A time and motion study to assess labor productivity in oil palm plantations from Colombia: The case of the artificial pollination

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a time and motion study, aimed at improving the cost-efficiency of a novel technology released by the Colombian Oil Palm Research Center, named after artificial pollination. This study was carried out at a small-scale oil palm plantation from Colombia which used to pollinate their palms by teams conformed by two workers and was interested in proving if it was possible to pollinate by means of a single worker. Results indicate that it is more cost efficient to perform the pollination by a single worker, because some processes are repeated by the two workers of the team. This is true for different levels of yield, which are expressed in terms of inflorescences to treat per hectare (inflorescences density). In fact, going from two workers to one in order to perform artificial pollination, has saved up to COP 219.562 per hectare a year, which is equivalent to a reduction in the production costs of 4,4%.

Keywords

• elaeis guineensis
• elaeis oleifera
• acido naftaleno acético (ana)
• palma de aceite
• productividad del trabajo