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Writer's pictureMarx Yim

Wait No More - Get It DONE!

In a time of uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic, research fieldwork has been hit hard. Travel restrictions were imposed globally and closing field stations are causing researchers to undergo unprecedented interruptions in data collection. Despite this, we have finally caught a break to continue doing science to keep the scientific community alive!


After a long build-up of experimental design planning, our MOE Tier I Project, "Riparian Protection versus Pest and Disease Control in Oil Palm Plantations" can finally be executed. Not to long ago, we held a "kick-off" meeting (Fig. 1) with the Research and Development (R&D) team of one of the world's largest oil palm plantation owners - Wilmar International Limited Estates in Beluran and Sugut, Sabah - which is also our targeted research location. During the meeting, the project plan, experimental designs and proposed time frame were discussed and reviewed. We also received many suggestions from the teams on the ground of where problems may occur and where improvements could be made.

Figure 1. Kick-off virtual meeting with the R&D team, officers and managers of Wilmar International.

Implementation (Site visit on 4th-9th October 2021): Executing the project Excited and grateful to finally put our plan into action, on the first day of the site visit, Me (Li Yuen) and my research assistant (Yehezkiel) headed to Sapi 1 Estate, Beluran to engage with the person-in-charge in the field to plan and schedule upcoming fieldwork with the team on the ground (Fig 2 & 3).


Figures 2 & 3. Discussion on the details of experimental design, housekeeping briefing and etc. with the R&D team.

Site Survey: Get the Project Going

In the following days, we were escorted by teams on the ground to survey riparian reserves of differing widths within the plantations (Fig. 4), potential blocks of palm tree infested by pests (Fig. 5), and identified where we could find attacks from Ganoderma fungus (Fig. 6) and attacks from rhinoceros beetles (Fig. 7). Upon identifying potential sites for the project, the GPS coordinates were recorded and in total, we surveyed 6 plantations: Sapi 1 & 2 Estates, Terusan 1 & 2 Estates, Terusan 2 (Rumidi Estate) and Reka Halus Estate.


Figures 4 & 5. Site survey at Sapi 1 - Block 65: Riparian reserve (left) and Oil palm area (right)
Figure 6. Palm tree with Ganoderma infection (left); Figure 7. Palm tree attacked by rhinoceros beetle (right)

Debriefing with the team

We wrapped up our site visitation by obtaining detailed maps from all estates and highlighted all potential sites for our upcoming fieldwork. Possible issues and suggestions to where improvements can be made to our study design were also finalised. Thank you for the warm welcome and great hospitality extended to us throughout our visitation. We enjoyed every minute of the visit and we are looking forward to starting our pilot test of our survey methods by the end of year!


Figure 8. Group photo after debriefing and discussion with the team on the ground.

Written by: Chiew Li Yuen


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