Oil palm plantations has become a growing business in South Sumatra and other provinces in Indonesia, since it provide
higher profit for the owners (producers) compared to that can be resulted from other agrcultural business operated on
suboptimal lands (dry and wet lands). Many farmers has engaged in the business by operating smallholder oil palm
plantations at both areas, but traditionally the business started at dry land area which were not productive for food crops
like rice, corn and soybean. Around less than ten years ago, the farmers of wet land area began to involve in the buisness.
This research tries to compare the productivity and income (profit) gained by the farmers at both areas using primary data
collected from sample farmers. The results shows that there was no significant differences in productivity and income
from the oil palm plantation between the two areas, although there were different variation in fertilizer uses and age level
of oil plant trees. The wet land palm oil seems to be more economically prospective to operate in the future, but should
be endorsed with the aplication of good agricultural practices.