commitments toward climate change protocols and biodiversity conservation while
still achieving its economic targets.
About 76% of the area of palm oil in Malaysia has been certified under the MSPO
certification scheme as of February 2020 (Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council
2020). There is a strong commitment of the Malaysian government towards sustainable palm oil through the MSPO certification scheme to better shape the Malaysian
produced palm oil to the international market. In June 2019, the Minister of Primary
Industries highlighted key steps to ensure the sustainability of oil palm in the
country, include: (1) limit oil palm planting area in the country to 6.5 million ha;
(2) new oil palm planting is no longer allowed on peatland, and rules will be
strengthened for existing oil palm planted on peatland; (3) the conversion of
permanent forest reserved into oil palm plantation or other agricultural crops is
prohibited; and (4) official maps of oil palm areas in the country will be made
publicly available to ensure transparency (Ministry of Primary Industries 2019b).
Plantations on peatland in Malaysia adopted zero-burning policy, where open
burning is not allowed in order to protect the environment and to avoid uncontrolled
burning that spreads. Furthermore, there are available manuals and guidelines from
different departments/agencies are available for reference include better land and
water management, pest and diseases, and nutrient. In addition, use of by-products
from the plantations such as soil mulching with empty fruit bunch (waste from oil
processing), agro-husbandry model (i.e. planting of palms and rearing livestock) and
inter-cropping are encouraged for optimising land use of the plantation concession
for additional economic value.
With the better development of technology nowadays, some of the by-products
are produced and to be utilised as animal feed, compost, paper and energy. In terms
of pests and diseases management, there are some environmental friendly
approaches that are practised such as bio-monitoring with the use of owls to control
rats, use of pheromone traps to control rhinoceros beetle and use of bio-control
agents/enzymes to control diseases.
26.7.3 Management of Agriculture on Peatland
Mirroring the oil palm, a large amount of peatland in Malaysia has already been
drained for agriculture activity. More than 430,000 ha of peatland had been
converted for smallholder activities (Miettinen et al. 2016). To make peat swamps
suitable for agriculture, a water management strategy based on sustaining the peat is
the key for development. Managing the GWL is the best practice for farmers to
sustain the agricultural production.
The agricultural crops that have been planted on the peatland areas include
pineapples, corn, yam, ginger, tapioca, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and beans. Peatland
is naturally anaerobic and very acidic and the plants that grow naturally on peatland
are not only tolerant to acidity but also have special root system. For plants without
26 National Strategies on Responsible Management of Tropical Peatland in Malaysia
709
still achieving its economic targets.
About 76% of the area of palm oil in Malaysia has been certified under the MSPO
certification scheme as of February 2020 (Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council
2020). There is a strong commitment of the Malaysian government towards sustainable palm oil through the MSPO certification scheme to better shape the Malaysian
produced palm oil to the international market. In June 2019, the Minister of Primary
Industries highlighted key steps to ensure the sustainability of oil palm in the
country, include: (1) limit oil palm planting area in the country to 6.5 million ha;
(2) new oil palm planting is no longer allowed on peatland, and rules will be
strengthened for existing oil palm planted on peatland; (3) the conversion of
permanent forest reserved into oil palm plantation or other agricultural crops is
prohibited; and (4) official maps of oil palm areas in the country will be made
publicly available to ensure transparency (Ministry of Primary Industries 2019b).
Plantations on peatland in Malaysia adopted zero-burning policy, where open
burning is not allowed in order to protect the environment and to avoid uncontrolled
burning that spreads. Furthermore, there are available manuals and guidelines from
different departments/agencies are available for reference include better land and
water management, pest and diseases, and nutrient. In addition, use of by-products
from the plantations such as soil mulching with empty fruit bunch (waste from oil
processing), agro-husbandry model (i.e. planting of palms and rearing livestock) and
inter-cropping are encouraged for optimising land use of the plantation concession
for additional economic value.
With the better development of technology nowadays, some of the by-products
are produced and to be utilised as animal feed, compost, paper and energy. In terms
of pests and diseases management, there are some environmental friendly
approaches that are practised such as bio-monitoring with the use of owls to control
rats, use of pheromone traps to control rhinoceros beetle and use of bio-control
agents/enzymes to control diseases.
26.7.3 Management of Agriculture on Peatland
Mirroring the oil palm, a large amount of peatland in Malaysia has already been
drained for agriculture activity. More than 430,000 ha of peatland had been
converted for smallholder activities (Miettinen et al. 2016). To make peat swamps
suitable for agriculture, a water management strategy based on sustaining the peat is
the key for development. Managing the GWL is the best practice for farmers to
sustain the agricultural production.
The agricultural crops that have been planted on the peatland areas include
pineapples, corn, yam, ginger, tapioca, sweet potatoes, pumpkin and beans. Peatland
is naturally anaerobic and very acidic and the plants that grow naturally on peatland
are not only tolerant to acidity but also have special root system. For plants without
26 National Strategies on Responsible Management of Tropical Peatland in Malaysia
709