Displaying publications 181 - 200 of 617 in total

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  1. Spatial-temporal changes of forests and agricultural lands in Malaysia from 1990 to 2017
    Yan J, Gao S, Xu M, Su F
    Environ Monit Assess, 2020 Dec 01;192(12):803.
    PMID: 33263164 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-020-08765-6
    Forests and agricultural lands are the main resources on the earth's surface and important indicators of regional ecological environments. In this paper, Landsat images from 1990 and 2017 were used to extract information on forests in Malaysia based on a remote-sensing classification method. The spatial-temporal changes of forests and agricultural lands in Malaysia between 1990 and 2017 were analyzed. The results showed that the natural forests in Malaysia decreased by 441 Mha, a reduction of 21%. The natural forests were mainly converted into plantations in Peninsular Malaysia and plantations and secondary forests in East Malaysia. The area of agricultural lands in Malaysia increased by 55.7%, in which paddy fields increased by 1.1% and plantations increased by 98.2%. Paddy fields in Peninsular Malaysia are mainly distributed in the north-central coast and the Kelantan Delta. The agricultural land in East Malaysia is dominated by plantations, which are mainly distributed in coastal areas. The predictable areas of possible expansion for paddy fields in Peninsular Malaysia's Kelantan (45.2%) and Kedah (16.8%) areas in the future are large, and in addition, the plantations in Sarawak (44.7%) and Sabah (29.6%) of East Malaysia have large areas for expansion. The contradiction between agricultural development and protecting the ecological environment is increasingly prominent. The demand for agriculture is expected to increase further and result in greater pressures on tropical forests. Governments also need to encourage farmers to carry out existing land development, land recultivation, or cooperative development to improve agricultural efficiency and reduce the damage to natural forests.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  2. Effect of substitution of normal weight coarse aggregate with oil-palm-boiler clinker on properties of concrete
    Lee JC, Payam Shafigh, Hilmi Mahmud, Muhammad Aslam
    Sains Malaysiana, 2017;46:645-653.
    Oil-palm-boiler clinker (OPBC) is an agricultural solid waste sourced from the palm oil industry in tropical regions. This study investigates the use of OPBC as coarse aggregate instead of conventional coarse aggregates to produce a greener concrete, which will help in implementing sustainable construction practices by reducing the usage of raw materials. For this purpose, normal weight coarse aggregates was substituted with dry OPBC aggregates up to 75% (by volume) in a high strength normal weight concrete. The effectiveness of this substitution on the properties of the concrete such as workability, density, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity was studied. The slump test results showed that using OPBC in dry condition reduced the workability of the concrete and therefore can be used up to 50% of the total volume of coarse aggregate. Concrete containing 50% OPBC can be considered as semi-lightweight concrete with high strength. Using OPBC in concrete reduced the splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity, however, the reduction was not significant.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  3. Fulltext Controlled Release Fertilizers: A Review on Coating Materials and Mechanism of Release
    Lawrencia D, Wong SK, Low DYS, Goh BH, Goh JK, Ruktanonchai UR, et al.
    Plants (Basel), 2021 Jan 26;10(2).
    PMID: 33530608 DOI: 10.3390/plants10020238
    Rising world population is expected to increase the demand for nitrogen fertilizers to improve crop yield and ensure food security. With existing challenges on low nutrient use efficiency (NUE) of urea and its environmental concerns, controlled release fertilizers (CRFs) have become a potential solution by formulating them to synchronize nutrient release according to the requirement of plants. However, the most significant challenge that persists is the "tailing" effect, which reduces the economic benefits in terms of maximum fertilizer utilization. High materials cost is also a significant obstacle restraining the widespread application of CRF in agriculture. The first part of this review covers issues related to the application of conventional fertilizer and CRFs in general. In the subsequent sections, different raw materials utilized to form CRFs, focusing on inorganic and organic materials and synthetic and natural polymers alongside their physical and chemical preparation methods, are compared. Important factors affecting rate of release, mechanism of release and mathematical modelling approaches to predict nutrient release are also discussed. This review aims to provide a better overview of the developments regarding CRFs in the past ten years, and trends are identified and analyzed to provide an insight for future works in the field of agriculture.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  4. Fulltext Comparison between conventional human energy measurement and physical human energy measurement methods in wetland rice production
    Elsoragaby S, Yahya A, Nawi NM, Mahadi MR, Mairghany M, Muazu A, et al.
    Heliyon, 2020 Nov;6(11):e05332.
    PMID: 33294651 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05332
    Measurement of human energy expenditure during crop production helps in the optimization of production operations and costs by identifying steps which that can benefit from the use of appropriate mechanization technologies. This study measures human energy expenditure associated with all 6 major rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation operations using two measurement methods-i.e. conventional human energy expenditure method and direct measurement with a Garmin forerunner 35 body media. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed comparison of these two methods and document the human energy costs in a manner that will identify steps to be taken to help optimize agricultural practices. Results (mean + 95%CL) revealed that the total human energy expenditure obtained through the conventional method was 25.5% higher (33.3 ± 1 versus 26.6 ± 1.3) in transplanting and 26.1% higher (30.3 ± 1.9 versus 24.0 ± 2.1) than the human energy expenditure recorded using the Garmin method in broadcast seeding method. Similarly, during the harvesting operation, the conventional measurement and Garmin measurement methods differed significantly, with the conventional method the human energy expenditure was 89.9% higher (3.2 ± 0.4 versus 1.68 ± 0.2) in the fields using the transplanting and 88.7% higher (3.3 ± 0.5 versus 1.8 ± 0.3) in the fields using the broadcast seeding than the human energy expenditure recorded using the Garmin method. When using Garmin method, the human energy expenditure in the case of using the midsize combine harvester was 13.49% lesser (592.4 ± 67.2 versus 522.0 ± 75.1) than the case of using conventional one. Results based on heart rate also indicated that operations such as tillage were less intensive (72 ± 3.3 bpm) compared with operations such as chemicals spraying (135 ± 4 bpm). Although we did not have a criterion measure available to determine which method was the most accurate, the Garmin measurement gives an estimate of actual physical human energy expended in performing a specific task with consider all conditions and thus more information to aid in identifying critical operations that could be optimized and mechanized.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  5. Crop Diversity: An Unexploited Treasure Trove for Food Security
    Massawe F, Mayes S, Cheng A
    Trends Plant Sci, 2016 05;21(5):365-368.
    PMID: 27131298 DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2016.02.006
    The prediction is that food supply must double by 2050 to cope with the impact of climate change and population pressure on global food systems. The diversification of staple crops and the systems in which they grow is essential to make future agriculture sustainable, resilient, and suitable for local environments and soils.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  6. Fulltext Cholinesterase-based biosensor for preliminary detection of toxic heavy metals in the environment and agricultural-based products
    Sabullah, M. K., Khalidi, S. A. M., Abdullah, R., Sani, S. A., Gansau, J. A., Ahmad, S. A., et al.
    International Food Research Journal, 2020;27(4):597-609.
    MyJurnal
    Heavy metals with high chemical activity from sludge and waste release, agriculture, and
    mining activity are a major concern. They should be carefully managed before reaching the
    main water bodies. Excessive exposure to heavy metal may cause toxic effect to any types of
    organism from the biomolecular to the physiological level, and ultimately cause death. Monitoring is the best technique to ensure the safety of our environment before a rehabilitation is
    needed. Nowadays, enzyme-based biosensors are utilised in biomonitoring programmes as
    this technique allows for a real-time detection and rapid result. It is also inexpensive and easy
    to handle. Enzyme-based biosensors are an alternative for the preliminary screening of
    contamination before a secondary screening is performed using high-performance technology.
    This review highlights the current knowledge on enzyme-based biosensors, focusing on
    cholinesterase for toxic metal detection in the environment.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  7. Fulltext Heterogeneous Effect of Sectoral Composition on the Green Technology Innovations in Asia’s Middle-income Countries
    Jain Yassin, Sing Yun, Wong, Herniza Roxanne Marcus
    International Journal of Innovation and Industrial Revolution, 2021;3(6):13-26.
    MyJurnal
    This study examines the extent to which sectoral composition can affect green technology innovations in 20 selected Asia’s Middle-Income countries from 1995 until 2016. To measure the cross-sectional dependence among cross-sectional units and allows heterogeneous coefficients in a panel, this study will adopt the Dynamic Common Correlated Effect (DCCE). The results show that an increase in the proportion of industry and services sectors plays an important role in innovations of environmentally friendly technology. It is also knowing that the tourism sector and pollution level would be a prospect for green technology innovations. On the contrary, the increasing proportion of the agriculture sector may hinder green innovations. The finding of this study can be helpful for policymakers in middle-Income countries to promote a balance of green technology development in each sector for the sake of comprehensive sustainable development.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  8. Fulltext The role of partnership in capacity building in public health nutrition - experience of Malaysia
    Awin N
    Malays J Nutr, 2002 Mar;8(1):99-107.
    PMID: 22692442 MyJurnal
    Public Health emphasizes the plurality of the determinants of health of individuals, families and communities. Nutrition, as a major determinant of health, is itself influenced by a multitude of determinants that are under the purview of several agencies. Thus, inter-sectoral collaboration among the relevant agencies is imperative for promoting optimal health and nutrition such a partnership is manifested in the development and implementation of the National Plan of Nutrition (NPAN) of Malaysia pursuant to the International Conference on Nutrition (ICN) held in 1992. While the overall coordination of NPAN is at the Family Development Division in the Ministry of Health, the body that sees to the coordination is again a multi-agency group in the form of the National Coordinating Committee for Food and Nutrition (NCCFN). The NCCFN has representation for the nine thrust areas of NPAN that cut across various sectors including health, agriculture, education, community development and economic planning. Capacity building is a central strategy in the NPAN through the creation of positions and special budgetary allocations, and the implementation of activities including research, training, development of dietary guidelines and the National Nutrition Policy. This policy will be a major driving force for strengthening and building of capacity for nutrition-related activities, and more importantly it will facilitate a coordinated and coherent approach to capacity building, including sharing of resources.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  9. Fulltext Chlorpyrifos blood level and exposure symptoms among paddy farmers in Sabak Bernam, Malaysia
    Rozita Hod, Azimatun Noor Aizuddin, Shamsul Azhar Shah, Mohd Rohaizat Hassan, Nazarudin Safian, Mohd Hasni Jaafar
    Int J Public Health Res, 2011;1(1):1-6.
    MyJurnal
    Accepted 21 July 2011.
    Introduction The extensive and intensive use of pesticides in agricultural practices has exposed farmers to various hazards resulting in varying degrees of health
    outcomes.
    Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among paddy farmers in Sabak Bernam district, Malaysia. The objective of this study was to gather baseline information on chlorpyrifos blood level and its relationship with pesticides exposure symptoms.
    Results We detected chlorpyrifos in farmers’ blood in 7 percent of the respondents, with mean 7.29 nanogram per millilitre blood (sd 5.84 nanogram per millilitre). The percentage of farmers who experienced at least one pesticide exposure symptoms was 75 percent. However, we found no significant association between chlorpyrifos blood level and its exposure symptoms. The farmers had low scores on safe practice of pesticide use even though they have high marks on knowledge and attitude. We found no significant association between the scores on knowledge, attitude and practice on pesticide use and the chlorpyrifos blood level.
    Conclusions The presence of pesticide exposure symptoms proved that most of the farmers were exposed to hazardous effects of pesticides. Specific trainings on safe use and handling of pesticides should be given on regular basis to these farmers to ensure they are protected from hazardous effects of pesticides exposure.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  10. Fulltext Web-based decision support system for paddy planting management
    Norasma, C.Y.N., Shariff, A.R.M., Jahanshiri, E., Amin, M.S.M., Khairunniza-Bejo, S., Mahmud, A.R.
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2013;21(2):343-364.
    MyJurnal
    Precision farming offers numerous benefits and advantages to the farming community for farm productivity improvement. Previous research has led to the development of the offline-based recision Farmer©. Our current research extends further the previous work by developing a Web Paddy GIS©. The need for this arises due to limitations of Precision Farmer© such as portability, offline system accessibility and affordability by the end users, who include semi-literate farmers. This new system has been developed to function on Windows and Linux platforms. A user satisfaction assessment was conducted on website acceptability, and performance testing was made. This study demonstrates that Web Paddy GIS© can successfully run on both platforms. However, the Linux platform has proven to be superior to Windows, based on factors such as CPU usage, speed and user satisfaction. This paper presents a novel management tool of Web-based precision farming for the semi-literate paddy farming community of a developing country. The development of the Web Paddy GIS© is very useful for paddy farmers, farm managers, decision makers and researchers.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  11. Fulltext Geospatial Water Productivity Index (WPI) for rice
    Md Rowshon Kamal, Mohd Amin Mohd Soom, Abdul Rashid Mohamed Shariff
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2012;20(2):381-399.
    MyJurnal
    A GIS-based user-interface programme was developed to compute the geospatial Water ProductivityIndex (WPI) of a river-fed rice irrigation scheme in Northwest Selangor, Malaysia. The spatial analysisincludes irrigation blocks with sizes ranging from 20 to 300 ha. The amount of daily water use for eachirrigation block was determined using irrigation delivery model and stored in the database for both mainseason (August to December) and off season (February to May). After cut-off of the irrigation supply,a sub-module was used to compute the total water use including rainfall for each irrigation block. Therice yield data for both seasons were obtained from DOA (Department of Agriculture, Malaysia) of thescheme. Then, the Water Productivity Index (WPI) was computed for each irrigation block and spatialthematic map was also generated. ArcObjects and Visual Basic Application (VBA) programminglanguages were used to structure user-interface in the ArcGIS software. The WPI, expressed in termsof crop yield per unit amount of water used (irrigation and effective rainfall), ranged from 0.02 to 0.57kg/m3 in the main season and 0.02 to 0.40 in off season among irrigation blocks, respectively. Thedevelopment of the overall system and the procedure are illustrated using the data obtained from thestudy area. The approach could be used to depict the gaps between the existing and appropriate watermanagement practices. Suitable interventions could be made to fill the gaps and enhance water useefficiency at the field level and also help in saving irrigation water through remedial measures in theseason. The approach could be useful for irrigation managers to rectify and enhance decision-makingin both the management and operation of the next irrigation season.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  12. Fulltext Adsorption and desorption study of ¹⁴C-chlorpyrifos in two Malaysian agricultural soils
    Halimah Muhamad, Nashriyah Mat, Tan, Yew Ai, Ismail, B.S.
    Journal of Nuclear and Related Technologies, 2004;2004(1):23-33.
    MyJurnal
    The adsorption equilibrium time and effects of pH and concentration of ¹⁴C-labeled chlorpyrifos
    O,O-diethyl O-(3, 5, 6 trichloro-2-pyridyl)-phosphorothiote in soil were investigated. Two types of Malaysian soil under oil palm were used in this study; namely clay loam and clay soil obtained from the Sungai Sedu and Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Estates, respectively. Equilibrium studies of chlorpyrifos between the agricultural soil and the pesticide solution were conducted. Adsorption equilibrium time was achieved within 6 and 24 hours for clay loam and clay soil, respectively. It was found that chlorpyrifos adsorbed by the soil samples was characterized by an initial rapid adsorption after which adsorption remained approximately constant. The percentage of ¹⁴C-labeled chlorpyrifos adsorption on soil was found to be higher in clay loam than in clay soils. Results of the study demonstrated that pH affected the adsorption of chlorpyrifos on both clay loam and clay soils. The adsorption of chlorpyrifos on both types of soil was higher at low pH with the adsorption reduced as the pH increased. Results also suggest that chlorpyrifos sorption by soil is concentration dependent.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  13. Fulltext Short communications impact of water resources availability on agricultural sustainability in the Gavkhuni River Basin, Iran
    Hamidreza Salemi, Mohd Amin Mohd Soom, Lee, Teang Shui, Mohd Kamil Yusoff
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2011;19(2):213-227.
    MyJurnal
    One of the most interesting water management case studies in Iran is the case of Zayandehrud River, the main river that supplies water to Isfahan Province which is located in Gavkhuni River Basin (GRB). This paper examines the present and future demands for water and determines the extent to which water will be available for agricultural use by the year 2020. Although demand and supply conditions in 2000 were more or less in balance, there was an increase in the supply of some 28% by 2010 due to the completion of the third trans-basin diversion and the development of other local water sources. However, the demand exceeded its supply in 2010 and the basin fell into severe deficit. In this condition, the only way to keep supply and demand in balance is to reduce allocations to agriculture. By 2020, agriculture would only have 5% more water than the present and water supply is only 90% that of the normal, and this would then shrink from 2025 onwards. In other words, agriculture would have to be sacrificed in order to ensure full supplies of water for the other sectors. The scenarios examined reveal that a sustainable agriculture can only be accomplished by water saving practices and management measures, which may further lead to reduced demand, control supplies, and improve the efficiency of water use.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  14. Letter: The durian season in Peninsular Malaysia as a factor in the epidemiology of malaria
    Ponnampalam JT
    Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg, 1975;69(2):285.
    PMID: 1101460
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  15. Genetics research in Malaysia : suggested priorities
    Tan, S.G.
    Buletin Persatuan Genetik Malaysia, 2004;10(2):0-0.
    MyJurnal
    Malaysia, with her tropical jungles, mangroves and seas, is blessed with riches in biodiversity, being one of the twelve megabiodiversity countries on earth. Genetics has contributed substantially to the success of our country's agricultural production especially of rubber and palm oil. Hence, it should play a pivotal role in helping Malaysia fulfill her responsibility to identify, characterize and sustainably utilize her numerous indigenous bioresources for the benefit of humanity.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  16. Fulltext Design and development of a sweet potato digging device
    Md. Akhir, H., Ahmad, D., Rukunudin, I. H., Shamsuddin, S., A. Yahya
    Pertanika Journal of Science & Technology, 2014;22(1):43-53.
    MyJurnal
    This paper describes a study on the design, fabrication and testing of a prototype digging device for sweet potato tubers in bris soil. The soil texture was sandy soil (fine sand 94.53%), with mean moisture content of 9.16% and mean bulk density of 1.44 g-cm-3. The soil was prepared in a soil bin. Three types of soil digging tools were designed and fabricated to determine the optimum draft force. These were Flat or plane, V-shaped and Hoe type blades. Plane and V-shaped blades were 30 cm long, and 13 cm wide, while the Hoe type had three rods, 25 mm in diameter, 30 cm long and 6.5 cm wide with sharp cutting edge. The digging tools were tested in a soil bin filled with bris soil to determine the optimum draft force and area of soil disturbance. The results were analysed using statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA). Comparison between all blade types and blade depths to measured draft force and the area of soil disturbed showed that the highest draft of 0.54 kN-m-2 was caused by a flat or plane blade at the optimum depth of 20 cm when the area of soil disturbed was 0.180 m2 . The V-shaped blade had the mean draft of 0.51 kN-m-2, with area of soil disturbance of 0.185 m2 . Thebest choice was V-shaped blade with a rake angle of 30o at 20 cm. depth. The selected blade was fixed onto the sweet potato harvester and tested on bris soil planted with sweet potato of Telong and VitAto varieties. The harvesting efficiency of the machine in bris soil was 93.64% and 90.49% for Telong (Plot A) and VitAto (Plot B) varieties, respectively. The average ground speed and turning time during operation for plots A and B was 0.56 km-hr-1 and 102.7 s and 0.99 km-hr-1 and 81.22 s, respectively. The harvesting efficiencies for both plots showed no significant difference. The total productive time (harvesting time) and unproductive time (turning time) in plot A, at a tractor speed of 0.56 km.hr-1, was 14.8 hours for harvesting a hectare of sweet potato ( 0.068 ha.hr-1). In plot B, the total time for harvesting a hectare of sweet potato was 8.35 hours (0.12 ha.hr-1) at a tractor speed of 0.99 km.hr-1. The average harvesting time for both plots was 11.47 hr.ha-1. The average field work rate was 0.087 ha.hr-1 or 34 man-hr.ha-1 compared to manual harvesting of 150 man-hrs.ha-1.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  17. Fulltext Measuring and explaining multi-directional inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry
    Mohd Suhaimi NAB, de Mey Y, Oude Lansink A
    Br Food J, 2017;119(12):2788-2803.
    PMID: 29720740 DOI: 10.1108/BFJ-11-2016-0549
    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to measure the technical inefficiency of dairy farms and subsequently investigate the factors affecting technical inefficiency in the Malaysian dairy industry.

    Design/methodology/approach: This study uses multi-directional efficiency analysis to measure the technical inefficiency scores on a sample of 200 farm observations and single-bootstrap truncated regression model to define factors affecting technical inefficiency.

    Findings: Managerial and program inefficiency scores are presented for intensive and semi-intensive production systems. The results reveal marked differences in the inefficiency scores across inputs and between production systems.

    Practical implications: Intensive systems generally have lowest managerial and program inefficiency scores in the Malaysian dairy farming sector. Policy makers could use this information to advise dairy farmers to convert their farming system to the intensive system.

    Social implications: The results suggest that the Malaysian Government should redefine its policy for providing farm finance and should target young farmers when designing training and extension programs in order to improve the performance of the dairy sector.

    Originality/value: The existing literature on Southeast Asian dairy farming has neither focused on investigating input-specific efficiency nor on comparing managerial and program efficiency. This paper aims to fill this gap.

    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  18. Fulltext Luminescent bacterial testing for monitoring hydrocarbon bioremediation – a review
    Maryam, Z.
    Journal of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2015;3(2):13-20.
    MyJurnal
    Human activities in a large array of industrial and agricultural sectors produce chemical contaminants which are chiefly hydrocarbons of various types that are potentially toxic and carcinogenic to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Globally, millions of tons of these pollutants are generated annually, and in some areas, they are released indiscriminately to the environment. In order to overcome this problem, microbiological decontamination or bioremediation has been suggested. Bioremediation has been argued to be an efficient, economic, and adaptable alternative to physicochemical remediation. However, to date, such claims of successful bioremediation are often not supported by evidence from toxicity studies. In this regard, luminescent bacteria have been employed in some hydrocarbon remediation experiments to denote reduction in toxicity. In this review, the utilization of luminescence bacteria as toxicity monitoring agent for hydrocarbon remediation is discussed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  19. Fulltext Combating transnational organized crime by linking multiple large ivory seizures to the same dealer
    Wasser SK, Torkelson A, Winters M, Horeaux Y, Tucker S, Otiende MY, et al.
    Sci Adv, 2018 09;4(9):eaat0625.
    PMID: 30255141 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat0625
    Rapid growth in world trade has enabled transnational criminal networks to conceal their contraband among the 1 billion containers shipped worldwide annually. Forensic methods are needed to identify the major cartels moving the contraband into transit. We combine DNA-based sample matching and geographic assignment of tusks to show that the two tusks from the same elephant are often shipped by the same trafficker in separate large consignments of ivory. The paired shipments occur close in time from the same initial place of export and have high overlap in the geographic origins of their tusks. Collectively, these paired shipments form a linked chain that reflects the sizes, interconnectedness, and places of operation of Africa's largest ivory smuggling cartels.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
  20. Fulltext Land use conversion from peat swamp forest to oil palm agriculture greatly modifies microclimate and soil conditions
    Anamulai S, Sanusi R, Zubaid A, Lechner AM, Ashton-Butt A, Azhar B
    PeerJ, 2019;7:e7656.
    PMID: 31632845 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7656
    Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) agriculture is rapidly expanding and requires large areas of land in the tropics to meet the global demand for palm oil products. Land cover conversion of peat swamp forest to oil palm (large- and small-scale oil palm production) is likely to have negative impacts on microhabitat conditions. This study assessed the impact of peat swamp forest conversion to oil palm plantation on microclimate conditions and soil characteristics. The measurement of microclimate (air temperature, wind speed, light intensity and relative humidity) and soil characteristics (soil surface temperature, soil pH, soil moisture, and ground cover vegetation temperature) were compared at a peat swamp forest, smallholdings and a large-scale plantation. Results showed that the peat swamp forest was 1.5-2.3 °C cooler with significantly greater relative humidity, lower light intensities and wind speed compared to the smallholdings and large-scale plantations. Soil characteristics were also significantly different between the peat swamp forest and both types of oil palm plantations with lower soil pH, soil and ground cover vegetation surface temperatures and greater soil moisture in the peat swamp forest. These results suggest that peat swamp forests have greater ecosystem benefits compared to oil palm plantations with smallholdings agricultural approach as a promising management practice to improve microhabitat conditions. Our findings also justify the conservation of remaining peat swamp forest as it provides a refuge from harsh microclimatic conditions that characterize large plantations and smallholdings.
    Matched MeSH terms: Agriculture
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