Modeling of oil palm energy surface fluxes and growth for Brazilian Amazon climate conditions

The increase in demand for African palm oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) has caused an increase in production, especially through the opening of new areas. Due to the limitation of lands in Southeast Asia, which is the main producing region in the world, the expansion of oil palm plantation has occurred in Latin American countries, such as Brazil. Roughly 400 million hectares in Brazil are suitable for the planting of oil palm, but half of this is currently covered by forest, mainly by the Amazon Rainforest. Also, climate change has reduced the amount of land suitable for oil palm plantation in Brazil, since, under unfavorable climatic conditions, crop yield is reduced. To reconcile the increase in oil palm production in Brazil with the conservation of forests, modeling has been used widely as a tool to define the best suitable areas for planting expansion, as well as for the assessment of management techniques that aim to increase the yield. Thus, the aim of this study was to implement the oil palm crop in the ECOSMOS model and to evaluate the model's ability to simulate the energy and carbon balance, as well as the crop yield. The carbon allocation scheme for oil palm is quite different from the other crops implemented in ECOSMOS. Thus, we use the sub-PFT approach, so that each phytomer in the plant evolves simultaneously, but individually. The results showed that the model was able to simulate with good accuracy the net radiation (Rn), the latent heat flux (LE), and the net ecosystem CO 2 exchange (NEE), but it was not able to simulate with satisfactory accuracy the sensible heat flux (H) due to the lack of information on the soil physical-hydric properties. In addition, the model was able to accurately simulate the annual yield for plants aged between 12 and 25 years. For plants aged outside this range, the yield was overestimated. Besides, the model was able to better simulate genetic varieties that show seasonality in yield. However, despite presenting good results to simulate the energy and carbon flux, as well as the crop yield, the model still needs to consider key factors for oil palm, such as the ratio between male and female inflorescences and the abortion rate of inflorescences, which affect crop yield. Keywords: Amazon. Agriculture. ECOSMOS.

Grantor dc:publisher

Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Benezoli, Victor Hugo

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Imbuzeiro, Hewlley Maria Acioli

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cuadra, Santiago Vianna

• Palmeira oleoginosa - Cultivo - Amazônia
• Climatologia agrícola
• ECOSMOS (Modelo agroclimático)

Statement dc:rights

• Acesso Aberto

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Repository record dc:identifier.uri

https://locus.ufv.br//handle/123456789/28515

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:locus.ufv.br:123456789/28515