Brahman Cattle Integration With Tree Crop

Brahman cattle were seen grazing freely at one of the Oil Palm estate in Sarawak using electric fencing to control the animal.

Integrating cattle into oil palm plantations utilises existing agricultural land without requiring the opening up of new areas. At present,the management by using paddock rotation so that cattle are brought to the original paddock only once in every 90 days. This rotation will ensure that enough time has elapsed for the vegetation to return to normal and for the cow dung to fully decompose, be converted to fertiliser and taken up by
the crop. Since each paddock is subjected to trampling only once in 3 months no significant damage is done to the farm in the way of soil compaction.

The initiative will be two-pronged. One is to expand cattle population to meet the national target of 1.49 million head by 2010. The other is to increase farm productivity and farm family income.

Cattle are introduced into oil palm plantations after the palms are 5 years old and can remain until the oil palm is fully mature. When the palm reaches 20 years of age, the vegetation will be reduced, so accordingly, the density of cattle should also be reduced. The recommended stocking rate is 1 cow in 4 ha of the oil palm plantation.