Malaysian agriculture: Its sustainability issue

by Eugene Pek, 15 Oct 2008, UTAR Sg Long

Issues towards sustainable development

Currently in the country, the production of palm oil is faced with more sustainable issues than the plantation of other crops. There seems to be some mismatch of perception on the concern of sustainable growth in terms of land management used for oil palm plantation between the Malaysian government and international non-governmental bodies (NGOs). These NGOs and the Western countries are condemning Malaysia on the way forests are cut to make way for palm oil plantation especially in the Sabah state.

The negative claims

Statistics show that the land area in Sabah used for palm oil plantation has increased nearly 2.5 folds in 2004 (1,200,000 hectares) as compared to 1994 (500,000 ha) as quoted in Rahimatsah (2007). The NGOs perceives that the extension is through cutting of virgin forests. Jeffrey Sachs once claimed that Sabah is the most unique place on earth in terms of environmental and ecological endowments and he would like his future generations to have the equal opportunity to enjoy these gifts of nature. Therefore if more and more land is cleared via deforestation for palm oil production, the Sachs juniors may not been able to enjoy the bequest values of the ecosystems of Sabah that are very much appreciated by Sachs senior.

The conventional debates of sustainable development in palm oil production are not directly related or caused by the technological frontier but more of the concerns on the origin of the four million ha (2007) of land used as oil palm estates in the country. The idea of clearing forests for the sake of ‘agri-commercial’ reasons will affect the natural habitats of priceless animals and flora and fauna. The tigers, Sumatran rhinoceros, Asian elephants and orangutans are some of the very unique animals that are affected by land conversions for commercial uses. The Orangutans, especially, are faced with serious habitats problems and high possibility of extinction thanks to the estate expansion to reap high returns of palm oil in the world market.

The other critical concern is the destruction of peatlands, which is crucial ‘carbon sink’ and ‘water retention’ role player. Land clearing for agricultural use will see peatlands tidied commonly through the traditional method of burning which releases huge concentration of carbon dioxide into the air due to the ‘carbon sink’ role of the peatlands. Evidently, during the 1997 Indonesia forest fires which see many peatlands destroyed and responsible for the vast increase of world carbon dioxide levels, an estimated 0.81 to 2.57 Gt of carbon was released and that was equivalent to 13-40 percent of the amount released by fossil fuel burning globally.

The real scenario

Commercial profits aside, the Malaysian government is dismissing all these baseless allegations as the country values highly and is a staunch devotee of sustainable development. The land areas used for palm oil production are from old logging areas or unproductive forests rather than the virgin rainforests as claimed. Tan et al. (2007) asserted that 64 percent of total land mass in Malaysia is rainforests as compared to United Kingdoms (UK) with a mere 12 percent. In addition to that, oil palm plantations only occupied 10 percent of the total mass land in the country. Besides, the government aims to plant 500,000 ha of forest plantation, double the existing ones in the states of Johor, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak. So, if Malaysia is to be charged guilty in ‘raping’ the virgin rainforest, what about UK?

In the same work of Tan et al., it was reported that from 1990 to 2005, there was only less than one million ha of new land being converted into palm oil estate, but not as massively claimed by the west. In this study, it was also suggested that oil palm plantations are more effective than rainforests in playing the role of ‘carbon sink’ in terms of assimilation of dry matter per ha per year. Several studies indicated that biodiversity of flora and fauna in oil palm estates are not only stably unaffected but has attracted many species of birds, butterflies and mammals, notably even rare species like leopard cats.

A caucus “Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil” (RSPO) to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil and forging stronger co-operation within the supply chain and other stakeholders was established in 2004. Malaysia as one of the founding members is actively participating in managing RSPO activities and committing herself to the RSPO Principles and Criteria (e.g. transparency of management, commitment to long-term economic and financial viability, responsible in conservation of natural resources and biodiversity and others) to ensure sustainable palm oil production. Sustainability in palm oil is analogous to sustainability in the Malaysian agriculture due to its position as the number one agricultural crop in the country.

Complementing the RSPO is the Best management practice (BMP) that has been implemented and practiced in the country as initiatives towards agricultural sustainability. Operations from harvesting to production of oil palm products have been carried out consistently with the best approaches. Integrated pest management, use of organic fertilizers (from palm oil’s empty fruit brunches), zero open burning and planting of leguminous crops (to minimize soil erosion) are some of the BMP.