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Impacts of climate change on oil palm production in Malaysia

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Abstract

Studies reveal that climate change (CC) has higher negative impacts on agricultural production than positive impacts. Therefore, this article attempts to explore the impacts of CC on oil palm production in Malaysia and provides mitigation and adaptation strategies towards reducing such impacts. The multiple regression analysis is applied to assess the impacts of CC on oil palm production by using time series data in the period of 1980 to 2010. A negative and significant relationship is found between annual average temperature and oil palm production. If temperature rises by 1 °C, 2 °C, 3 °C, and 4 °C, production of oil palm can decrease from a range of 10 to 41%. This article has also found a negative impact of sea level rise (SLR) on oil palm production. Findings reveal that if areas under oil palm production decrease by 2%, 4%, and 8% due to SLR of 0.5, 1, and 2 m, oil palm production can decrease by 1.98%, 3.96%, and 7.92%, respectively, indicating that CC has a significant impact on the reduction of oil palm production in Malaysia, ultimately affecting the sustainability of oil palm sector in Malaysia. Finally, this study suggests to practice appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies, including promotion and development of climate resilient varieties, soil and water conservation, afforestation, insurance and other risk transfer mechanisms, emission reduction technology, protection of coastal flooding for reducing the impacts of CC on oil palm production.

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Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the research grants “Trans Disciplinary Research Grant Scheme (TRGS)” under the Ministry of Education, Malaysia (TRGS/1/2015/UKM/02/5/3) and “Arus Perdana” (AP-2015-009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics and Sociology, Patuakhali Science and Technology University, Dumki 8602, Patuakhali, Bangladesh

    Md. Sujahangir Kabir Sarkar

  2. Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, United Nations University, 5–53–70 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150-8925, Japan

    Md. Sujahangir Kabir Sarkar

  3. Center for Water Cycle, Marine Environment and Disaster Management (CWMD), Kumamoto University, 2-39-1 Kurokami, Chuo-ku, Kumamoto, 860-8555, Japan

    Rawshan Ara Begum

  4. Institute of Climate Change, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Rawshan Ara Begum

  5. Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative (SEADPRI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Joy Jacqueline Pereira

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  1. Md. Sujahangir Kabir Sarkar
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  2. Rawshan Ara Begum
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  3. Joy Jacqueline Pereira
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Correspondence to Md. Sujahangir Kabir Sarkar or Rawshan Ara Begum.

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Sarkar, M.S.K., Begum, R.A. & Pereira, J.J. Impacts of climate change on oil palm production in Malaysia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 9760–9770 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-07601-1

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