From a business perspective, without a sustained focus on soil health, expansion of oil palm plantations may become more liability than opportunity.
resident Prabowo Subianto’s renewed call to expand oil palm plantation areas has sparked debates on deforestation and climate commitments. While palm oil brings in more than US$20 billion annually and supports millions of Indonesians, expansion without soil health in mind risks long-term productivity and ecological stability.
Prabowo’s stance that deforestation fears are “nonsense” because “oil palms are trees” overlooks crucial differences between diverse forests and monoculture plantations. Forests feature layered vegetation, abundant microbes and peat storing vast carbon.
In contrast, intensive oil palm can degrade soil—especially if overrun with chemical inputs. Simply opening virgin forests diverts attention from the real issue: Declining soil quality that lowers yields. Converting healthy forests into fragile plantations imposes ecological and economic costs.
We therefore propose soil-centric strategies to sustainably boost palm oil production. Such measures can be both profitable and environmentally sound.
To increase productivity, the effort in nurturing and restoring the soil is imperative. Experts warn that ignoring soil care traps plantations in a cycle of degradation, slashing yields and undermining resilience.
Poor soils force reliance on fertilizers and pesticides, driving up expenditures and causing nutrient runoff that pollutes waterways. On top of that, converting peatlands releases significant CO2 and methane, undercutting climate targets and multiplying future climate-related costs.
Overuse of herbicides reduces soil macrofauna diversity, weakening soil health and long-term productivity.
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