1.
New Britain Palm Oil Ltd -
Sustainable Agriculture and
Food Security
Dr Simon Lord
New Britain Palm Oil
CSR – Asia KL 27-28 Sept 2011

2.
2
Growth
Current population 7.1 billion people – 9.1 billion in 2050
Population growth adds 80 million people each year
That’s 219,000 new mouths to feed each day
Requires a 70% increase in food production
Affluence
Some 3 billion now eating grain-intensive livestock and poultry products.
Total meat consumption in China today is already nearly double that in the
United States.
Fuel
US produced 416 million tons of grain in 2009
119 million tons went to ethanol
Enough to feed 350 million .
As a consequence costs are rising
Demand Drivers for Food

3.
3
Increasing Inputs and Costs

4.
4
The challenge - to increase the productivity of agriculture in a sustainable
manner.
1. Improve livelihoods in the rural sector Social
2. Empower marginalized stakeholders Smallholders
3. Maintain the environment Environmental
4. Increase productivity Good Agricultural Practices
5. Manage access and flow of knowledge Information / extension
6. Link supply chains Post harvest losses
Agricultural Knowledge, Science
and Technology (AKST)

5.
5
Definitions
Food security [is] a situation that
exists when all people, at all times,
have physical, social and economic
access to sufficient, safe and nutritious
food that meets their dietary needs and
food preferences for an active and
healthy life.
Food sovereignty is defined as the
right of peoples and sovereign states
to democratically determine their own
agricultural and food policies.
(FAO, The State of Food Insecurity, 2001)

6.
6
Food Security –
Triple Bottom Line

7.
7
Land
Seed
Nutrients
Management
Losses
The Building Blocks
Yield Gap
Supply Chain
Utilisation / Suitability
inputs

8.
8
Traditional Farming not the
answer
It takes 50 ha of land
to feed a family of a
generation
The same family can
be fed on 8 ha of oil
palm + 2 ha of food
gardens
2 considerations
Land Selection
Land Utilisation

9.
Primary Forest
HCV
Fragile soils
Erosion prone
Liable to flooding
Climate change
Rising water levels
Carbon Stock
Peat
Heritage and sacred sites
Slope Food Sovereignty vs
Sustainable development
Spatial Planning ?
Land Selection - Physical
9

10.
10
Oil palm is
biologically
superior to
other oilseed
crops in terms
of efficiency in
land use and
productivity
Productivity
the key
Land Utilization

11.
11
3 yield gaps 1 Genetic Potential
2 Nutrient Deficiency
3 Poor management
100
20%
Theore+cal
Maximum
Yield
Poten+al
80
of
Progeny
20%
Realis+c
maximum
for
any
given
Soil
Yield
reduc+on
60
and
Climate
because
of
20%
Inferior
Yield
reduc+on
40
Seed
because
of
Yield
can
be
40
%
Nutrient
Yield
reduc+on
of
the
theoretcial
maximum
20
Deficency
because
of
Poor
0
Management
Yield
Gap
It starts with the right seed
Yield Gap Analysis

12.
Increased Yield
Conventional Breeding Program for 40 years
Yield enhancement through conventional plant breeding has given NBPOL a
1.6% yield improvement per year.
The focus has been to increase the yield of oil per hectare, improving the
harvest Index without requiring greater inputs.
No GMO - Micro-propagation can accelerate the results
of conventional breeding
12
0.0
2.0
4.0
6.0
8.0
10.0
1980 1990 2000 2008
CPO Production

13.
13
What is Biotechnology

14.
14
GMO – Issues
1. Herbicide usage increased
2. Super weeds have occurred
3. No high nutrition crops yet
4. No climate ready crops
5. Depressed Yields
6. Contamination
7. Genetic Transfer Risks
8. Toxicity to animals
9. Diverts funding from conventional
10. Commercial interests predominate
11. Terminator Seeds
12. Molecular divide

15.
Single largest production cost
Proper fertilizer management is
vital to avoid wastage and
minimize costs
Reduces negative impacts on
the environment.
Organic a possibility?
Precision Agriculture (GPS / GIS)
Fertiliser Management
15

16.
GAP - Zero Discharge – EFB Recycling
GAP - Legume Cover Crop
16

17.
GAP - Responsible Pesticide Use and IPM
GAP - Responsible Soil Stewardship
17

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Post Production Waste
Average post harvest losses = 20 - 25%
One-third of the food produced for
human consumption is lost or wasted
amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes
consumers in rich countries waste about
222 million tonnes of food,
Almost as much as the entire net food
production of sub-Saharan Africa.
925 million people are hungry, and poor
nutrition plays a role in at least half of
the 10.9 million child deaths each year
FAO estimates from 2010.
This is your individual responsibility

19.
Yield Gap Overview – Oil Palm
Average Fruit yields
Industry 23 t / ha
NBPOL 28 t / ha
Gap = 22%
Average oil yields
Industry 3.74 t / ha
NBPOL 6.39 t / ha
Gap = 71%
New clonal material
NBPOL 9.00 t / ha
Potential yield Gap
= 141%
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
TnsFFB/Ha
Year
Palm Yield (Tns FFB/Ha) >6 years old 1997 - 2009 Yield.>6yr old palms
Target

20.
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Summary of Benefits – Oil Palm
Convention Breeding increased yield potential by 50% over last 30 years
Tissue culture potential for further 50% increase in the next 10 years
Composting in nurseries reduce losses by 15%
Palm Trees yield at 2 years instead of 3
Fertiliser usage 70% of the industry standard
Organic matter in the soil increasing by 0.25% per year erosion down 50%
IPM strategy reduced pesticide use by 50%
Over 18,000 smallholders empowered
Smallholder earning increased from US$ 6 to 15 a day
Over 3,000 women now specifically engaged in the Rural sector
RSPO certification assures minimum negative impacts on Environment
Cheaper prices ? - not likely

21.
Dr Simon Lord
Group Director for Sustainability
New Britain Palm Oil Ltd
slord@nbpol.com.sg
Thank You
21
"that whoever could make two ears of corn,
or two blades of grass, to grow upon a spot
of ground where only one grew before,
would deserve better of mankind, and do
more essential service to his country, than
the whole race of politicians put together.“
Jonathon Swift b.1667

22.
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