Intercropping, the practice of growing two or more crops in close proximity, could be one of the keys to mitigating the impact of oil palm plantations on forests and biodiversity, new research suggests.
The common views shared by oil palm farmers and companies is that the crop needs to be cultivated as a monoculture — row upon row of nothing but oil palms — in order to maximize yields. This is due to the belief that other species growing among the oil palms will compete for light and nutrients.
But there’s actually no negative effect on oil palm yield from intercropping or livestock integration, according to Maja Slingerland from Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands, who researches palm oil and cocoa production from agronomic and socioeconomic perspectives.
Slingerland co-authored a recent research paper published by Tropenbos International, a Dutch consultancy focused on sustainable forestry, that looked at smallholder oil palm plantations in Uganda. It found no negative effects on the growth of oil palms or intercrops in the first four to five years of life of the plantations.
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