Publications

Oil palm has become the most important oil crop throughout the world. The growing palm oil production was mainly based on the expansion of cultivated area into forest areas, causing serious environmental and social concerns. Increasing yields on existing plantations is a potential pathway to reduce the undesired ecological impacts of oil palm agriculture while enhancing its social benefits. Although oil palm production is still dominated by large private estates, smallholder farmers are increasingly engaging in its cultivation. Based on crop modeling analysis and farm household survey data from Sumatra, Indonesia, this paper quantifies smallholder yield gaps relative to exploitable yield levels and analyses smallholders' production constraints. 

• The article in Agricultural Systems

• Euler, M., M.P. Hoffmann, Z. Fathoni and S. Schwarze (2016) Exploring Yield Gaps in Smallholder Oil Palm Production Systems in Eastern Sumatra, Indonesia. In: Agricultural Systems, Vol. 146, 111-119.