Your scientific partner for projects in tropical regions. CIRAD oil palm expertise.

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1 Your scientific partner for projects in tropical regions CIRAD oil palm expertise

2 CIRAD at a glance CIRAD (Agricultural Research Centre for International Development) is a French Governmental Research Institution involved in the development of tropical agriculture under the joint authority of the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs. It is a state-owned industrial and commercial enterprise aiming at responding to requests from both government-owned and private-sector organizations. CIRAD works with the whole range of developing countries to generate and pass on new knowledge, support agricultural development and fuel the debate on the main global issues concerning agriculture. CIRAD is a targeted research organization, and bases its operations on development needs, from field to laboratory and from a local to a global scale. CIRAD's activities involve the life sciences, social sciences and engineering sciences, applied to agriculture, food and rural territories. CIRAD works hand-in-hand with local people and the local environment, on complex, everchanging issues: food security, ecological intensification, emerging diseases, and the future of agriculture in developing countries. CIRAD has a global network of partners and of 12 regional offices, from which it conducts joint operations with more than 90 countries. Its bilateral partnerships fit in with multilateral operations of regional interest. In metropolitan France, it provides the national and global scientific communities with extensive research and training facilities, primarily in Montpellier, South of France. CIRAD in figures A staff of 1800, including 800 researchers Joint operations with more than 90 countries 3 scientific departments: Biological Systems (BIOS), Performance of Tropical Production and Processing Systems (PERSYST), and Environment and Societies (ES). 37 Research Units. 12 Regional Offices in metropolitan France, the French overseas regions and other countries. Around 30 collective research tools accessible to partners from developing countries. More than 1.8 million euros spent on PhD courses; 800 researchers and technicians from all over the world received and trained each year. A budget of 213 million International cooperation through a global network Resident staff Regular short-term missions CIRAD is registered with the main funding agencies: FIBU at the European Commission no. C- 611, DACON at the World Bank no. 1824, the Asian Development Bank no. C-179 and the African Development Bank no. F

3 CIRAD structure enables to offer an action-oriented approach to meet any demand A complete multi-scale research package, from the laboratory to the production environment to breed, adapt and disseminate improved varieties, control pests and diseases, develop crop management sequences, tools and procedures for the agrifood sector and study interaction between the people, agriculture, market and the environment, etc Consultancy services & Technical assistance CIRAD offers a wide range of expert services for tropical agricultural sub sectors: scientific & technical bases for decision-making, appraisals, economic studies, prospective analyses, soil, plant and product analyses, information and communication, quarantine services, etc Technology transfer Technical assistance to enhance field transfer of technological innovations, in collaboration with private enterprise and NGO Training and institutional assistance Traineeships, tailor-made professional training and graduate training Project design, management & evaluation For research and development projects worldwide Sales of CIRAD products Plants, veterinary products, biological analyses, equipment, processes, software

4 The CIRAD s oil palm expertise Oil palm is the world's leading oil crop, and is a vital importance for many tropical countries. With some 42 million tonnes produced in 2008, it accounts for more than a third of global vegetable oil production. Its rapid expansion is raising new issues for research, in the fields of agro-ecology, biodiversity management, and human sciences The CIRAD Oil Palm expertise has over fifty years experience of research aimed at: Creating the oil palms of the future, both high-yielding and resistant to the main diseases (Fusarium wilt, Ganoderma and bud rots). Understanding and modelling oil palm physiological functioning, to anticipate on the impacts of climate change. Studying the environmental and social impact of extending or renewing plantations. Intensifying production systems through rational plantation management centring on the use of agro-environmental indicators. Optimizing oil palm fruit postharvest processing and making use (biomass, energy) of the by-products of oil extraction. Objectives of our activities in the oil palm sector: Satisfying growing demand for edible fats in the South, as a result of population growth and improved living standards in emerging countries. Ensuring the sustainable, responsible development of a supply chain that respects both the environment and the rights of local people; anticipating on and supporting the recommendations of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil). Improving the productivity of the crop and promoting its by-products, by creating the conditions for ecological intensification. Our expertise in the oil palm sector Agronomy, eco-physiology, genetic, cellular and molecular biology, entomology, plant pathology, economy and post-harvest technology Advice on genetic improvement programmes, crop management sequences and oil mill management Design of new oil palm extraction processes Diversification of industrial oil uses Plantation, oil mill and agro-industrial complex appraisals with a view to privatisation, sale or flotation on the stock market Main worldwide partners National research organisations: - CNRA (Côte d Ivoire) - INRAB (Benin) - IRAD (Cameroon) - IOPRI (Indonesia) - PORIM and FELDA (Malaysia) - EMBRAPA (Brazil) - CENIPALMA (Colombia) - RSPO European industry Agribusiness in Africa, Latin America and Indonesia

5 Some of our partners In Latin America Colombia : Indupalma S.A., Hacienda La Cabaña, Manuelita, Palmas de Yarimas Ecuador : Palmeras de los Andes, Palmeras del Ecuador, Palesema, Alespalma, Palmar del Rio (ex Palmoriente) Honduras : Hondupalma, Plantaciones San Alejo, Agropalma Guatamala : Agrocaribe, Industrias Hame Brazil : Marborges Peru : Palmas del Espino In South East Asia PT SMART, PT Bakrie, PT Rea Kaltim, SOCFINDO, MEDCO, London Sumatra, PAN London, AGROINDOMAS, INDOSAWIT, EPA, Asian Agro-Lestari, EKA Pendawa Sakti, ASTRA Agro Niagra Group Rabobank, HSBC, UBS IOPRI, ICRAF / SRAP & GAPKINDO In Africa Unilever, SIAT, SOCFINAL, Groupe Blattner Elwyn (GBE)

6 Some of our activities in the oil palm sector Agro-ecological support to oil palm estates Acquire knowledge and develop methods and tools for the integrated assessment of a concession (conservation value, agricultural capacity, etc.) prior to an agroindustrial extension and development project. Contribute to establishing a global plantation assessment system, based on a framework of agro environmental indicators, for use both prior to setting up and for the management of existing estates. Contribute to the introduction of sustainable cropping and farming systems meeting production targets whilst integrating environmental challenges Smallholder modernization Small- and medium-sized plantations are playing a steadily growing role in African palm oil production. In the future, they will be only farms capable of expanding to meet African oil demand, which is constantly increasing. These very versatile cropping systems need to intensify so as to produce more and ensure greater labour-efficiency. CIRAD is supporting the professionalization of the commodity channel. General expertise and full-time technical support to the private oil palm estates - Mineral nutrition management and fertilizer recommendations: achievement of oil palm yield potential through an adjustment of fertilizer recommendations to palm requirements, based on soil fertility. - Sustainable palm oil production: evaluation of the impact of agricultural practices on the environment, with two objectives i/ optimise the efficiency of inputs, ii/ develop a sustainable palm oil production system, - Study of the plantation agro-ecology system, to develop new concepts of plantation establishment and management, - Evaluation of the oil mill and agro-industrial complex appraisals - Maximize the agricultural utilization of by-products palm oil mill effluent, empty fruit bunches, compost and composting process, fibre, kernel cake - Precision agriculture for plantation monitoring: remote sensing and GIS management, in order to optimise the performance of palms - Genetic improvement and seed production Assessment of agro-industrial projects in the oil palm sector - Evaluation of several private estates for a bank - Prospecting missions - Review of the quality management systems - Diagnosis & agricultural evaluation of production for private companies - Review of the quality management system

7 Scientific bases for decision-making in estate management towards a sustainable intensification Increasing yields and offering crop management sequences tailored to different conditions, towards a sustainable and precise management of on oil palm-based agro-ecosystems Improvement of productivity through popularisation of high-yielding varieties, optimization of fertilization, integrated pest management, improved crop management sequences Study of the oil palm physiology Physiological functioning of the crop: gas exchanges, carbon fixation and allocation to the different organs Effect of different climatic factors: sunshine, rainfall, temperature, etc., on crop physiology and yield Development of yield prediction models Estimation of biomass storage and C sequestration potential in oil palm estates New tools for the sustainable management of production Modelisation of soil / Plant balances: precise management of fertilisation Extension of estates: deforestation, land disputes, agricultural practices («zero burning») Integration of Remote sensing approaches : integrated management of agro-industrial estates Waste recycling and pollutions: sustainable management / international regulations Pollination of young oils palm estates The young oil palm estates have often a unbalanced sex ratio with only a few male inflorescences and consequently pollen. CIRAD is studying the most adapted and specific conditions in different pedo-climatical contexts in Latin America. In the plantations using Elaeis guineensis x Elaeis oleifera hybrids, problems of pollination are recurrent. In order to the reduce the costs of pollination, reserachs are performed on the choice of hybrids to be used and the addition of extra Guinenesis palms in the estates with an objective to spread out pollen.

8 Answers to major diseases Ganoderma Project in Indonesia. Epidemiological studies and designing of an early tolerance test Oryctes trapping in replantings in Asia and Africa Genetic selection for the tolerance to Bud Rot, exploiting E. oleifera germplasm in Latin America (Ecuador, Colombia) and identification of the cause and vectors of the disease Transfer of genetic progress into improved material: seeds tolerant to Fusarium wilt, hybrid seeds (Colombia) Designing and broadcasting of improved and adapted planting material Genetic improvement of yields Reciprocal recurrent selection through a network of private/public partnership Integration of biotechnologies (mapping, QTL ) Marker Assisted Breeding For more than 60 years, CIRAD has been conducting oil palm improvement operations with an international network of partners. These operations have enabled the creation of exceptionally high quality planting material. To capitalize on this research, CIRAD set up a subsidiary called PalmElit in 2009, a private firm (SAS), in association with Sofiproteol, the financial arm of the Fédération française des producteurs d oléagineux et de protéagineux. PalmElit has taken over applied research, licence management and commercial relations operations for the production and distribution of oil palm planting material.

9 Your contact Dr. Eric Gohet Director of the Research Unit Performance of tree crop-based systems TA B-34 / 02-Avenue Agropolis Montpellier Cedex 5 France Tél : Secr. : Fax : chefur.systemes-de-perennes@cirad.fr CIRAD 2011 Photos : P. Amblard T. Durand-Gasselin A. Rival