Modelling the Oil Palm Growth and Its Microclimate Environment

The oil palm has been grown commercially for nearly a century and yet little is known about the impact of its canopy architecture on its growth and yield, and microclimate environment. This information is useful in breeding for the ideal palms in relation to the planting density and pattern to maximize productivity. Changing the canopy architecture may lead to easier harvesting, which is currently a major problem in oil palm management, and may lend itself to feasible mechanization. However, the first step coordinator is Dr. Christopher Teh, University Putra Malaysia team members from Malaysian Palm Oil Board and Advanced Agriecological Research S/B.

Some early results are presented in conferences e.g.

Teh, C.B.S., Henson, I.E., Goh K.J.and Husni, M.H.A. 2004 . The effect of leaf shape on solar radiation interception. In: Shamsuddin, Z. et al. (Eds.) Agriculture Congress: Innovation towards modernized agriculture (2004 Sri Kembangan). Book of Absracts of AGRICONGRESS 2004, Malaysia International Exhibition and Convention Centre(MIECC), Selangor, Malaysia, Oct. 4-7, 2004: 145-147.	Which leaf shapes intercept the most solar radiation? Leaf shapes for the six plant prototypes: round (RD), square (SQ), triangle (TR), inverted triangle (ITR), ellipse (EL) and lobe (LB) Which canopy architectures intercept more solar radiation?
Teh, C.B.S., Henson, I.E., Harun, H., Goh K.J. and Husni, M.H.A. (2005). Modelling oil palm growth and yield. In: Teh, C.B.S., Ahmad, O.H., Fauziah, C.I., Izham, A., Wan Noordin, W.D. & Zakaria, Z.Z. (Eds.) Soils 2005: Advanced in Soil Science for Sustainable Food Production, Malaysian Soil Science Society, Kuala Lumpur: 204-206.
Teh, C.B.S., Henson, I.E., Harun, H., Goh K.J.and Husni, M.H.A. (2005). Do not reinvent the wheel: Extending the life span of agriculture models. In: Cebci, Z., Sideridis, A., Say, S.M. & Darcan, N. (Eds.) International Congress On Information Technology In agriculture, Food & Environment (ITAFE 2005), Cukunova University: 550-556.