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Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system

CONTEXT Prolonged use of synthetic herbicides to control weeds may cause adverse effects on the environment and human wellbeing. As a mitigation effort, commercial oil palm growers have been encouraged to adopt livestock integration as a holistic approach to manage weeds. Previous studies have sugg...

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Main Authors: Tohiran, Kamil Azmi, Nobilly, Frisco, Zulkifli, Raja, Yahya, Muhammad Syafiq, Norhisham, Ahmad Razi, Rasyidi, Md Zainal, Azhar, Badrul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109575/1/109575.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109575/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X23001257?via%3Dihub
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spelling my.upm.eprints.1095752025-01-09T02:35:34Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109575/ Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system Tohiran, Kamil Azmi Nobilly, Frisco Zulkifli, Raja Yahya, Muhammad Syafiq Norhisham, Ahmad Razi Rasyidi, Md Zainal Azhar, Badrul CONTEXT Prolonged use of synthetic herbicides to control weeds may cause adverse effects on the environment and human wellbeing. As a mitigation effort, commercial oil palm growers have been encouraged to adopt livestock integration as a holistic approach to manage weeds. Previous studies have suggested utilizing a multi-species livestock grazing may optimize the grazing impacts in silvopastoral agroforestry systems. OBJECTIVE Present study examined the effects of small ruminant grazing (i.e., goats, sheep and multi-species) on undergrowth vegetation with the following specific objectives: 1) to investigate the effects of small ruminant grazing treatments on undergrowth vegetation composition in oil palm plantations; 2) to examine the variables (canopy cover, grazing treatments, and cycles) that influenced undergrowth vegetation (species richness, coverage, height, and dry weight) in oil palm plantations. METHODS We established quadrats on experimental plots to detect changes in undergrowth vegetation composition, species diversity, coverage, height, and dry weight resulting from different grazing treatments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We found that undergrowth vegetation composition varied between different grazing treatments. The multi-species livestock grazing effectively supress unwanted weeds (i.e., woody broadleaves) compared to single–species livestock grazing (i.e., goats, sheep). The use of single-species livestock grazing is likely to cause oil palm growers to use herbicides to control undesirable weeds. Hence, we concluded managing undergrowth vegetation in oil palm plantations using multi-species livestock grazing is a practical approach, and it should be fine-tuned for example by choosing livestock species based on the targeted objectives and the grazing sequence that will be practiced to regenerate the oil palm silvopastoral system. SIGNIFICANCE Multi-species livestock grazing can reduce oil palm growers' dependence on synthetic herbicides for weed control and optimize land use in oil palm plantation sector. On the other hand, the use of single species, whether goat or sheep-only, has caused unwanted undergrowth to increase after several grazing rotations have been carried out. Therefore, the use of multi-species grazing is a promising biological tool to reduce synthetic herbicide application in environmentally-sustainable oil palm plantations. Elsevier 2023-08 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109575/1/109575.pdf Tohiran, Kamil Azmi and Nobilly, Frisco and Zulkifli, Raja and Yahya, Muhammad Syafiq and Norhisham, Ahmad Razi and Rasyidi, Md Zainal and Azhar, Badrul (2023) Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system. Agricultural Systems, 210. art. no. 103720. pp. 1-12. ISSN 0308-521X https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X23001257?via%3Dihub 10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103720
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description CONTEXT Prolonged use of synthetic herbicides to control weeds may cause adverse effects on the environment and human wellbeing. As a mitigation effort, commercial oil palm growers have been encouraged to adopt livestock integration as a holistic approach to manage weeds. Previous studies have suggested utilizing a multi-species livestock grazing may optimize the grazing impacts in silvopastoral agroforestry systems. OBJECTIVE Present study examined the effects of small ruminant grazing (i.e., goats, sheep and multi-species) on undergrowth vegetation with the following specific objectives: 1) to investigate the effects of small ruminant grazing treatments on undergrowth vegetation composition in oil palm plantations; 2) to examine the variables (canopy cover, grazing treatments, and cycles) that influenced undergrowth vegetation (species richness, coverage, height, and dry weight) in oil palm plantations. METHODS We established quadrats on experimental plots to detect changes in undergrowth vegetation composition, species diversity, coverage, height, and dry weight resulting from different grazing treatments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We found that undergrowth vegetation composition varied between different grazing treatments. The multi-species livestock grazing effectively supress unwanted weeds (i.e., woody broadleaves) compared to single–species livestock grazing (i.e., goats, sheep). The use of single-species livestock grazing is likely to cause oil palm growers to use herbicides to control undesirable weeds. Hence, we concluded managing undergrowth vegetation in oil palm plantations using multi-species livestock grazing is a practical approach, and it should be fine-tuned for example by choosing livestock species based on the targeted objectives and the grazing sequence that will be practiced to regenerate the oil palm silvopastoral system. SIGNIFICANCE Multi-species livestock grazing can reduce oil palm growers' dependence on synthetic herbicides for weed control and optimize land use in oil palm plantation sector. On the other hand, the use of single species, whether goat or sheep-only, has caused unwanted undergrowth to increase after several grazing rotations have been carried out. Therefore, the use of multi-species grazing is a promising biological tool to reduce synthetic herbicide application in environmentally-sustainable oil palm plantations.
format Article
author Tohiran, Kamil Azmi
Nobilly, Frisco
Zulkifli, Raja
Yahya, Muhammad Syafiq
Norhisham, Ahmad Razi
Rasyidi, Md Zainal
Azhar, Badrul
spellingShingle Tohiran, Kamil Azmi
Nobilly, Frisco
Zulkifli, Raja
Yahya, Muhammad Syafiq
Norhisham, Ahmad Razi
Rasyidi, Md Zainal
Azhar, Badrul
Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system
author_facet Tohiran, Kamil Azmi
Nobilly, Frisco
Zulkifli, Raja
Yahya, Muhammad Syafiq
Norhisham, Ahmad Razi
Rasyidi, Md Zainal
Azhar, Badrul
author_sort Tohiran, Kamil Azmi
title Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system
title_short Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system
title_full Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system
title_fullStr Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system
title_full_unstemmed Multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system
title_sort multi-species rotational grazing of small ruminants regenerates undergrowth vegetation while controlling weeds in the oil palm silvopastoral system
publisher Elsevier
publishDate 2023
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109575/1/109575.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/109575/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X23001257?via%3Dihub
_version_ 1821003740624191488
score 13.239859

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