New research shows that lower-intensity management of coconut palm plantations can sustain, or even increase, crop yields while improving soil health.
The new approach, published in Plants, People, Planet reduces harmful pathogens and promotes beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, providing a practical model for more sustainable tropical agriculture.
"Palm species are fantastic and extremely important crops. If we can find ways to maintain these high yields while reducing the environmental issues which palm crops are so famous for, that's really exciting." Ben Roberts Co-author
Co-author of the study Ben Roberts said: 'Palm species are fantastic and extremely important crops. Oil palm, for example, produces over 40% of the world's vegetable oil while using less than 6% of the global land allotted to vegetable oils. If we can find ways to maintain these high yields while reducing the environmental issues which palm crops are so famous for, that's really quite exciting.'
The study was conducted at one of the world's longest-running experimental coconut plantation plots in Côte d'Ivoire, leveraging detailed, DNA-based soil biodiversity inventories.
Professor Tilly Collins, Deputy Director of the Centre for Environmental Policy said: 'We are fortunate to have international collaborations which permit inspiring research to deliver real-world impact'.
The research was a collaboration between Imperial College London's Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet and Centre for Environmental Policy and the Centre National de Recherche Agronomique in Côte d'Ivoire. By combining microbial profiling with long-term yield data, the team of researchers were able to examine how different plantation management practices affect both productivity and the underlying ecosystem that supports it.
Professor Vincent Savolainen, Director of Imperial's Georgina Mace Centre for the Living Planet said: 'Lower-intensity management that preserves ground vegetation can enhance both crop yields and soil health by fostering beneficial soil biodiversity.'
Rethinking agricultural intensity
Globally, palm crops such as coconut and oil palm are expanding rapidly to meet growing demand for vegetable oils. Since 2000, global oil palm production has tripled, while coconut ranks among the top five most produced vegetable oils. Expansion of plantations often comes at the expense of tropical forests, contributing to biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and environmental concerns. Traditionally, intensive management practices, including clearing undergrowth and heavy soil disturbance, have been assumed necessary to maximise yields.
However, this new research challenges that assumption. The team tested a gradient of management intensities, from high-intensity plots with cleared undergrowth to low-intensity plots that preserved ground vegetation. The findings revealed that intermediate-intensity practices not only maintain yields but, in some cases, increase them compared to high-intensity approaches, presenting a win-win for economic and environmental gain.
Linking soil health to crop productivity
Central to these results is the role of soil fungi. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with coconut roots, improving nutrient uptake and supporting plant growth. Intensive management, in contrast, disrupts these beneficial associations while allowing certain pathogenic fungi to flourish. The study identified that high-intensity management led to higher abundances of known pathogens such as Pestalotiopsis and Lasiodiplodia, which can reduce yields and threaten long-term productivity.
Professor Savolainen said: 'By fostering a diverse soil community, lower-intensity practices suppress harmful pathogens while promoting beneficial mycorrhizal fungi. This combination supports both crop health and soil resilience.'
The research also demonstrates tangible benefits for farmers. Under typical planting densities and market prices, adopting lower-intensity practices could increase income by approximately USD 800-1,200 per hectare annually, equivalent to 1,800-2,700 additional coconuts per hectare. These practices are easy to implement, making them a practical solution for smallholder farmers in tropical Africa.
If high-intensity practices continue, we risk declining productivity and reduced biodiversity, posing long-term threats to both soil health and agricultural sustainability.
This work is particularly significant because it provides one of the first comprehensive studies linking biodiversity, pathogen prevalence, and yield in African coconut plantations. The study demonstrates that agricultural intensification is not always necessary to increase productivity and that maintaining ecological complexity can produce both environmental and economic benefits.
The work highlights the potential to transform palm plantations into more sustainable, biodiversity-friendly systems, with significant benefits for farmer livelihoods and long-term food security, made possible through international collaboration with Côte d'Ivoire, home to one of the world's most important long-term coconut research sites.
Two of the study authors, Ben Roberts and Hamish Duncalf-Youngson have also launched a spinout company aimed at applying insights from their palm sustainability research to the real world, bridging the gap between research and sustainable agricultural practice.
Rhynco startup
On his startup, Rhynco, Roberts said: 'As well as deforestation and biodiversity loss, a key sustainability issue facing palm plantations is waste management. In plantations which cover a global area over twice that of the UK, waste trunks and fronds are continually produced in vast quantities. These are often burned or abandoned, presenting an environmental and social hazard through greenhouse gas and pollutant release. At Rhynco we're using insects to convert hazardous waste from coconut and oil palm growers into useful products – including oil, protein, and fertiliser. The aim is to sustainably strengthen production and livelihoods, providing the financial incentive for smallholders to adopt sustainable practices.'
By combining cutting-edge ecological techniques with practical agricultural insights, this research provides a roadmap for aligning agricultural development with environmental sustainability. As pressures mount on tropical ecosystems, findings like these offer hope that crop production and biodiversity conservation can advance hand in hand.
