The reforestation of wildlife corridors is key in preserving biodiversity and climate resilience in oil palm-dominated mixed landscapes. However, growers often perceive reforestation as under-optimising land use, a source of pest infestation and human-wildlife conflicts, and an overall financial burden. TRAILS will pilot experimental oil palm-based agroforestry systems (mixed planting with selected oil palm and native forest tree) and quantify their biodiversity and climatic resilience benefits, while demonstrating tangible oil palm performance advantages and associated socioeconomics gains for the growers and local communities.

By mobilising state of the art multidisciplinary research, TRAILS will close targeted knowledge gaps and identify innovative solutions to support sustainable agricultural development and integrated resource management at the landscape level.

Empty fruit bunches, mesocarp fruit fibers and palm kernel shells are solid by-products of oil palm fruit bunch processing. The byproducts are fed to boilers at the mill and pyrolizers and gasifiers off-mill for electricity generation, producing oil palm ash (OPA) and empty fruit bunch biochar (EFBB). Both OPA and EFBB have great potential to be used as soil conditioners, but their caustic and dusty nature pose a health hazard for workers when directly applying them to soil. The present study proposes to pelletize the two materials to improve handling of the materials and application to soil. Four different ratios of OPA and EFBB will be tested to determine the best combination that will decompose and release the beneficial elements the fastest. Compost will be added at a constant ratio (40% w/w) to the different combinations to provide labile short chain carbon to prime and hasten microbial decomposition. One set of the different ratios will be pelletized while one set will be manually mixed and blended. The different treatments will be incubated with soil in a controlled environment for 120 days to determine their rates of decomposition by measuring their CO2 production. The different treatments will then be applied to field-grown corn to assess the improvements in soil condition and plant growth they provide under natural biotic and abiotic factors. It is expected that the decomposition rates of the pelletized OPA, EFBB and compost and their effects on soil and plants will not be significantly different than the unpelletized materials. This study will hopefully help to improve handling and application of OPA and EFBB to soil while reducing the health hazard risk to workers. Ultimately, it is hoped that OPA and EFBB will gain appreciation and increased utilization reducing the need for liming materials and fertilization.

A resolution has been passed by the European Union to prohibit the importation of palm oil to Europe due to the allegedly high carbon emission of converting forest to oil palm plantation. Although there has not been any recent clearing of new forest areas for oil palm in Malaysia, the prohibition applies to all palm oil producing countries which will adversely affect the Malaysian economy and the 650,000 oil palm smallholders in Malaysia. Oil palm has the potential to restore carbon throughout the 25 years of its economic life span. Photosynthetic uptake of atmospheric CO2 by oil palms, decomposition of pruned oil palm fronds and expansion of belowground root biomass can potentially sequester carbon in soil. However, as replanting is commonly carried out every 25 years, the fate of the sequestered carbon following replanting is unknown. A study is proposed to measure and quantify changes of soil carbon and soil CO2 emission of a newly replanted oil palm until 9 years of age. A chronosequence approach will be used where measurements will be made at oil palm of different ages and growth stages within the same plantation. Measurements of soil total and labile carbon, CO2 emission and root biomass will be made at the front heap pile, harvesting path and interrow; the three distinct sections within an oil palm plantation. It is expected that there will be initial loss of carbon following replanting but will stabilize and reach the level before replanting by the 9th year of growth. The outcome of this is study will hopefully justify that carbon emission from oil palm plantation in Malaysia is not as high as newly deforested areas, and the prohibition by the European Union does not blanket every palm oil producer, but on a country to country basis.