Member’s Profile

Name: Ahmad Syauqi Bin Taufiq
Field: Microbiology
Level/Position: MSc. Candidate
Latest Working Experience: Research Assistant
Research Title: Soil Microbial Analysis of Oil Palm Plantations
Biography:
I joined the Ecobiomaterial Research Laboratory back in October 2019 as a research assistant and a Master student. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis: Aracaceae) is the most rapidly grown crop in the Southeast Asia and extracted from its kernels and oil palm fruits are the commercial commodity known as palm oil. Both Indonesia and Malaysia accounts for more than 80% of palm oil production worldwide (Fitzherbert et al., 2008; Koh & Wilcove, 2008). Generally, the oil palm plant will start to bear fruits containing oil after being planted for 2.5 years. After 20-25 years, its productivity will become lower thus the old palm trees will be cut down in order to replant new seedlings at the plantation site. The old palms that were cut down are left to degrade at the plantation site during replanting. A study on various oil palm plantation soil of different age (e.g.: before replantation, during the period of oil palm trunk degradation and after replantation of new seedlings) could help build a chronosequence of microbial network composition as well as assessing the impact of the degradation of old oil palm trunk on soil microbial communities. This may shed light to show how the impact of prolonged human activities on the bacterial communities in oil palm plantation. It is relevant for evaluating the consequences of agricultural developments on soil microbial communities.

Name: Ahmad Syauqi Bin Taufiq
Field: Microbiology
Level/Position: MSc. Candidate
Latest Working Experience: Research Assistant
Research Title: Soil Microbial Analysis of Oil Palm Plantations
Biography:
I joined the Ecobiomaterial Research Laboratory back in October 2019 as a research assistant and a Master student. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis: Aracaceae) is the most rapidly grown crop in the Southeast Asia and extracted from its kernels and oil palm fruits are the commercial commodity known as palm oil. Both Indonesia and Malaysia accounts for more than 80% of palm oil production worldwide (Fitzherbert et al., 2008; Koh & Wilcove, 2008). Generally, the oil palm plant will start to bear fruits containing oil after being planted for 2.5 years. After 20-25 years, its productivity will become lower thus the old palm trees will be cut down in order to replant new seedlings at the plantation site. The old palms that were cut down are left to degrade at the plantation site during replanting. A study on various oil palm plantation soil of different age (e.g.: before replantation, during the period of oil palm trunk degradation and after replantation of new seedlings) could help build a chronosequence of microbial network composition as well as assessing the impact of the degradation of old oil palm trunk on soil microbial communities. This may shed light to show how the impact of prolonged human activities on the bacterial communities in oil palm plantation. It is relevant for evaluating the consequences of agricultural developments on soil microbial communities.