Bud rot is a limiting disease that affects most oil palm crops destroying thousands of hectares in Latin America. Bud rot (BR) is caused by the oomycete Phytophthora palmivora (Butler). Integrated disease management (IDM) technology has been used to control the disease, which slows down the progress of the disease, allowing palm recovery. However, the effect of this technology on the recovery speed of treated palms is not well known. We studied the time taken for palm recovery from BR under the integrated management approach. The study was carried out on 21 oil palm commercial cultivars dura × pisifera (D × P) and O × G hybrids affected by BR in the Colombian oil palm Central Zone. The analysis included different recovery times (RT), the severity degree, time of the year (wet or dry season), number of reinfections, and cultivar. The RT of bud rot-affected palms ranges from 103 to 315 days, with an average of 202.8 days when an IDM is used. RT was lower than that reported in the diseased palms without IDM (540 days). According to the severity degree, the RT lasted 202 days for severity degree 1, 198 days for severity degree 2, and 222 with severity degree 3 and 4. In comparison, there was no significant difference between dry and rainy seasons in RT. Differences between cultivars were found; however, under IDM, all cultivars showed low RT. The IDM has a positive impact in reducing the RT to BR. Low RT has indirect effects minimizing potential yield losses, improving the number of successfully recovered palms, and reducing the risk of disease dissemination.

The global energy transition is pushing the development of advanced biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the aviation industry. This study thoroughly evaluates the potential of the Colombian crude palm oil (CPO) sector to support sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production. Extensive primary data from 53 palm oil mills and 269 palm plantations were examined. The methodology included a carbon footprint analysis of SAF produced from Colombian CPO through the HEFA pathway, an economic aspects analysis, a review of renewable fuel standards, and an assessment of market access for low-CO₂-emitting feedstocks. The results show that the carbon footprint of the Colombian palm oil-SAF is 16.11 g CO₂eq MJ⁻¹ SAF, which is significantly lower than the 89.2 g CO₂eq MJ⁻¹ reference value for traditional jet fuel. This figure considers current direct Land Use-Change (DLUC) emissions and existing methane capture practices within the Colombian palm oil agro-industry. A sensitivity analysis indicated that this SAF’s carbon footprint could decrease to negative values of −4.58 g CO₂eq MJ⁻¹ if all surveyed palm oil mills implement methane capture. Conversely, excluding DLUC emissions from the assessment raised the values to 47.46 g CO₂eq MJ⁻¹, highlighting Colombia’s favorable DLUC profile as a major factor in its low overall CPO carbon footprint. These findings also emphasize that methane capture is a key low-carbon practice for reducing the environmental impact of sustainable fuel production, as outlined by the CORSIA methodology. Based on the economic analysis, investing in Colombian CPO-based SAF production is a financially sound decision. However, the project’s profitability is highly susceptible to the volatility of SAF sales prices and raw material costs, underscoring the need for meticulous risk management. Overall, these results demonstrate the strong potential of Colombian palm oil for producing sustainable aviation fuels that comply with CORSIA requirements.

This article describes the process of constructing a model of the geographic information management for the cultivation of oil palm in Colombia. Due to the need to collect, store, update, and analyze data from planted areas in the country, it was necessary to rely on the soft systems model to propose an information system structure that would respond to the needs of accounting for planted areas and to be able to integrate such information with other strategic data for the oil palm sector. This research developed a database model on which the geographic data related to the Colombian planted area of palm oil has been stored for over ten years. The geographic model has allowed creating new information at various territorial scales, integrated with phytosanitary data important for regional crop management. The integration of a web-based platform has positioned the oil palm cadastre as a consultation service for users working in various roles in the oil palm industry, as a reliable geographical bank of information, available to other oil palm project agribusinesses.

La importancia del cultivo de palma de aceite en Colombia ha impactado tanto en la expansión física como en la transformación de los procesos de desarrollo generados en los territorios donde se ha establecido. Casos particulares como Puerto Wilches (Santander) en donde la agroindustria ha estado presente por más de cinco décadas orientan a un reconocimiento de los procesos de transformación asociados a la agroindustria en el territorio. Buscando contribuir a esta necesidad, se tuvo como objetivo identificar los procesos históricos en torno al surgimiento de la agroindustria de la palma de aceite y su consolidación como principal actividad económica del municipio. En el ejercicio se empleó información primaria y secundaria que permitió a través del análisis cualitativo, reconstruir los procesos de transformación territorial entre 1960 y 2016, con lo cual fue posible aportar insumos valiosos para la construcción colectiva de la visión del territorio en términos de su desarrollo.

El presente estudio hace una estimación de la huella de carbono del APC para Colombia con datos del año 2021 recolectados en plantaciones de palma y plantas de beneficio del país. Estos datos corresponden al 85 % de la producción de APC y el 36 % de la producción de racimos de fruta fresca. Los resultados muestran una huella de carbono de 182 kg CO2eq t-1 APC producido y también indican que el tratamiento del POME (generación de CH4), el uso y aplicación de fertilizantes químicos y el cambio del uso del suelo (CUS directo) son los principales factores que contribuyen a la generación de emisiones de GEI en el sector palmicultor colombiano. Las emisiones asociadas al CUS por la siembra de palma de aceite corresponden al análisis por zona palmera de la transformación del paisaje con base en imágenes de satélite del periodo de referencia 2007-2020.

La importancia del cultivo de palma de aceite en Colombia ha impactado tanto en la expansión física como en la transformación de los procesos de desarrollo generados en los territorios donde se ha establecido. Casos particulares como Puerto Wilches (Santander) en donde la agroindustria ha estado presente por más de cinco décadas orientan a un reconocimiento de los procesos de transformación asociados a la agroindustria en el territorio. Buscando contribuir a esta necesidad, se tuvo como objetivo identificar los procesos históricos en torno al surgimiento de la agroindustria de la palma de aceite y su consolidación como principal actividad económica del municipio. En el ejercicio se empleó información primaria y secundaria que permitió a través del análisis cualitativo, reconstruir los procesos de transformación territorial entre 1960 y 2016, con lo cual fue posible aportar insumos valiosos para la construcción colectiva de la visión del territorio en términos de su desarrollo.