Field visit to Bengkulu and Banjarmasin by Maja Slingerland and Rosa de Vos

From 26 Feb – 6 Mar 2024, Maja and Rosa paid a visit to the intercropping project by PT Acronesia (https://arconesia.com/ in Bengkulu, Sumatra, and the oil palm cattle integration project in Tanah Bumbu, South Kalimantan. In Bengkulu, we went with PT Arconesia’s founder Yanda to visit a project wherein oil palm farmers collaborated with watermelon farmers during the immature phase of oil palm production. Watermelon farmers made use of open spaces between palms to cultivate crops without having to buy or rent land, increasing land use efficiency. Oil palm farmers, in turn, benefitted from weed suppression, nutrients from watermelon residues, as well as nutrients and water applied to the watermelons. PPS student Raghda Rabicha will stay in the village for two months to get an in-depth understanding of benefits and challenges of oil palm watermelon intercropping, including land and labour arrangements.

In South Kalimantan, we visited a plantation where oil palm was combined with cattle. Through rotational grazing, cows were fed from the understory of plantations, and the oil palms benefitted from manure and weed control. We also saw a smallholder group grazing their cattle in the plantation. Livestock integration could be a relevant livelihood strategy for oil palm smallholders, but more research is needed on social arrangements around collective livestock keeping.