Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

878

Life Cycle Assessment of OIL PALM

SEEDLING PRODUCTION (Part 1)

Halimah Muhammad*; Zulkifli Hashim*; Vijaya Subramaniam*; Yew Ai Tan*; 

Puah Chiew Wei*; chong chiew let* and Choo Yuen May*

Journal of Oil Palm Research Vol. 22 December 2010 p. 878-886

ABSTRACT

The oil palm nursery is the first link in the palm oil supply chain where oil palm seedlings are produced for 

the cultivation of palms in plantations. One seedling is the defined functional unit. This article outlines 

the environmental impacts, identified using life cycle assessment (LCA), associated with the production of 

a single seedling, and the proposed mitigation measures. LCA is a cradle-to-gate study which starts at the 

pre-nursery stage, proceeding to the main nursery before subsequent transplantation of the seedlings in 

the plantation. An audit on electricity, diesel, fertilizers, pesticides, polybags and water consumption was 

carried out using data obtained from a questionnaire on the life cycle inventory of seedling production. The 

information obtained was then verified by follow-up site visits. The life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) was 

carried out for a single seedling produced, using the SimaPro software version 7.1 and the Eco indicator 99 

methodology. Polyvinylchloride (PVC) pipes were also included in the study. Ecotoxicity was found to be 

the major impact category followed by fossil fuel and respiratory inorganics.

* Malaysian Palm Oil Board,

P. O. Box 10620,

50720 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

E-mail: halimah@mpob.gov.my

final disposal (Birkved and Hauschild, 2006; Yusof 

and Hansen, 2007; Avraamides and Fatta, 2008).

The oil palm nursery is the starting link in the 

palm oil supply chain. In 2006, 2007, 2008 and 

2009, the average production of germinated oil 

palm seeds in Malaysia was 66.7, 65.2, 88.2 and 86.4 

million, respectively (http://econ.mpob.gov.my). 

The productivity of an oil palm plantation depends 

on many factors, and the most important starting 

point is the quality of the oil palm seedlings derived 

from cross pollination of selected parent palms for 

use in planting. The production of high quality oil 

palm seedlings is very much dependent on good 

nursery management and practices.

A nursery stage is required because palms 

require constant close attention during the first 10 

to 12 months of their growth and development. 

A nursery will enable closer supervision over a 

smaller area, and will facilitate pest control and the 

culling of undesirable oil palm seedlings.

There are two types of nursery practice – singlestage and double-stage. The technique of raising 

INTRODUCTION

The life cycle inventory (LCI) is the most important 

resource-intensive phase when conducting a life 

cycle assessment (LCA). LCA is a process tool to 

evaluate the environmental impacts associated 

with a product, process or activity by identifying 

and quantifying energy and materials used as 

well as waste released into the environment. LCA 

subsequently evaluates opportunities to effect 

environmental improvements. A full LCA includes 

the entire life cycle of a product, process or activity; 

encompassing extraction and processing of raw 

materials, manufacturing, transportation and 

distribution, use, reuse, maintenance, recycling and 

Keywords: nursery, seedling, life cycle inventory, environmental input, life cycle impact assessment.

Date received: 4 October 2010; Sent for revision: 6 October 2010; Received in final form: 18 October 2010; Accepted: 20 October 2010.
879

Life Cycle Assessment of OIL PALM SEEDLING PRODUCTION (Part 1)

seedlings in large polythene bags (polybags) before 

transplanting them to the field is known as a singlestage nursery system. However, currently most of 

the oil palm nurseries are practicing the doublestage nursery system. A double-stage nursery 

consists of a pre-nursery and a main nursery. In the 

pre-nursery, seeds are sown in small polybags in 

which the seedlings are maintained until they are 

approximately three to four months. These seedlings 

in the small polybags are kept under shade to 

protect them from direct sunlight. Later in the main 

nursery, the seedlings are transplanted into larger 

polybags and grown without protective shade 

until they are 10 to 12 months old and are ready for 

planting in the plantation (Corley and Tinker, 2003; 

Esnan et al., 2004). This practice ensures that welldeveloped seedlings with optimum vigour at the 

time of field planting can quickly establish in the 

field so that the field immature period is minimized 

and high early yields are obtained.

For the pre-nursery stage, polybags of 

size 15 cm × 23 cm (6” × 9”) and of 250 gauge 

(0.0625 mm) thickness are used. Germinated seeds 

are planted in these polybags which are placed 

close to one another so that the young seedlings can 

be easily managed. This entails easier maintenance 

in comparison to seedlings in a single-stage nursery.

The polybag size used in the main nursery is 30 cm 

× 38 cm (12” × 15”) or 38 cm × 45 cm (15” × 18”) 

with a thickness of 500 gauge (0.125 mm). These 

polybags are arranged at 0.9 m × 0.9 m × 0.9 m, 

or 0.75 m × 0.75 m × 0.75 m, measured centre to 

centre, to achieve an equal triangular spacing. All 

seedlings should get sufficient water of 0.5 litre per 

polybag per day in the pre-nursery, and 1.5-2.5 litre 

per polybag per day in the main nursery. Watering 

is normally done twice daily, before 11.00 am and 

after 4.00 pm (Anon., 2009).

OBJECTIVES

There are two main objectives to this LCA study 

and they are as follows:

•	 to identify the potential environment impacts

associated with the production of seedlings 

from cradle-to-gate, and ultimately when 

linked to the plantation, mill, refinery and 

production of palm biodiesel in a later part of 

the study; and

•	 to use this assessment for evaluating

opportunities to mitigate the potential 

impacts.

The LCA study is outlined in different parts, 

namely, Parts 1-5. Specific to this article is the use of 

LCA to identify the stages in the oil palm nursery 

that could contribute to the environment load.

FUNCTIONAL UNIT

The relevant functional unit of the system was 

used to provide the seedling with links to upstream 

plantation, midstream and downstream processing 

of food and non-foods products. Therefore, the 

appropriate functional unit for this LCA study of 

the nursery is a single oil palm seedling.

ALLOCATION OF CO-PRODUCTS

More often than not, a system will yield more than 

one product. In such cases, allocation must be made 

for input and output flows for each product. In oil 

palm seedling production, no allocation is required 

because the present system produces only one 

product, i.e. a seedling.

SYSTEM BOUNDARY

This LCA study has a cradle-to-gate system 

boundary, beginning with the transportation of the 

germinated seeds to the nursery and ending with 

the transportation of 12-month-old seedlings in big 

polybags to the plantation. The system boundary 

includes the production of pre-plantation inputs, 

i.e. the oil palm seedlings in the nursery. The 

boundary determines which unit processes should 

be included or excluded in an LCA study. In this 

study, all processes are considered relevant unless 

excluded based on the exclusion criteria shown in 

Table 1. Figure 1 shows the supply chain in oil palm 

seedling production.

Items Excluded from the Study

Buildings and machinery, road works, road 

lighting, workers and the production of top soil 

were not considered.

METHODS

Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

Foreground data which describe the specific 

production sub-systems include the production of 

seedlings. These data for each unit process were 

collected directly from oil palm nurseries through 

the use of questionnaires. The input data for each 

unit process were validated by on-site visits, 

telephone conversations, on-site measurements, 

and communication via e-mail and fax.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

The system boundary for LCIA starts from the 

germinated seed until the transportation of the 
Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

880

seedling to the nursery. Modelling of environmental 

impact was carried out using the software SimaPro 

version 7.1. Background data for the inputs were 

sourced from inventory databases, notably the 

Ecoinvent database developed by the Swiss Centre 

for Life Cycle Inventory which is included in this 

software. The LCA methodology used was Ecoindicator 99. This methodology uses the damageoriented approach or end-point approach for 

impact assessment. Impact categories considered in 

this methodology include carcinogens, respiratory 

organics and inorganics, climate change, ionizing 

radiation, ozone layer depletion, ecotoxicity, 

acidification or eutrofication, land use, mineral and 

fossil fuels. The Eco-indicator set of impacts were 

used because it comprises a comprehensive set of 

impacts to meet the requirements of ISO for a range 

of impact categories.

Co-product

There is no co-product in the production of 

seedlings.

Capital Goods

In this study, capital goods such as machinery, 

e.g. the water pump for irrigation of the seedlings, 

had been excluded in the production of seedlings. 

However, the polyvinylchloride pipes used to 

TABLE 1. SYSTEM BOUNDARY DEFINITION CRITERIA

Processing category Included

Excluded

Insignificant 

environmental 

impact

Difficult to obtain 

representative data

Not directly 

relevant to scope 

and goal of study

Production of polyvinylchloride 

for pipes

 - - -

Production, maintenance 

and replacement of capital 

equipment

-   -

Transportation of capital goods -   -

Production of agricultural 

inputs, e.g. polybags, fertilizers, 

insecticides, herbicides and 

fungicides

 - - -

Disposal of small polybags 

(15 cm × 23 cm)

-   -

Transportation of polybags, 

fertilizers, insecticides, 

herbicides and fungicides 

 - - -

Water supply  - - -

Agricultural activities, e.g. 

application of fertilizers, 

insecticides, herbicides and 

fungicides; use of polybags 

 - - -

Transportation of germinated 

seeds to nursery

 - - -

Land occupation by nursery -   -

Transportation of seedlings to 

plantation

 - - -

Electricity generation  - - -

Diesel for running water pump  - - -

Production of top soil - -  -

Partitioning of pesticides in 

different compartments

 - - -

Emissions from the application 

of pesticides

 - - -
881

Life Cycle Assessment of OIL PALM SEEDLING PRODUCTION (Part 1)

transfer water for watering the seedlings were 

included in this study.

RESULTS

Life Cycle Inventory (LCI)

Twenty-one oil palm nurseries licensed by the 

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) were selected 

for collection of inventory data for the production 

of oil palm seedlings in nurseries. These oil palm 

nurseries, located in Peninsular Malaysia, practised 

the double-stage nursery system. Questionnaires 

were posted to the operators of the nurseries and 

one selection criterion, based on the average value 

of a 25-year economic life for one cycle of an oil 

palm tree (Corley and Tinker, 2003), was adopted. 

Inventory data were collected from the oil palm 

nurseries over a period of four years (from 2004 to 

2007).

Annual inventory data collected from the 

identified 21 nurseries over a four-year period 

were analyzed. One of the most time-consuming 

exercises is the LCI data collection, and this was 

carried out with the co-operation of nursery owners 

and stakeholders (Sime Darby Sdn Bhd, United 

Plantation Sdn Bhd, FELDA, etc.). Table 2 shows 

the averaged inputs for a single seedling based on 

Figure 1. Flow chart for cultivation of oil palm seedlings.

TABLE 2. AVERAGED life Cycle inventory (LCI) FOR 

THE PRODUCTION OF A SINGLE SEEDLING

Input Amount

Electricity (kWhr)

Diesel (litre)

Polybag (kg)

Water (litre)

0.006 (0.22 MJ)

0.004 (0.15 MJ)

2.10E-03

1.5

Fertilizers

N (kg)

P2O5 (kg)

K2O (kg)

5.10E-04

2.60E-04

2.10E-04

Pesticides

Thiocarbamate (kg)

Pyrethroid (kg)

Organophosphate (kg)

Dithiocarbamate (kg)

Unspecified pesticide (kg)

Urea/sulfonyl urea (kg)

Glyphosate (kg)

Transportation (tkm)

Van (< 3.5 t) B250

1.12E-05

3.54E-06

2.00E-05

9.61E-05

1.35E-06

2.17E-05

8.90E-06

6.47E-09

Capital good

Polyvinylchloride (kg) 

for pipes

0.000713

Germinated seeds

T T

T

T

T

T

T

T

T

Irrigation

equipment

(pumps)

Irrigation

equipment

production

Mining of

diesel/petrol

Removal 

of top soil

from land

Palm seed germination Fertilizer production

Pesticide

production

Fertilizer

Fertilizer

Fertilizer

application

Pesticide

Pesticide

application

Pesticide

Waste at

landfill

Used

polybags

Bags at landfill

Seedling

Seedling cultivation

Seedling

transplantation

Soil

Oil palm

Oil palm

cultivation

Diesel/petrol

production

Diesel/petrol

application

Irrigation

Water

Irrigation water

supply

Land

preparation

Water supply

equipment

(PVC pipes)

Water supply

equipment

production
Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

882

data obtained from the 21 oil palm nurseries. Input 

energy such as electricity and fossil fuel, materials 

(polybags), plant nutrition (fertilizers) and plant 

protection chemicals (herbicides, fungicides and 

insecticides) were considered. Energy used for 

machinery to water the seedlings, transportation 

of germinated seeds to the nursery, transportation 

of the seedlings to the plantation, transportation 

of fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides 

and polybags from the port to the nursery were 

included in the inventory.

Table 2 shows the transportation required for 

the production of an oil palm seedling. In the 

computation of the environmental burden for 

seedling production, all distances were considered 

as half of a round trip, and the delivery van 

(<3.5 t) loads were considered full load weights. 

Data on delivery van weights and distances were 

obtained through responses to the distributed 

questionnaires and also through dialogues with 

stakeholders.

Electrical energy (electricity) from the national 

grid and fossil fuel (diesel) were used as power 

sources to run the pump for watering the seedlings 

in the oil palm nurseries. According to the inventory 

data, the amount of diesel and electricity needed 

to produce one seedling was 0.004 litre and 

0.006 kWhr, respectively. The inventory data also 

revealed that the amount of polybags needed to 

produce one seedling was 2.10 × 10-03 kg. Most 

insecticides, herbicides and fungicides are only 

applied in oil palm nurseries during the time of 

specific pest attacks. From this LCA study, we found 

that the major infestation in the oil palm seedlings 

was by fungi. The commonly used fungicides in 

the oil palm nurseries were mancozeb, thiram, 

carbendazim, maneb and dithane (collectively 

classified under dithiocarbamates). The other 

pesticides used in order of frequency were 

sulfonylurea urea (herbicide) and organophosphates 

(insecticide). The total quantity of pesticides used 

was very low at 1.63 × 10-04 kg per seedling. For the 

production of one seedling, the nurseries used 9.8 ×

10-04 kg of NPK fertilizers.

Materials such as fertilizers, insecticides, 

herbicides, fungicides and polybags are transported 

to the nursery for the production of the single oil 

palm seedling. Transportation includes delivery of 

the germinated seeds to the nursery, of the seedlings 

to the plantation, and of fertilizers, insecticides, 

herbicides, fungicides and polybags from the port 

in Malaysia to the nursery. The total amount was 

found to be 6.47 × 10-09 tkm. In general, the sum total 

of inputs needed to produce one seedling from the 

nursery was quite low.

According to the data obtained through the 

distribution of questionnaires and confirmed by 

evidence collected during on-site visits, water, 

fertilizers and pesticides were required to produce 

healthy oil palm seedlings. Among the pesticides 

used, dithiocarbamates were the most commonly 

used in the oil palm nursery. Fertilizers were 

manually applied. However, some nurseries used a 

drip system for supplying seedlings (less than four 

months old) with a pre-mixed fertilizer solution. 

Water for seedlings was mostly sourced from nearby 

rivers with catchment ponds. When rainfall was 

sufficient (enough to wet the soil in the polybag), 

watering was not carried out. Irrigation was by 

sprinklers powered by diesel pumps or electric 

pumps using electricity from the grid.

Table 3 shows the data type and source in the 

nursery system for transportation and production of 

fertilizers, polybags, pesticides, seedlings and water. 

The table also shows where the input data were 

obtained, and whether they were from background 

or foreground data sources, and whether they 

were taken from the Ecoinvent database or from 

the Malaysian data base (SIRIM). Foreground data 

for each unit process were collected directly from 

the oil palm nurseries through the questionnaires. 

The input data for each unit process were validated 

by on-site visits, telephone conversations, on-site 

measurements, and communication via e-mail and 

fax. Foreground data included information on field 

electricity generation and diesel used to run pumps, 

and consumption of water for irrigation of the 

oil palm seedlings in the nursery. Direct pesticide 

application, oil palm seedling cultivation and 

transportation were considered foreground data. 

Transportation of raw materials such as fertilizers, 

insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and polybags to 

nurseries were also included in the nursery stage as 

foreground data.

Background data which included information 

on generic materials were collected from published 

sources or proxies, i.e. the same operation but in 

another country. Some of the data were obtained 

from literature and public databases, or calculated 

using published models. Generally, data on the 

production of raw materials such as fertilizers, 

insecticides, herbicides and fungicides for the 

inputs were obtained from the Ecoinvent database, 

while data on the application of the raw materials 

were obtained from the questionnaires. However, 

electricity and polybag production were from 

Malaysian-based (SIRIM) data. It is to be noted 

that some inflows and outflows were not included 

in this system boundary because of difficulty 

in quantification, and these have been shown in 

Table 1.

The LCI data for the nursery were reviewed 

by the LCA Technical Working Group, the LCA 

Technical Committee and the National Committee 

on LCA Studies for the Oil Palm Industry which 

comprises representatives of the stakeholders, 

SIRIM Berhad and the MPOB LCA team. These 

review meetings checked the quality of the 
883

Life Cycle Assessment of OIL PALM SEEDLING PRODUCTION (Part 1)

TABLE 3. DATA SOURCE FOR 

NURSE

RY SYSTEM

Unit process Process starts

Nature of transmission Process ends Data type (B/

F*)/

Data source

Electricity production Mining and extraction of 

fossil fuels

Energy conversion Distribution to the grid at 

the point of use

B/Malaysian data from SIRIM

Irrigation water supply Water from surface water Physical Water at nursery B/site specific dataIrrigation Water at nursery Physical Water applied to 

germinated seeds/seedlings 

F/site specific data

Fertilizer production N, P

O2 5 and K

O2 Acquisition of raw 

materials

Chemical processing Fertilizers at the 

production unit gate

B/Ecoinvent database

Transportation of fertilizers N, P

O2 5 and K O to 2

nurseries (includes intermediate storage and retailing)

Collection of fertilizers from port in Malaysia to nursery

Physical Delivery of fertilizers to 

nursery

F/site specific data

Application of fertilizers N, P

O2 5 and K O 2

(includes incorporation into soil at the recommended dosage)

Fertilizers stored at nursery 

Physical Fertilizers into soil F/site specific data

Production of insecticides thiocarbamate, pyrethroid and organophosphate 

Acquisition of raw materials

Chemical processing Pesticides at the 

production unit gate

B/Ecoinvent database

Transportation of insecticides thiocarbamate, pyrethroid and organophosphate to nurseries (include intermediate storage and retailing)

Collection of pesticides from port in Malaysia to nursery

Physical Delivery of pesticides to 

nursery 

F/site specific data

Application of insecticides thiocarbamate, pyrethroid and organophosphate (including preparations for application at the recommended dosage)

Pesticides stored at nursery 

Physical Pesticides applied to 

seedlings

F/site specific data

Herbicide production; unspecified herbicide (glufosinate ammonium, urea/sulfonylurea and glyphosate)

Acquisition of raw materials

Chemical processing Herbicides at the 

production unit gate

B/Ecoinvent database

Transportation of herbicides; unspecified herbicide (glufosinate ammonium, urea/sulfonylurea and glyphosate) to nurseries (includes intermediate storage and retailing)

Collection of herbicides from port in Malaysia to nursery

Physical Delivery of herbicides to 

nursery gate

F/site specific data
Journal of 

Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

884

TABLE 3. DATA SOURCE FOR NURSERY SYSTEM (continued)

Unit process Process starts Nature of transmission Process ends Data type (B/F*)/ Data source

Application of herbicides; unspecified herbicide (glufosinate ammonium, urea/sulfonylurea and glyphosate) (including preparations for application at the recommended dosage)

Herbicides stored at nursery 

Physical Herbicides applied to soil F/site specific data

Fungicides production: dithiocarbamate Acquisition of raw 

materials

Chemical processing Fungicides at the 

production unit gate

B/Ecoinvent database

Transportation of fungicides; (dithiocarbamate) to nurseries (includes intermediate storage and retailing)

Collection of fungicides from port in Malaysia to nursery

Physical Delivery of fungicides to 

nursery gate

F/site specific data

Application of fungicides (dithiocarbamate) (including preparations for application at the recommended dosage)

Fungicides stored at nursery 

Physical Fungicides applied to soil F/site specific data

Polybag production Acquisition of raw 

materials

Chemical processing Polybags at the production 

unit gate

B/SIRIM database

Transportation of polybags to nurseries (includes intermediate storage and retailing)

Collection of polybags from port in Malaysia to nursery

Physical Delivery of polybags to 

nursery gate

F/site specific data

Use of polybags Polybags stored at nursery Polybags stored at 

nursery

Polybags used at nursery F/site specific data 

Top soil supply Acquisition from land Physical Soil for seedling 

cultivation 

B/literature (Turner and Gillbanks, 2003)

Transportation of top soil to nurseries (includes intermediate storage and retailing)

Collection of top soil from estate or contractor to nursery

Physical Delivery of top soil to 

nursery gate

F/site specific data

Oil palm seedling cultivation Acquisition of oil palm 

germinated seeds

Biological 10- to 12-month-old oil 

palm seedlings for planting in plantations

F/site specific data

Note: *B/F = background/foreground.
885

Life Cycle Assessment of OIL PALM SEEDLING PRODUCTION (Part 1)

40

38

36

34

32

30

28

26

24

22

20

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

mPt

Carcinogens Resp. organic Resp. inorganic Climate

change

Radiation Ozone layer Ecotoxicity Acidification/

eutrophication

Land use Minerals Fossil fuels

Analyzing 1 p Nursery with Pesticide Emissions; Method: Eco-indicator 99 (H) V2.03 / Europe EI 99 H/A/weighting.

Nursery with pesticide emissions

Diesel, at refinery/RER U

Fertilizer (N)

Fertilizer (K2O)

Polyethlene, LDPE, granulate, at plant/RER U

Pesticide unspecified, at regional storehouse/CH U

Pyrethroid-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U

Glyphosate, at regional storehouse/CH U

river water

germinated seed

Electricity Malaysia

Fertilizer (P205)

Delivery van (<3.5 t) B250

Organophosphorus-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U

[thio]carbamate-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U

[sulfonyl]urea-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U

Dithiocarbamate-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U

Polyvinylchloride, at regional storage/RER U

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

%

Analyzing 1 p Nursery with Pesticide Emissions; Method: Eco-indicator 99 (H) V2.03 / Europe EI 99 H/A/characterization.

Nursery with pesticide emissions Diesel, at refinery/RER U Fertilizer (N)

Fertilizer (K2O)

Polyethlene, LDPE, granulate, at plant/RER U Pesticide unspecified, at regional storehouse/CH U Pyrethroid-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U Glyphosate, at regional storehouse/CH U River water

germinated seed

Electricity Malaysia

Fertilizer (P205)

Delivery van (<3.5 t) B250

Organophosphorus-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U [thio]carbamate-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U [sulfonyl]urea-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U Dithiocarbamate-compounds, at regional storehouse/CH U Polyvinylchloride, at regional storage/RER U

Carcinogens Resp. organic Resp. inorganic Climate

change

Radiation Ozone layer Ecotoxicity Acidification/

eutrophication

Land use Minerals Fossil fuels

data before the subsequent phases of LCIA and 

improvement analysis.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA)

Figures 2 and 3 show the weighted and 

characterized results of LCIA for the production of 

a single seedling. Ecotoxicity was found to be the 

major impact category, followed by fossil fuel and 

respiratory inorganics. The ecotoxicity impact was 

mainly due to emissions from pesticides used for 

the control of fungi, insects and weeds infesting oil 

palm seedlings at the nursery stage.

Therefore, the use of bio-pesticides may have 

the potential to reduce this impact and should 

be further assessed as an alternative. The other 

hot spot in the production of seedlings was the 

use of diesel for irrigating the seedlings, and this 

is reflected in the impact from fossil fuel and 

respiratory inorganics.

CONCLUSION

In general, the production of seedlings in the 

nursery has an insignificant impact on the 

Figure 2. Weighted results in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for the production of a single seedling.

Figure 3. Characterized results in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) for the production of a single seedling.
Journal of Oil Palm Research 22 (december 2010)

886

environment. It is to be noted that land occupation 

by the nursery has been not been modelled into this 

LCA study.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The authors would like to thank the DirectorGeneral of MPOB for permission to publish this 

article. They greatly acknowledge the co-operation 

from the nurseries in providing raw data to conduct 

the LCI. The authors would also like to thank 

Rosilawati Yusof and Rosliza Razak for helping in 

the collection and verification of LCI data.

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