Articles

Oil Palm Expansion: Aspects and Gender Roles in Rural Oil Palm Farm Households

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This paper comprehends that commercialization in Indonesia, especially in the plantation sector, has increased every year. In this paper, the focus of this research is on oil palm plantations which are expected to increase every year. One of the actors playing a role in this expansion is farmer households. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and describe gender aspects and roles in oil palm farmer households. This research used qualitative and quantitative approaches. There were 20 informants in the study for qualitative data and 80 respondents for quantitative data. The types of data used in this research were secondary data and primary data. Primary data were obtained through observation, in-depth interviews, and questionnaires, while secondary data were obtained from literature studies and documents related to this paper. The results of this study reveal that this expansion changes and influences gender aspects in oil palm farmer households, such as increasing women’s working time due to entering productive sectors, and the emergence of new sources of economic income for women.

Oil Palm Expansion in Farmers Perspective

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Studies on oil palm plantation expansion have been widely conducted and still debatable. This condition is caused by the increase in the oil palm land expansion every year. It cannot be separated from the role of investors/private companies, the state, and smallholders. This paper focuses on the farmer perspective on the oil palm plantations expansion with the purpose of describing the expansion of oil palm plantations from the farmer perspective in economy, income diversification and working time. This study used a qualitative and quantitative approach with the types of data used in this study were secondary data and primary data. The farmers feel the benefit in the economic side, increasing income and welfare levels. On the other hand, the presence of oil palm has led to the diversification of livelihoods in farmer, it makes easy in to borrow formal and non-formal institutions.

Influence of Rainfall and Water Deficit in the Efficiency of Potassium Fertilizer on the Productivity of Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.), Grown in Southeastern Côte d’Ivoire

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In Côte d’Ivoire, palm oil occupies a preponderant position in agricultural production, in the economy, as well as consumer fats. Yield remains low, even with improved plant material being popularized whose productivity is estimated at more than 25 tons/ha/year. Trials have been set up in La Mé and Ehania (South-east Côte d’Ivoire), to help improve oil palm productivity, through a comparative study of the efficiency of potassium fertilization applied according to the locality. The experiments were conducted in Fisher blocks, including 5 treatments and 4 repetitions. The treatments included 5 doses of potassium fertilizer (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) corresponding, respectively, to 1; 1.5; 2; 2.5; 3 kg KCl/tree/year. The results showed that the rainfall recorded in the locality of Ehania was significantly higher than that of La Mé. The average annual rainfall was 2000 mm of water in Ehania against, approximately, 1700 mm of water in La Mé. The yield and its components (weight of the bunch and number of bunches) were gradually improved according to the locality of cultivation by the different doses of fertilizer applied. This improvement was significantly higher on the Ehania plantation compared to that of La Mé. This improvement was approximately 30% and 27% compared to the standard dose of 1 kg KCl/tree/year, respectively, in Ehania and La Mé. It appears that the locality intervenes in the efficiency of potassium fertilizers, in the improvement of yield and its components. Rainfall appears, as, a main factor of productivity observed on the plot of the oil palm. Strict compliance with the choices of suitable areas, combined with reasoned potassium fertilization, will allow a better expression of the production potential of new oil palm plant material, currently being popularized.