional increasing and under-recognized threats to mangrove ecosystems. Our study highlights frontiers of mangrove deforestation in the border states of Myanmar, on Borneo, and in Indonesian Papua. To implement policies that conserve mangrove forests across Southeast Asia, it is essential to consider the national and subnational variation in the land uses that follow deforestation.

Allometric Equations for Estimating the Carbon Sequestration in Rubber Plantations

Deforestation occurs due to agriculture and agroforestry. Since it can alter the whole ecosystem and can change regional and global climate, Malaysia is one of the membersof United Nation Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which applies Kyoto protocol to curb this problem. Despite the large number of studies on rubber plantation, only a few studies focus on the development of allometric equation for estimating carbon sequestration for rubber plantation in Malaysia. This research studies the correlation of carbon sequestration and plant physiology of rubber trees using non-destructive sampling. In this research, the data were collected from rubber plantations in Selangor. The rubber trees chosen were in the range between 1 to 28 years old. The number of trees sampled in this research was 150 for each selected age (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 23 and 28 years) totalling 2100 trees. Allometric equation of this research was developed by using carbon sequestration as a response variable (Y) and 8 of the chosen predictor variables, which are diameter at breast height (DBH), height (HT), chlorophyll content (CC), stomatal conductance (SC), photosynthesis (PN), transpiration (TRPT), leaf area index (LAI) and age (AG). Based on the statistical indicators, the most suitable model is ln(Y) = c + aln(DBH) + bln(HT) + cln(AG). This model is highly reliable for its accuracy in measurement for forest managers to estimate carbon sequestration in rubber trees. Therefore, the research findings can be extrapolated accurately for managing secondary forests related to carbon balance. As for the additional explanatory variables such as CC, SC, PN, TRPT and LAI they do not fit the indicators’ goodness of fit for the equation. The research findings complement the previous research as well as the methodology of the Good Practice Guidance for Land Use and Land Use Change and Forestry (GPG-LULUCF).

Spatial soil analysis using geostatistical analysis and map Algebra

Evaluating soil spatial variability through sampling is an important step in precision farming processes that aids farmers to make informed decisions on the spread of agricul- tural inputs. Manual sampling is essential in ascertaining soil physical characteristics and could be used to monitor the chemical components like macronutrient nitrogen (N), phos- phorus(P),and potassium(K).Thistypeofsamplinghowever could be costly and time consuming in macronutrient sam- pling. In order to show the ability of manual sampling to capture the essence of variability in the agricultural fields with enough number of samples and therefore, helping the preci- sion farming process, we conducted an experiment on differ- ent designs of random, systematic, stratifiedrandom, stratified systematic, and different sizes of samples. The experiment was carried out on the geostatistical surfaces (base maps) cre- ated from a set of data which belonged to a rice plantation in Malaysia. A krigged map for each of these schemes was cre- atedandcomparedwiththeN,P,andKbasemaps.Theresults showed that the systematic and stratified systematic schemes were the most accurate sampling schemes in terms of estima- tion of mean. However, both stratified schemes were not suc- cessful to create the standard deviation of populations. Concerning the standard error of mean when the schemes were used in linear mixed effect modeling grouped by the sample size, stratified samples could produce lower standard error (except for stratified random sample of P). In terms of reproducing the original spatial variability, only systematic sampling scheme could create better accuracy in most cases. The result also revealed that the most important property of a sampling scheme in the study area is representativeness of samples, and the number of samples does not play an impor- tant role in accuracy and map making. Therefore, the data could be equally valid for the precision farming.

Novel Pravastatin-Producing Penicillium janthinellum Strain Isolated from Soil

Hyperlipidemia is a main risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke. The lipid-lowering drug, pravastatin, is currently obtained by the microbial biotransformation of compactin (mevastatin) to pravastatin. It is clear that pharmaceutical industry has to date utilized only a very minor portion of nature’s microbial arsenal for the discovery of pravastatin. Therefore, the search for microfungi which is able to produce this statin directly has gained increasing importance. In this study, a total of 33 soil fungal cultures were isolated from nine sampling sites in oil palm plantations in Malaysia and tested for their potential to produce pravastatin. The cultures were cultivated in submerged fermentation followed by screening for statin production using high-performance liquid chromatography. The best pravastatin producer was identified to species level using morphological characteristics and molecular biological approaches. From the tested cultures, 18 fungal isolates were able to produce pravastatin directly by fermentation. Among these, the isolate ESF20P was the best producer, with a yield of 15.8 mg/l pravastatin. Molecular identification of this strain showed the highest homology (98%) with Penicillium janthinellum.

A Day in the Life of Vimala Nair

A Day in the Life of Vimala Nair

Workers’ Workload and Productivity

Abstract. The agricultural industry in Malaysia, for oil palm in particular, has low technology and labor-intensive production systems rather than modern technology and machine-based production systems. This study examined the workers’ workload and productivity with respect to the estimated human energy expenditure, measured heart rate, and measured production capacity for various operations in the nursery and field stages of oil palm cultivation in Malaysia. The objective of the study was to rank each operation in accordance with its priority for a mechanization program. The operations involved in the nursery and field stages and the tasks within each operation were ranked individually based on the combined DWD-DEM-EXH (duration, heart rate, and energy demand) criteria. Holing the soil in large polybags was found to be the highest priority operation for mechanization in the nursery stage, while planting germinated seeds in small polybags was the lowest priority operation. Lining was found to be the highest priority operation for mechanization in the field stage, while pest control was the lowest priority operation. The established DWD-DEM-EXH Cartesian plots can be an important basis for prioritizing the operations for mechanization and ultimately for formulating a mechanization program for oil palm plantations in Malaysia. More specifically, the results of this study could be used for lightening the workload and improving the performance of oil palm plantation workers.

Analysis of Free Sugar and Starch in Oil Palm Trunks (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.) from Various Cultivars as a Feedstock for Bioethanol Production

ABSTRACTIn this study, oil palm trunks from various plantations in Malaysia were analyzed for their starch content and sugar concentrations in the sap from the trunks as function of storage time as a feedstock for green energy. Glycoside hydrolases of the samples were also measured during storage. Considering three kinds of sugars accumulation in the trunks, the highest increase was from 31 mg/ml to 198 mg/ml after 60 days of storage followed by the second highest from 48~78 mg/ml to 109~133 mg/ml after 15~45 days of storage. Accumulation of the third stages was not observed in most types of trunks. The parenchyma in each trunk had different starch contents, which ranged from 0.33 to 37 wt%. Trunks with higher starch content in the parenchyma cells showed a tendency towards increased sugar concentration in the sap, suggesting that the breakdown of starch within the sap is related to sugar accumulation. Amylase activity in the trunks increased from 0.21 mU/g to 1.54 mU/g during storage. Invertase showed relatively high activity (6.48 mU/g) at around 15 days storage time. Based on the findings in this work, it seems that enzymes played an important role in the breakdown of starch and sucrose during storage of oil palm trunks.

Phylotype classification of Ralstonia solanacearum biovar 1 strains isolated from banana (Musa spp) in Malaysia

During 2011–2012, 15 bacterial isolates were obtained from wilting banana plants from seven locations in Malaysia. Characterisation of the Malaysian isolates was determined by biovar determination, pathogenicity test, phylotype-specific multiplex PCR (Pmx-PCR) and endoglucanase (egl) gene amplification. Based on the genotype, phenotype and pathogenic characteristics, all isolates were identified as Ralstonia solanacearum. Pmx- and egl-PCRs indicated that all isolates belong to phylotype II of Ralstonia species complex hierarchical classification. The neighbour joining phylogenetic tree of egl sequences also verified the results where the isolates were all clustered into phylotype II, together with the reference sequences strains, UW070 and UW162. Therefore, the results of our study may provide a better understanding on the taxonomy of R. solanacearum species occupying banana plantations in Malaysia. This study is indeed the first report of phylotype II classification of R. solanacearum biovar 1 strains isolated from banana plants in Malaysia.

Effect of Initial Planting Density and Tree Features on Growth, Wood Density, and Anatomical Properties from a Hevea brasiliensis Trial Plantation

Abstract The effect of initial planting density (500, 1,000, 1,500, and 2,000 trees per ha) on tree growth, wood density, and wood anatomical properties was studied in a 9-year-old Heave brasiliensis plantation in Malaysia. Results showed that effects of initial planting density on tree radial growth, wood density, fiber length, fiber wall thickness, and ray density were more visible in trees planted at 500 trees per ha compared with the other planting densities. Bole length was significantly increased with higher planting densities. However, vessel density showed an infinite pattern with increasing planting density. For vessel and ray areas, no significant effect of initial planting density was detected. A negative relationship was observed between wood density, fiber length, and fiber wall thickness with planting density, bole length, and height-to-diameter ratio. The ray density was significantly and positively correlated with stand/tree features with the exception of a negative correlation with radial growth increment. The regression models with various degrees of goodness of fit indicated that wood density followed by fiber wall thickness was successfully quantified due to selected stand/tree features. According to the results of this study, it is recommended that a low planting density of 500 trees per ha is ideal for rubberwood plantation development.

Carbon balance impacts of land use changes related to the life cycle of Malaysian palm oil-derived biodiesel

Purpose The area of oil palm plantations in Malaysia is expanding by approximately 0.14 million hectare per year, and with the increasing demand for palm oil worldwide, there is no sign of the expansions slowing down. This study aims to identify the greenhouse gas emissions associated with land conversion to oil palm, in a life cycle perspective.