We question whether using accurate genotyping to enhance palm-oil yields will greatly reduce the acreage devoted to palm-oil plantations (R. Singh et al. Nature http://doi.org/ndc; 2013).

Global demand for palm oil by the food industry and for biofuel is rising, pushing expansion of plantations into forests and peatlands. As higher yields generate bigger profits, more companies will venture into palm-oil production and marginal lands may be developed.

Moves to increase palm-oil yields should therefore be combined with strict government controls on the expansion of existing plantations into environmentally sensitive areas.

Some countries have imposed restrictions on new plantation licences, but with limited success. In Indonesia, for example, the recent severe widespread smoke haze was mainly associated with peatland clearance for oil palms, and almost half of these fires occurred in areas with a moratorium for new licences (see go.nature.com/doiwwf).