Out of the Box Ideas for Plantation Management

IPNISoutheast Asia ProgramT. Oberthür & C.R. Donough, with contribution by M. Hoffmann

Out of the Box Ideas for Plantation Management

Malaysian Estate Owners Association (MEOA) Raise Seminar

MPOB Bactrics Hall, Bangi11 August 2015

Malaysian Estate Owners Association “RAISE” Seminar

1. Co-authors2. Commercial data3. In house information4. Variable performance5. Solutions often simple, not

trivial6. Concepts transferable

Explanatory Footnotes

What is IPNI

Formed in 2007 from the Potash & Phosphate Institute, the International Plant Nutrition Institute is supported by leading fertilizer manufacturers.

Its mission is to promote scientific information on responsible management of plant nutrition.

International Plant Nutrition Institute

Engagement Pathway

International Plant Nutrition Institute

Engagement Pathway

International Plant Nutrition Institute

SustainableIntensification

Closing Yield Gaps

Producing More Food from the Same Area of Land while Reducing Impacts on the Environment.

The difference between Realized Productivity and Achievable Best,

with current genetic material, available technologies and management.

Garnett T. Science 341, 33 – 34 (2013)Godfray HCJ et al. Science 327, 812 – 818 (2010)

Engagement Pathway

44%

27%

14%

15%

Oil Palm Various Cocoa Cassava

International Plant Nutrition Institute

Engagement Pathway

“Out of the Box” Thinking

“Out of the Box”

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

MPLITUDE is the maximum displacement of points on a wave: the degree or intensity of change, measured from the equilibrium position.A

“Out of the Box”

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

The Plantation “Box”

MPLITUDE is the maximum displacement of points on a wave: the degree or intensity of change, measured from the equilibrium position.A

Plan Execute

“Out of the Box”

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

MPLITUDE is the maximum displacement of points on a wave: the degree or intensity of change, measured from the equilibrium position.A

The Plantation “Box”

Plan Execute

“Out of the Box”

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

ITHIN a Plantation Environment, the Amplitude Represents the Day to Day Responses to Tactical Management DemandsW

“Within” the Box Thinking is Critical

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

PositiveAmplitude

Plan Execute

NegativeAmplitude

“Out of the Box”

UT OF THE BOX ideas for plantation management are those that lead to larger than incremental performance changes O

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

PositiveAmplitude

Plan Execute

NegativeAmplitude

SelectStrategies

BuildBreakthroughConcepts

ApplyBestPractices

IdentifyPains &Causes

CrystallizeBreakthroughOpportunityAreas (BOAs)

IdentifyRisks

IdentifyCoreCompetency

TakeCreative

Leaps

“Out of the Box”

UT OF THE BOX ideas for plantation management are those that lead to larger than incremental performance changes O

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

PositiveAmplitude

Plan

NegativeAmplitude

SelectStrategies

BuildBreakthroughConcepts

ApplyBestPractices

IdentifyPains &Causes

CrystallizeBreakthroughOpportunityAreas (BOAs)

IdentifyRisks

IdentifyCoreCompetency

TakeCreative

Leaps

Breakdown

“Out of the Box”

UT OF THE BOX ideas for plantation management are those that lead to larger than incremental performance changes O

Adopted from the “Bandrowski-Strategic-Innovation-Process" by James F. Bandrowski

PositiveAmplitude

Plan

NegativeAmplitude

SelectStrategies

BuildBreakthroughConcepts

ApplyBestPractices

IdentifyPains &Causes

CrystallizeBreakthroughOpportunityAreas (BOAs)

IdentifyRisks

IdentifyCoreCompetency

TakeCreative

Leaps

Breakthrough

“Out of the Box”

UT OF THE BOX ideas for plantation management are those that lead to larger than incremental performance changes O

Amabile, 1999. How to Kill Creativity. In “Harvard Business Review on Breakthrough Thinking”

Experts: technical, procedural, and intellectual knowledge.

Innovators: imaginatively

approach problems.

Work Environment:Intrinsic & extrinsic

motivation to solve problems at hand.

“Out of the Box”

Actionable Solutions

Framing the Challenge

IPNI SEAPs Vision for the Industry

ISSUEBreeders raise yield ceiling while

managers keep it at the floor

So I have been told by a breeder …

IPNI SEAPs Vision for the Industry

EXPLANATION

R&D Breeder R&D

IPNI SEAPs Vision for the Industry

HYPOTHESISMore potential can be realized by adopting innovative management

Both authors agree …

IPNI SEAPs Vision for the Industry

VISIONREDUCING

UNREALIZEDPOTENTIAL

IPNI SEAPs Vision for the Industry

REDUCINGUNREALIZEDPOTENTIAL

VISION

Business Opportunity: Yield Gap

PALMSIM Model: Hoffmann et al., 2014

Fertilizer plots > 80% of average simulated potential yield;

unfertilized control plots 47.5%

Potential YieldFFB (Mg ha-1 year-1)

<10<20<30<40<48

Business Opportunity

The Planter, Kuala Lumpur, 91 (1067): 81-96 (2015)

Business Opportunity

0

40

30

20

50

60

3 4 11975 13 14 15

10

6 8 10 12 TREEAGE

FFB

(t/h

a)

Yield Age Profile Map Chart

0

40

30

20

50

60

3 4 11975 13 14 15

10

6 8 10 12 TREEAGE

FFB

(t/h

a)

Yield Age Profile Map Chart

Business Opportunity

0

40

30

20

50

60

3 4 11975 13 14 15

10

6 8 10 12 TREEAGE

FFB

(t/h

a)

Map ChartYield Age Profile

Business Opportunity

0

40

30

20

50

60

3 4 11975 13 14 15

10

6 8 10 12

FFB

(t/h

a)

TREEAGE

Map ChartYield Age Profile

Business Opportunity

Actionable Solutions

Actionable Solutions

Organizeexisting

performance data for

VISUALIZATION

Generate performance

indicators and metrics for

ANALYSES

Devisespecific

performance intervention options for

EVALUATION

Quantify performance change for

management DECISIONS

Actionable Solutions

Engage senior management Engaging senior management is essential to ensure commitment throughout the organization. PI is a long-term exercise that requires on-going commitment.

Acquire data Plantation operators have internal accounting or control systems that capture this. Data include inputs and outputs for each block.

Clean and assemble data Use data that is routinely available, not “special” experiment data. Anticipate some effort for this step.

Organize data Set up a common database structure. This may require several cycles before a final structure is established.

First analysis Show management the results of first analysis to seek feedback on future analyses.

Follow-up analysis Expand data sets to include new partners and data from their new and old plantations. Anticipate large variations.

Discuss with field managers Review results and ideas with field managers with the goal to interpret data for actionable recommendations.

Review and repeat To keep the PI exercise relevant, an annual review is recommended. Ideally, it should become part of regular board meetings where management can be briefed on the insights gained and decide on the best activities to be introduced in the next production cycle.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Actionable Solutions

0

40

30

20

50

60

3 4 11975 13 14 15

10

6 8 10 12 TREEAGE

FFB

(t/h

a)

Yield Age Profile Map Chart

Actionable Solutions

45

25

20

10

15

5

30

35

40

010 50403020 60 70 80

FFB

(t/ h

a)

Planted Area

y = 26.88 + (-0.07*x)

Actionable Solutions

RESPONSE TO FERTILIZER

UNDERSTANDING

Actionable Solutions

NPK

$ $ $

0100 200 800700600500400300

30

25

20

15

10

5

NPKMg added over this year and previous 2 yrs (kg/ha, weighted 25:50:25)

FFB

(t/h

a)

35

Actionable Solutions

8~10BREAK–EVEN

kg kg

point

fresh fruitbunches per kg fertilizer

Actionable Solutions

35

0100 200 800700600500400300

30

25

20

15

10

5

b=0.010

b=0.007

b=0.004

NPKMg added over this year and previous 2 yrs (kg/ha, weighted 25:50:25)

FFB

(t/h

a)

Soil Type Effects

Actionable Solutions

A

B

C

D

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Max

Average

Min

YieldPerformance

Soil-Climate Interactions

Actionable Solutions

10

15

5

30

25

20

40

35

15 4525 355 10 20 30 40

45

50

55

Harvest Man days

Fres

h Fr

uit B

unch

Yie

ld in

t pe

r ha

20032004200520062006200720082009201020112012

Labor YieldInteractions

Actionable Solutions

10

15

5

30

25

20

40

35

15 4525 355 10 20 30 40

45

50

55

Expected yield level

Fres

h Fr

uit B

unch

Yie

ld in

t pe

r ha

20032004200520062006200720082009201020112012

Labor YieldInteractions

Harvest Man days

Actionable Solutions

10

15

5

30

25

20

40

35

15 4525 355 10 20 30 40

45

50

55

Fruit is grown but not harvested

Only with enough labor, all fruit is harvested

Expected yield level

Fres

h Fr

uit B

unch

Yie

ld in

t pe

r ha

20032004200520062006200720082009201020112012

Labor YieldInteractions

Harvest Man days

Actionable Solutions

Full Gross Marginal Return from Blocks

Net Present Value (NPV) for Investment Evaluation

12

Systematic Sourcing of Fertilizers3

Further ApplicationsActionable Solutions

No intervention forfurther action identified

Possible management interventions identified

12

Actionable InterventionsActionable Solutions

Implementing Solutions

INTERVENTION:

trial at estate scale

Implementing Solutions

trial at block scale

Implementing Solutions

1

2

3

4

5

6BMP

step-by-step

Conduct a preliminaryyield gap analysis

Assign BMP and REF blocks throughout estate

Implement BMPsand collect data

Study data together with plantationmanagers and conduct a follow-up

yield gap analysis

Determine whichBMPs are suitable for

implementationat the whole plantation,

if any

Adopt BMP asstandard practice.

Optional: launch as Estate-Scale

Experimentation if greater certainty is

needed

Implementing Solutions

A sample estate with three soil types with one pair of BMP/REF blocks per 1,000 hectares.

Regular production block

BMP block

REF block

Soil A

Soil B

Soil c

Implementing Solutions

Oberthür et al. International Oil Palm Conference 2012.

Yield at REF blocks (t/ha/month)

Yiel

d at

BM

P bl

ocks

(t/h

a/m

onth

)

2 – Prime-age palms

1 – Prime-age palms

2 – Old palms

3 – Prime-age palms

1 – Old palms

Pre-BMP – Old palms

Pre-BMP – Prime-age palms

3 – Old palms

4 – Prime-age palms

4 – Old palms

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0

Fresh fruit bunch yields among prime-age and old palms

Implementing Solutions

Implementing Solutions

none012

Division 1Division 2Division 3

TREATMENT

DIVISION

Fertilizer treatment layout

Implementing Solutions

Summary & Proposition

Plan ExecuteMonitor BMPs

BMP trials to test breakthrough concepts

Plantation Intellto identify causes

Plantation Intellto crystallizebreakthroughopportunities)

PalmSimSimulations

Breakthrough

Breakdown

Estate Scale Experiments to build breakthrough concepts

Summary & Proposition

MeasurePerformance

PlantationIntelligence

Business Opportunity

PALMSIMModel

Continuous Improvement

Best Management Practices

Summary & Proposition

MeasurePerformance

PlantationIntelligence

Business Opportunity

PALMSIMModel

Continuous Improvement

Best Management Practices

Summary & Proposition

THE MISSING LINKShare, Analyze, Learn, Change, Gainproduction ha by palm age, total monthly FFB & bunch number, monthly nutrient amounts, monthly rainfall & rain days …

EstateNetworking

TheBenchmark Club

Malaysian Estate Owners Association International Plant Nutrition Institute ???

Summary & Proposition

MeasurePerformance

PlantationIntelligence

Business Opportunity

PALMSIMModel

Continuous Improvement

Best Management Practices

EstateNetworking

TheBenchmark Club

Summary & Proposition

IPNI Southeast Asia Program

Malaysian Estate Owners AssociationRaise Seminar

August 11, 2015