P100 Measuring Greenhouse Gas Levels in Independent Smallholder Oil Palm Farms in Sarawak

Abstract

Oil palm cultivation is recognized as a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, primarily carbon dioxide (CO₂), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and methane (CH₄), driven by agronomic inputs and palm oil mill effluents. Such debate that independent smallholder (ISH) farmers are part of the significant drivers of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Oil Palm Industry leading to environmental degradation in general is often heavily scrutinized and contested. While the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification mandates sustainable production across the sector, including independent smallholders, who account for approximately 14.5% of total acreage, the effectiveness of MSPO standards in promoting low-emission practices among ISH remains insufficiently explored. This scoping study evaluated soil GHG concentrations across 10 independent smallholder farms with varying fertilizer and pesticide application rates and compared with estimates generated by the MSPO GHG Calculator. Measured soil CO₂ concentration was 1648ppm to 4703ppm while for the emission of soil N₂O concentration was 303 ppm to 500 ppm. CH₄ was not detected.  The soil concentrations of GHG were closely related to the calculated GHG which ranged from 4.07 Kg CO₂/yr to 18.36 Kg CO₂/yr determined by the farm age, type, application rate and frequencies of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The findings were significant providing field validated data to draw conclusions of lower input agronomic practices of ISH farms compared to plantation scale keep GHG emission far below critical environmental thresholds.