SCENARIO OF PALM OIL PRODUCTION

Palm oil Production

Palm oil is a fatty edible vegetable oil, yellowish in color, derived from the flesh and the kernel of the fruit of the oil palm tree. The oil palm tree is a tropical, single stemmed tree having feather like leaves that gains a height of around 20 meters. The fruits of this tree, that are also the sources of the palm oil grow in bunches, are reddish in color, bigger than plums in size and have a single seeded kernel inside. The oil palm tree is native to the areas of coastal Africa and appears different from a coconut palm tree.

Palm oil is used in the manufacturing of soaps, ointments, cosmetics, detergents, and lubricants and also as cooking oil. Commercially palm oil is used in various forms such as crude palm oil, crude palmolien, refined bleached deodorized (RBD) palm oil, RBD palmolien and palm kernel oil.

Oil palm tree starts from the western coast if Africa where it marked its origination. It is believed that it originated in the coastal area as it is considered to be of riparian species i.e. species that is not able to grow in shades but can tolerate flooding conditions. The western coast of Africa extends towards east from Sierra Leone to areas of Congo and this was the region where it was domesticated by the native people probably in Nigeria. With the help of the people who made agricultural shifts around 5000 years ago, the plantation spread throughout Africa. It also played an important role as a food plantation in the time of ‘Pharos’.

When the Europeans reached Africa to explore the continent in around the 15th century, they discovered palm tree and that was the time the rest of the world got introduced with it. The cultivation of palm spread throughout the world and in the 19th century palm oil began to trade. As late as in the 20th century, oil palm tree was introduced into Malaysia and palm oil started to get produced commercially in 1917. With time Malaysia developed as a dominant player in the world scenario and is currently the largest producer of palm oil in the world.

Oil palm trees are generally grown in the tropical (hot and humid) conditions. The plantation belongs to the riparian species that can survive in flood conditions and a high water table. It can be cultivated on a various types of soil but the basic factor that supports the growth is the drainage and water content present in the soil. The plantation requires a well-drained soil and if it is not provided like in the sandy or clayey soil, the yield of the crop is affected adversely. The propagation of the tree is done with the help of its seed after providing proper treatment as the germination can get affected if the seeds are not treated.

The tree produces a little or no fruit in the first three years. But after this time, the tree begins to produce fruits, which are harvested when they become ripen. Various tools are used to harvest the oil palm fruits such as chisel or hooked knives attached to long poles and some times, also by climbing on the tree directly. The fruits are obtained from the tree until it gets around 30 feet long as harvesting fruits from such a tall tree gets very difficult. That why the tree is injected with a herbicide to kill it or it is bulldozed down

Palm oil production in India

India holds a very small share of palm oil production in the world figures. It hardly contributes to the world production and is not able to satisfy its domestic consumption demand. It produces a mere 70000 tons of palm oil annually i.e. just 0.2% share in the total world’s produce. The state having the maximum production of palm oil in India is Kerala as it produces 20000 tons per year. Kerala, cultivating oil palm trees on around 12000 hectares of land, also hold the maximum acreage with 10000 hectares pertaining to a public sector enterprise namely Oil Palms India Ltd and the rest pertaining to the private sector. Godrej is the maximum oil palm plantation company in India producing over 20000 tons per year. India has been looking forward to increase its production a bit more to push it up to 3 lakh tons in the year 2015 to 2020.

Palm oil production in world

Palm oil is derived from the oil palm tree, which is cultivated in over 42 countries of the world and is largely used as an edible cooking oil. Palm oil production in the world accounts up to around 35 million tons, it being at the second place regarding the edible vegetable oil production. The major producer countries of palm oil in the world along with their production figures pertaining to the year 2010-2011 are

• Malaysia (18.2 million tons)
• Indonesia (23.6 million tons)
• Nigeria (0.8 million tons)
• Thailand (1.3 million tons)
• Colombia (0.65 million tons)
• Papua New Guinea (0.38 million tons)
• Cote d’Ivoire (0.34 million tons)
• Ecuador (0.3 million tons)
• Costa Rica (0.24 million tons)
• Congo (0.2 million tons)

Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil in the world with approximately 45% contribution in the world’s production. Malaysia has been the closest competitor to the leader country in this production context. It contributes to approximately 40% in the world figures. The world production has increased with time and is still rising @ 7%. The same is the case with the area covered under the cultivation of oil palm tree. This crop is cultivated in around 28 million acres of land over the world.