| Zero Burning Replanting Technique |
Zero burning replanting is a practical
and environmentally sound technique that has been adopted and implemented
by the plantation industry. To date, more than 80,000 hectares of
oil palm have been replanted using this technique. This is the best
option to the previous burning practices and is suitable for converting
other crops such as cocoa, rubber and coconut into palm cultivation.
The zero burning replanting is a practice in which the old and uneconomical
standards of oil palm and other tree corps are felled and shredded
and left to decompose in situ This technique also allows
all plant tissues to be recycled, enhancing soil organic matter.
This will invariably help to restore and improve soil fertility.
The biomass of the palm residue through decomposition recycles nutrients
into the soil and reduces the input of inorganic fertilizers. The
return of organic matter also improves the physical and chemical
properties of the soil. In contrast of the clean-clearing method
where the old stands are burned, the zero burning techniques allows
replanting to be done without violating the Environmental Quality
(Clean Air) Besides being non-polluting, it also contributes
positively towards efforts in minimizing global warming. The technique
has also been developed for the planting of oil palm from logged-over
forest.
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In summary, the zero burning replanting
technique offers the following benefits: |
- It allows complete return of organic matter to the soil.
This helps to preserve, restore and improve soil fertility,
chemical and physical properties of the soil.
- The fallow period is reduced considerably because the new
stand is planted simultaneously with felling or shredding
operations.
- Felling/clearing will no longer be dependent on the vagaries
of weather. In the past, wet weather often delayed burning
and thus replanting. Such delays are now avoided.
- In the absence of burning, the cost of land clearing is
substantially cheaper.
- Zero burning in non-polluting, contributes positively towards
minimizing global warming, and complies with environmental
legislation.
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The above benefits are conservatively estimated to bring RM 1070
to RM 1415 savings per hectare in replanting cost. The avoidance
of environment pollution is another benefit that cannot possibly
be quantified in monetary terms.
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The threat often posed by zero burning replanting
is the outbreak of the rhinoceros beetle Oryctes rhinoceros due
to the presence of large quantities of decomposing biomass which
are ideal breeding grounds of the pest. Nevertheless, shredding
of plant tissues and early establishment of leguminous cover crops
has been found to significantly reduce viability of breeding sites.
More recently, particularly in flat coastal replants, stacking
of plant debris in close-ended trenches was experienced to further
reduce beetle outbreaks. This is due to the wet to water-logged
conditions in the trenches making the debris unconducive for Oryctes to
breed. |
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In situations where damage persisted despite the
above, a combination of the integrated use of pheromone traps,
selective pyrethroid insecticide application and release of biopathogens
like baculovirus of Oryctes and Metarhizium anisopliae have
invariably brought about control of outbreaks. |
