Closing yield gaps in oil palm production systems in Ghana through Best Management Practices

• Published in: European journal of agronomy 2020-04, Vol.115, p.126011, Article 126011
• Main Authors: Rhebergen, Tiemen, Zingore, Shamie, Giller, Ken E., Frimpong, Charles Adu, Acheampong, Kwame, Ohipeni, Francis Tetteh, Panyin, Edward Kofi, Zutah, Victor, Fairhurst, Thomas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agronomy; Crop recovery; Fertiliser; Land sparing; Nutrient management; Plantation; Smallholder; Yield intensification
• ISSN: 1161-0301
• DOI: 10.1016/j.eja.2020.126011

•Best management practices close yield gaps in mature oil palm in Ghana.•Short-term yield increases are achieved through improved crop recovery.•Improving crop recovery provides the finance needed for inputs to increase yields.•Improved fertilizer recommendations are essential to increase yields in Ghana.•Best management practices reduce the need for area expansion for oil palm. The area under oil palm in Ghana has expanded but average fruit bunch yields remained low, resulting in large yield gaps. This study assessed the potential for increasing yield with 'Best Management Practices (BMP)' on plantations and smallholder farms in southern Ghana, compared with current standard practices, i.e. reference (REF) yield. We evaluated short-term (≤1 year) yield increases with 'yield taking' (improved crop recovery), and long-term increases (>1 year) with 'yield making' (better agronomy) practices and identified the factors that contributed most to yield improvements. Average fruit bunch yield increases with BMP were 2.1 t ha−1 (+19%) and 4.7 t ha−1 (+89%) with yield taking and 4.7 t ha−1 (+36%) and 7.6 t ha−1 (+76%) with yield making at plantations and smallholder farms respectively. Short-term yield improvements were achieved with more frequent harvesting events and improved field access, which can help finance inputs needed for the yield making phase. Our analysis suggests more balanced palm nutrition could contribute considerably to yield making, particularly on smallholder farms. Improved fertilizer recommendations are therefore essential for sustainable oil palm production in Ghana. Increasing yields to 21.0 t ha−1 on land already planted to oil palm, can increase national fruit bunch production from 2.5 Mt to 6.9 Mt, sparing 600,000 ha of land. However, labour constraints on plantations and lack of access to credit and agricultural inputs on smallholder farms are major hurdles that need to be overcome to increase production.