A Complete Guide for Palm Oil Plantation

Published on: October 6, 2022

Palm oil is a necessity across countless industries. Its presence cannot be replaced in a huge number
of products all around the world, serving as a needed ingredient in the products’ formulations. It’s
clear that organic palm oil is irreplaceable, but how is palm oil made? What happens to transport
palm oil from the crops on the plantation to the shelves of your local grocery store? To understand
the ins and outs of palm oil production, we need to begin on the oil palm plantations, where the
growth process begins. Curious about the complete process on palm oil plantations? Keep reading to
discover more!

CONDITIONS & CLIMATE

Palm oil is a vegetable oil that is sourced from the fruit of oil palm trees, otherwise scientifically
known as Elaeis guineensis. This crop yields two different types of oil – crude palm oil from the fruit
and palm kernel oil from the crushed kernel. Oil palm trees thrive in tropical climates with
temperatures between 30–32°C. Ideally, the plantation should be in an area that has plenty of
sunlight and high levels of humidity. These plants require plenty of precipitation in order to keep the
soil moist all year round. Without this moisture, the crops cannot properly flourish. Most palm oil
plantations are located in Malaysia and Indonesia, which have the perfect weather conditions for
this crop. Some other places where oil palm trees can be found include Nigeria, Colombia, and
Guatemala.

FIELD REQUIREMENTS

In addition to the climate, there are plenty of considerations about the way the fields are prepared
for oil palm crops. The ideal time to plant the oil palm tree is during the rainy season, which spans
from June to September. When planting the sprouts, it’s necessary to consider the spacing and the
way the plants are arranged. There should be plenty of space for the sprouts to spread and grow.
Additionally, the sprouts need to be planted in a way that allows for the most sunlight to reach the
plant. It is recommended that the sprouts have 9 square meters of space to grow. This ends up
amounting to 145 plants per hectare. It’s important to note that palm oil has an excellent yield per
hectare, especially when compared to other vegetable oils. This means that palm oil makes more
effective use of the land.

Another important aspect of the fields where oil palm trees are grown is intercropping.
Intercropping is the practice of planting two or more crops in close proximity. It offers more nutrition
to the soil than if you simply plant one crop, and it improves the soil’s fertility. It can even help to
control pests. In the case of oil palm trees, there are plenty of crops to grow alongside it that can
enhance the growth of the crop and serve as a great use of space on the plantations. Common crops
planted with oil palm trees are ginger, turmeric, bananas, and tobacco, among others. It’s crucial to
keep weeds at bay on palm oil plantations, though, as these invasive plants can harm the crops.

HARVESTING AND MANUFACTURING

The next part of the process is the harvest. Oil palm trees take about 30 months to reach maturity,
which is when the workers on the plantations begin to harvest. The process can be repeated every
seven to ten days. Using a long sickle, the fresh fruit bunches of the oil palm tree are removed. The
bunches that are ready for harvest can be identified by their vibrant reddish orange color. Once the
fruit is harvested, it’s time for the manufacturing process. As previously mentioned, two different
parts of the crop are used for the products made from the crop – the fruit and the kernel. This
becomes important during manufacturing.

From the palm oil plantations, the crop is then taken to the mills. Here, the bunches are treated with
steam, which sterilizes them. Then, the stripping process occurs, which removes the fruit from the
fresh fruit bunches. It also deactivates the enzymes that can potentially decrease the quality of the
fruit. At the factory, the fruit and the kernels are pressed to produce the palm oil.

PALM OIL’S PURPOSE

Palm oil is ubiquitous, found in many products across the globe. It is included in the formulation of
things from lipsticks to packaged cookies to detergent, and its presence cannot be replicated by any
other similar vegetable oils. Palm oil offers a high melting point, a neutral taste and smell, a creamy
texture, and moisturizing properties, along with plenty of other great advantages that can transform
the qualities of a product. Especially because similar oils cannot be produced at the same rate as
palm oil because of its high yield, it would be increasingly difficult to replace and replicate what palm
oil does for the formulations it is added to.

PALM DONE RIGHT

The process of growing, harvesting, manufacturing, and distributing palm oil is a necessary one for
the unique benefits of organic palm oil. Although the ethics of palm oil plantations and factories has
been called into question in recent years, it’s important to note that with transparency and
increased standards along the palm oil supply chain, the production of palm oil can be done with
ethical consumerism in mind. Interested in finding out about the people who are committing
themselves to enhanced sustainability and ethics in the palm oil industry? Discover Palm Done Right,
an organization dedicated to supporting people, animals, and the environment by improving
practices in palm oil production. Learn more about us and our community today!

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.), is a native of West Africa and popularly known as African oil palm
or red oil palm.

It is known to be the highest edible oil yielding perennial crop. It produces two distinct oils, i.e., palm
oil and palm kernel oil. Palm oil is derived from fleshy mesocarp of the fruit, which contains about
45-55% of oil. The palm kernel oil, obtained from the kernel of stony seed, is a potential source of
lauric oil. Oil palm is the crop of the present and future vegetable oil economy of world as well as
India.

Palm oil has good consumer acceptance as cooking medium because of its price advantage. It is a
good raw material for manufacturing oleo chemicals used in making soaps, candles, plasticizers etc.
It has also a variety of uses, ranging from edible oil, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals to bio-fuel and bio-
lubricant.

Distribution
It is grown extensively in South-East Asian countries, (Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea),
African countries, (Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Republic of Congo
and Zarie) and South American countries (Costa Rica, Panama, Columbia, British Guyana, Peru,
Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil). Malaysia, Indonesia and Nigeria are the leading producers of oil
palm.

Oil palm was introduced to India at National Royal Botanical Gardens, Kolkata during the year 1886.
The Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Sciences (MACS), Pune later introduced African dura
palms along canal bunds, home gardens and, to some extent, in forest lands near Pune during 1947
to 1959. Large scale planting of oil palm was launched from 1971 to 1984 in Kerala by Plantation
Corporation of Kerala Ltd. (subsequently taken over by Oil Pal India Ltd.) and Andaman Forest and
Plantation Development Corporation Ltd., in Little Andaman Islands of Andaman and Nicobar Islands
during 1976 to 1985.

In the year 2020, the Reassessment Committee of ICAR-IIOPR has conducted a study to assess the
potential area of Oil palm cultivation in the country including North-Eastern States and the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands. As per the report of Reassessment Committee, a total 22 States have been
identified with 27.99 lakh ha as having a potential area for Oil Palm cultivation in India.

Climatic requirements

Oil palm is a humid crop. Requires evenly distributed rainfall of 150mm/ month or
2500-4000mm/annum. Rainfall distribution in India is not even and adequate. Hence grow oil palm
under assured irrigation conditions by adopting recommended practices. Crop comes up well
between 29-33oC max. and 22-24oC min. temperatures and with bright sunlight for at least 5 hrs.
per day. Humidity of more than 80% is required to come up well.

Soils

Best-suited soils are moist, well-drained, deep, loamy alluvial soils, rich in organic matter with good
water permeability. At least one-meter depth of soil is required. Avoid highly alkaline, highly saline,
waterlogged and coastal sandy soils.

Cultivated variety

Tenera is the ruling hybrid and it is a cross between thick-shelled Dura and shell less Pisifera. Tenera
has a thin shell, medium to high mesocarp content and high oil content.

Planting

Best season for planting is June-December i.e., during monsoon. In case of planting during summer,
adequate irrigation, mulching and growing cover crops like sun hemp in the basin would help in
avoiding hot winds during summer. 12 -14 months old healthy seedlings with 1-1.3m height and 13
functional leaves are recommended for planting. While planting, 143 plants per hectare should be
maintained with a spacing of 9m x 9m x 9m (triangular planting). Planting should be done in pit size
of 60 cm x 60 cm x 60 cm (length, breadth and depth).

Apply 250g Di Ammonium Phosphate or 400g Single Super Phosphate, 50g Phorate and mix with the
soil at the base of the pit. Immediately after planting, form basin and give copious irrigation.
Irrigation management

Oil palm requires sufficient irrigation, as it is a fast growing crop with high productivity and biomass
production. Do not grow oil palm if assured and adequate irrigation facility is not available. For
grown up yielding palms of 3 years age and above, a minimum of 150 to 200 liters of water per day is
required. However, in older plantations during hot summer this quantity may be increased up to 300
lit.

Basin method of irrigation is to be taken up when irrigation water is not a constraint. Required
quantity of water is to be given at 4-5 days interval. Prepare irrigation channels in such a way that
the individual palms are connected separately by sub-channel. For light soils, frequent irrigation with
less water to be given. In heavy soils, irrigation interval can be longer.

Drip or Microjet irrigation method is practiced. If land is of undulated terrain, drip or micro sprinkler
irrigation can be advantageous. If drip irrigation is installed, four drippers are to be placed for each
palm. If each dripper discharges 8 liters of water per hour, 5 hr. of irrigation per day is sufficient to
discharge 160 lit/day. In case of micro sprinklers (180o or 360o ) one each on either side of the palm
can be installed. Drippers/jets should be periodically checked for proper discharge. Basins should be
adequately mulched and covered with soil, which will help to conserve moisture.

Fertilizer management

Oil palm is a gross feeder and demands a balanced and adequate supply of macro, secondary and
micronutrients for growth and yield. It is advised to apply fertilizers at every three months interval.

Fertilizer requirement of oil palm:

Four equal split doses of fertilizers are to be applied starting from June/July at three month interval.
For the newly planted crop, the first dose of fertilizer needs to be applied three months after
planting. Add 50-100 kg FYM or 100kg green manure per palm along with the second dose of
fertilizer application. Five kg neem cake/palm can also be applied. Broadcast the fertilizers around
the clean-weeded basin, about 50 cm away from the palm base and incorporate into the soil with
the help of fork. Irrigate the palms immediately after fertilizer application.

To calculate fertilizer for a crop, click here.

Basin management

During first year, basins of 1-m radius, second year 2- m radius, and the third year 3- m radius are to
be taken around the palm by removing; the soil from inside so that the soil will not accumulate at
the collar region. Basin area of oil palm represents its active root zone. Hence it must be kept clean
and weed free to avoid competition for nutrients and water.

Weeding

Take up regular weeding manually or with the use of only recommended herbicides. Use preferably
contact herbicides. Glyphosate (750ml/ha/ year or 17.5 ml/basin) is recommended for effective
weed control. Herbicide mixtures of Paraquat with Atrazine, Monuron and Diuron sprayed on
ground, twice a year can control the weeds, effectively.
Inter-cropping

Oil palm is a wide spaced perennial crop with a long juvenile period of 3 years. Inter and intra row
space can be used to generate income during the juvenile phase of the crop. Inter crop selected
should be compatible with the main crop and should not compete with oil palm for light, water and
nutrients. Any remunerative crop can be grown, but the most suitable crops are vegetables, banana,
flowers, tobacco, chillies, turmeric, ginger, pineapple etc. While growing inter crops in mature oil
palm gardens of 8- 12 years age or palms attained a height of 3 meters, intercrops should be able to
grow under partially shaded conditions and should not compete with oil palm for water, sunlight and
nutrients (eg. cocoa, pepper, heliconia and ginger lilly).

Do not cut the oil palm fronds. Do not tie oil palm fronds close to the stem for inter-cropping, which
will reduce photosynthetic activity. Do not plough close to the palm base, which will cut the
absorbing roots and thereby reduce intake of water and nutrients. Maximum number of green
leaves should be retained on the palm.

Flowering

Oil palm comes to flowering 14-18 months after planting. It produces both male and female flowers
separately on the same palm. Male and female phases do occur naturally in consequent cycles in a
palm.

Ablation

Ablation is the removal of male and female flowers produced in the early stages of plantation. This
enables the plant to gain adequate stem girth, vigour and develop adequate root system. Flowering
starts from 14th to 18th month after planting. Start ablation immediately after the appearance of
inflorescences on the palms. They can be removed easily by hand pulling or using the tool developed
at ICAR-Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research. Ablation can be extended up to 2-1/2 to 3 years
depending upon the plant growth and vigour.

Pollination

Oil palm is a highly cross-pollinated crop. Wind and insects assist pollination, but wind pollination is
not adequate. Effective pollinating insects like Elaeidobius kamerunicus helps in good pollination and
fruit set. Release of this weevil after 2-1/2 year of planting is advisable. If the plants are not having
good girth and vigour, release the weevils after 3 years.

Mulching

Mulching of oil palm basins is essential to conserve moisture as well as to control weeds. Mulching
can be done with dried leaves, male flowers, coconut husk, empty bunches etc.

Harvesting

While harvesting a stalk length of 5 cm alone should be left. Harvesting should be done at 10-12 days
interval. During rainy season, harvesting should be done at closer interval of 6-7 days as ripening is
hastened after hot summer. In young plantations, we get more bunches with less bunch weight and
in adult plantations the bunch weight is more but the bunch number is less.
Yield

At yield stabilizing period (4-8 years) : 12t/ha

At yield stabilized period (>8 years) : 20t/ha

Source : ICAR-Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research -Pedavegi West Godavari Dt Andhra Pradesh.

Related resources

 Videos on Oilpalm cultivation

 Oil Palm Crop Calendar - Practices To Be Adopted

| Home | Nursery Techniques | Deficiencies & Disorders | Fertilizer Schedule | Plant Protection | Photo Bank | Conta

Horticulture :: Plantation Crops :: Oilpalm

OILPALM (Elaeis guineensis)

Palmae

A Map of
World
Palm Oil
Output
 Palm
Oil Plan
Prod tatio
uctio n
n

Fruit
of Oilp
the alm
Oilp Parts
alm

Varieties – Dura, Tenera, Pisifora

 Types

Climate: Temperature is 210 C to 320C, annual rainfall - 200 cm and relative humidity - 75 – 100 %. Altitude – 450 -900

Soil: Moist deep, loamy soils, rich in humus with good water permeability are suitable. Soil pH - 4 - 6

Nursery techniques: Fruits are separated from the bunch. Remove the exocarp and mesocarp with knife. Dry the seed
days and stored for 3-9 months. Seeds are soaked in water for 5 days (changing the water daily) and spread out to dry
X 13 cm size polythene bags filled with top soil, sand and well decomposed cattle manure in equal proportions and pla
12 days. Apply fertilizer mixture containing 15:15:6 of NPK @ 8 g in 5 litres of water for 100 seedlings

Nursery

Planting: Pit size 60 cm3. Planting can be done in triangular system with spacing of 9 m x 9 m x 9 m, accommodating 1
planting.

Mulching: Empty bunches, male flowers, coconut husk, sugarcane trash can be used as mulch.

Irrigation : Yielding palm of 3 years age and above – minimum of 150 litres/day.

Drip irrigation: 5 hrs of irrigation per day using 4 drippers per palm @ 8 litres of water /hr/dripper.

Ablation: Removal of all inflorescences during the initial three years to gain adequate stem girth, vigour and root syste
out the young inflorescence.

Manuring: For five year old palm, apply 50 kg compost of FYM or grenn leaves may be applied.

Fertilizer schedule: N: P: K : Mg So4 (g/palm/year)

1st year = 400:200:400:125
2nd year = 800:400:800:250
3rd year onwards = 1200:600:1200:500 (2 equal split doses on July- Aug & Dec - Jan)

Fertilizer
Applicatio
n

Nutrients - functions and deficiency symptoms

The effect of major nutrients on growth and yield of oil palm has been studied in most of the oil palm growing countri
a) Nitrogen: In oil palm, characteristic yellowing symptoms are developed under N deficiency conditions. Nitrogen is f
the palm. It increases the leaf production rate, leaf area, net assimilation rate, number of bunches and bunch weight.
production of male inflorescence and decreases female inflorescence thereby reducing the sex ratio.

b) Phosphorus: In oil palm seedlings, P deficiency causes the older leaves to become dull and assume a pale olive gree
premature desiccation of older leaves occurs. Phosphorus application increases the bunch production rate, bunch wei
sex ratio. However, lack of response to P due to P fixation in soils is very common in the tropics. Eventhough the main
has not been significant in most studies, it gives a positive interaction with nitrogen and potassium.

c) Potassium: When potassium is deficient, growth as well as yield is retarded and it is translocated from mature leave
mature leaves become chlorotic and necrotic. Confluent orange spotting is the main K deficiency condition in oil palm
through yellow to orange, develop and enlarge both between and across the leaflet, veins and fuse to form compound
spots is common, but irregular. Mid crown yellowing is another prominent K deficiency condition of the palm in which
become pale in colour followed by terminal and marginal necrosis. A narrow band along the midrib usually remains gr
become short and the palm has an unthrifty appearance with much premature withering.
Potassium removal is large compared to the normal exchangeable K content in most top soils. It is mostly required for
maximum number of female inflorescences, increased bunch weight and also for increasing the total dry matter produ

d) Magnesium: In adult oil palm and in seedlings in the field, severe Mg deficiency symptoms are most striking and ha
most leaves are dead, those above them show a gradation of colouring from bright orange on the lower leaves to fain
youngest leaves do not show any discolouration. The most typical Mg-deficiency symptom is the shading effect in whi
while the exposed portion of the same leaflet is chlorotic. Heavy rates of K applications induce Mg-deficiency, particul
Among the secondary nutrients, calcium and sulphur and probably chlorine, may not pose much problems to oilpalm

e) Micronutrients: Micronutrient elements, iron, manganese, copper and zinc are not generally found limiting in the n
deficiency is occasionally found on young palms in the field showing a reduction of leaf area in certain leaves producin
extreme reduction of leaf area and bunching and reduction in the number of leaflets and ‘fish-bone’ leaf. The ‘fish-bon
projections. Leaf malformations including ‘hook leaf’ and corrugated leaflets are some other associated symptoms. So
palm, depending on age, and severity of symptoms is practiced for correcting the malady.

Maintenance of paths
In young plantation, the maintenance of paths is important for inspection and in later years for harvesting. This is carr
ring weeding.

Ablation
The bunches produced initially will be very small and have low oil content. Removal of such inflorescences is called ab
during the initial three years is found to improve vegetative growth of young palms so that regular harvesting can com
is done at monthly interval by pulling out the young inflorescence using gloves or with the help of devices such as narr
resistance capacity of young palms by improving shoot and root growth especially in low production areas where dry

Leaf pruning: Severe pruning will adversely affect both growth and yield of palm, cause abortion of female flowers an
that the palms aged 4 – 7 years should retain 6-7 leaves per spiral (48-56 leaves), those aged 8 – 14 years 5-6 leaves p
should have 4-5 leaves per spiral (32 – 40 leaves).

Cover cropping: Pueraria phaeseoloides, Calopogonium mueconoides, Centrosema prutascens, Mimosa invisa, Mucan

Insect pollination in oil palm

The oil palm, hitherto though to be wind pollinated, has been now proved to be an a insect pollinated species. From W
of pollinating weevils were reported. Occurence of Eldeidobius kamerunicus in the oil palm plantations of Kerala was
and got established in little Andamans during 1986. The weevils are dark brown in colour. Adult weevils feed on the an
flowers and larva feeds on the spent flowers. Life-cycle is completed within 11 to 13 days. Males live longer than fema
the receptivity of the male and female inflorescences. It was roughly estimated that 40 palms in a grove might be the
population of pollinators to pollinate. All are receptive female inflorescences. The weevils carry maximum pollen durin
thorax, legs etc. are the main sites of pollen land.
Introduction of weevil in India increased the fruit let from 36.8 percent to 56.1 percent resulting in 40 per cent increas
potential was as much as to cent percent with 57 percent increase in FFB weight.

Plant Protection

Pests:
Rhinoceros beetle: Trap the adults with fermented castor cake or pheromone bait. Use Bio agents like virus (Baculovi
Treat the compost pit with Carbaryl or Quinalphos @ 0.025 % to kill the young stages of pest.

Red palm weevil: Removal of damaged and rotten bunches and apply tar to the wounds and cuts on the stem portion
pheromone baits.

Diseases:
Stem wet rot: Removal of infected portion and protective covering with Carbendazim (1%) paste.

Bud rot disease: The affected crown should be removed and drenched with Carbendazim or Thiram @ 0.1 %.
Basal stem rot: Removal and destruction of diseased palms. Apply 5 kg of Neem cake per year per tree.Root feeding w
water per tree per year.

Harvesting: First harvest can be done 3.5 to 4 years after planting. Few ripe fruits are loose/fall off indicates the bunch
harvesting is followed. If palms become taller (from 10th year onwards), then harvesting is done by hook. Harvesting r
avoid over ripening of bunches. Harvesting rounds of 10-12 days are generally practiced. During rainy season harvestin

Ideal
stage of
harvesting
in Oil
palm

Yield: 25 – 30 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches/ hectare.

Harv
Bun
estin
ches
g
Single Bunch Fruits
31.08.2021

 CROP CULTIVATION

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Oil Palm Plantation: Cultivation And Management

Palm oil is no longer a product of mere gathering by people who rely on rainforests for a living. Oil
palm cultivation has turned into a lucrative and expanding business. Yet, like any business, it
requires patience, reasonable management, monitoring, and a strong producer’s background.

Oil palm plantations embrace subtropical and tropical latitudes, providing the best climate for the
crop to thrive. Growth and production of oil palm are popular in Nigeria, India, Equador,
Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Thailand, etc. Alongside Indonesia, vast oil palm
plantations in Malaysia rank top among global market suppliers.

Table Of Contents

What Oil Palm Plantations Imply

Oil palm is the best oil-containing crop in terms of yield capacity, even though planting oil palms
won’t give immediate returns. The crop’s productivity depends on tree species, soil type, climatic
conditions, oil palm plantation management, and cultivation practices.

In fact, the cost inputs during the first thirty months (prior to the first harvesting) are rewarded
with up to 25 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per ha in mature trees. Plantations give about four
tonnes of crude palm oil per ha, which is eight times more productive than sunflower oil yield.

The commodity is extracted from the plant’s pulp and kernel, yet not each tree is equally valuable
for growing. The oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) represents the Elaeis genus belonging to the
Arecaceae family and originating from West Africa. There are three main crop types for cultivation in
plantations:

 dura – with a thick shell (2-8 mm);

 pisifera – with no shell;

 tenera – a hybrid of the above two.

Tenera is the most commercially valuable type, having a thinner shell and a bigger kernel, which is
the most precious growing quality for plantations. Crop cultivation is performed mainly close to the
equator in Latin America, West Africa, and Southeastern Asia. Growing an oil palm is a popular
plantation business in Malaysia and India.
Oil Palm Plantations In Malaysia

Presently, palm-growing business in the country aims at growing trees for oil. Yet, the development
of oil palm in Malaysia in 1870 started for decorative purposes first. Over a span of time, Malaysia’s
oil palm plantation growth significantly increased. In 2018, the country contributed 20 million metric
tons of oil palm (27%) to 72 metric tons of global cultivation.

Malaysia jointly with Indonesia currently shares 84% of the total commodity supply in the world.

Oil Palm Cultivation In India

On the Indian continent, plantations grow in fifteen states including Goa, West Bengal, Assam,
Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Andra Pradesh, and more. Oil palm tree cultivation in India embraces an
area of nearly 50,000 ha, providing employment and domestic vegetable oil source for local people.

Why Do Oil Palm Plantations Continue To Grow?

The business attracts growers not solely because it yields well but because it sells well, too. The
cultivation of the oil palm is spurred by the high demand for its product – palm oil, an ingredient of
many daily-use items for multiple purposes. Indeed, its global production in plantations accounted
only for 2 million metric tons in 1970.

In the marketing year of 2020/2021, the figure jumped up to 72 million metric tons , which
constituted 31,4% of the world’s oil and fat production. The rise is explained with the expansion of
its traditional applications in pharmaceutics, beauty, personal, and home care to newly discovered
possibilities from human nutrition to bioenergy technical use. Besides, kernel cake is suitable for
cattle feeding, with high protein content and oil residues.

Apart from cultivation productivity and high commodity demand worldwide, plantation best
practices for growing oil palm offer a number of extra agricultural benefits:

 relatively high pest and weed resistance;

  possibility of intercropping in cultivation;

 all-year-round harvesting in plantations;

 monthly income (during the fruit-bearing stage);

 absence of irrigation under sufficient rainfall conditions.

The above-mentioned advantages make the plantation industry rather favorable for many to enter.

Guidelines On Oil Palm Cultivation

Even though planting the crop is highly efficient, growing it does require certain knowledge and
efforts before its producers can benefit from plantation yields. First, the plant needs specific soil and
climate conditions. Second, the growth of oil palm starts after land and seed preparation. Third, the
cultivation method for oil palm includes pest and weed control, irrigation and fertilization, ablation
of early inflorescences, and harvesting.

The economic lifespan of the tree in plantations is rather long and makes 25-30 years. In wild nature,
oil palms can grow up to 200 years, but they get too tall and reduce yields, which complicates
harvesting and, thus, their commercial use.

EOSDA Crop Monitoring from EOSDA helps control plantations continuously at all oil palm growth
stages: from sowing to harvesting and in-between. The platform’s Field activity log keeps the records
of all cultivation activities as well as sowing and harvesting dates. This way, oil palm producers can
keep an eye on all their plantation groups and schedule all necessary events.

EOSDA Crop Monitoring

Access high-resolution satellite images to ensure effective fields management!

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Here are some basic cultivation requirements and tips on how to grow oil palm plantations.
Favourable Climate For Oil Palm Tree Growth

The plant is tropical, so it grows best in stable-warm areas with sufficient soil moisture all year
round. The optimal temperatures for the cultivation of oil palm are 30–32°C (86–89.6°F) for 80 days
minimum. Temperatures below 20°C (68°F) and above 40°C (104°F) are critical for growing and
adversely affect crop production.

Proper development of oil palm in plantations is secured with at least 5-6 hours of bright daily
sunshine and 75-100% humidity.

As for precipitations, the plant thrives under evenly distributed rainfalls of 2,500-4,000 mm per
year. Under a lack or uneven distribution of rainfalls in plantations, it is necessary to ensure water
supply with irrigation.

Weather analytics from EOSDA Crop Monitoring allows tracking not only the weather to date but
also historical weather patterns in plantations. Historical weather data is useful for the plantation
owners who plan to grow the crop for the first time in the specific area or those who plan to buy
ready plantations. Historical weather will help evaluate:

 favorable climate conditions for plantation growing;

 costs needed to compensate for lacking or abundant precipitation and temperature;

 forecasts for a general shift of meteorological patterns in the region;

 how these factors will affect the plantation yield as such because it may be more reasonable
to grow another crop in the specific field instead.
Historical weather data for oil palm field available on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Suitable Soils For Oil Palm Plantations

The best soil types for the crop’s cultivation are loamy or alluvial well-drained earths:

 at least one meter deep for root development;

 rich in organic matter;

 with pH 4.0 to 6-8.0;

 having sufficient soil moisture.

Soil salinization, alkalinization, or waterlogging are negative for oil palm tree growth. Since soil
conditions matter, farmers are advised to perform soil testing to check area suitability before
planting.

Preparation Of Seeds In Oil Palm Cultivation

Oil palms for plantations are typically propagated with seeds taken from fruits. Seed treatment is a
responsible stage in oil palm cultivation and management because improperly prepared seeds will
germinate after a couple of years due to long dormancy time. Dried for about 2.5 months in stable
hot rooms (40°C) and soaked for 4-5 days in daily changed water, seeds are supposed to germinate
in about 12 days (3-3.5 months after extraction).

Immediately after germination, sprouts are planted into plastic (polyethylene) bags or containers
with equal ratios of topsoil, sand, and properly decomposed cattle manure. Sprouts for cultivation
remain in the bags for about 4-5 months (until they develop a bifid leaf). Then, bifid-leaved sprouts
continue in a plantation nursery, where they grow further for about a year. Finally, seedlings with
about twelve-fifteen leaves and at least one meter high are mature enough and ready for growing in
palm oil plantations.

The oil palm tree has a stem and leaves with no branching. It grows from the sole bud on the stem. If
the bud is damaged, the plant is lost.
Field Preparation, Spacing, And Planting

Oil palm cultivation needs soil preparation before planting. The plantation soil should be fertilized
with well-decomposed organic matter and cleaned from weeds. Plantation tilling improves the soil
structure.

The optimal timing for planting is the rainy season from June to September. This way, plants can
establish their root systems before the period of droughts.

How to plant an oil palm tree? To get a good yield from cultivation, oil palm trees must be planted at
the right density. The plant sprouts are spaced in a triangular pattern with enough spacing for
growing (9x9x9 m) in pits about 60 cm3. This planting method allows placing around 145 plants per
hectare.

With EOSDA Crop Monitoring, growers can know the exact area of the plantation when adding it to
the platform. Also, they can use the elevation map feature to evaluate the number of seedlings for
cultivation in plantations correctly.
Elevation map of oil palm field on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Benefits Of Intercropping And Cover Cropping In Plantations

During the first three years after planting, the land use can be intensified
with intercropping or cover cropping. Thus, plantation owners can get additional yields and cattle
forage prior to the cash crop will fruit. However, operations and movement of oil palm plantation
machinery for intercropping must not disturb the cash crop’s roots.

Another point to consider in cultivation is that not all plants are suitable to neighbor with palms.
Plantation intercrop plants must tolerate shade and not compete for nutrients, sunlight, and
moisture with the cash crop. Besides, damaging plant fronds or pruning in oil palm plantations
should be avoided because the more leaves a tree has, the more yields it can give. Suitable
intercrops for plantation cultivation are pineapple, ginger, turmeric, flowers, vegetables, banana, or
tobacco. Leguminous plants are an additional source of nitrogen fixation for cash crop growth.

Typical cover crop plants for oil palm plantations are Mucana, Centrosema prutascens, Pueraria
phaeseoloides, Mimosa invisa, Calopogonium mueconoides, etc.

Oil Palm Cultivation Water Needs And Irrigation

The plant can resist several-month droughts, yet the yields will significantly drop. For this reason, oil
palms grow under natural rainfalls, with compensating irrigation when rain-fed soil moisture in
plantations is not enough. Each tree requires about 150-200 mm daily, and mature plants take even
more. Several common precision irrigation methods satisfy the crop’s water needs: micro-
sprinklers, basin, and drip irrigation. The last one is the most economical and thus beneficial for
plant cultivation.

Soil moisture and irrigation management in plantations are easier with EOSDA Crop Monitoring. To
assess soil moisture and irrigation needs, it is possible to use the Normalized Difference Moisture
Index (NDMI) available on the platform. The NDMI describes the crop’s water stress level and
recognizes the plantation areas with water stress issues.
NDMI map of oil palm field on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Mulching In Oil Palm Cultivation

Base mulching helps retain soil moisture and creates a favorable microclimate for plant growing.
Additionally, it suppresses weeds in oil palm plantations. Male flowers, coconut husk, empty
bunches, straw, leaves can serve as natural mulch material in cultivation.

Pollination In Oil Palm Plantations

The plant’s pollination occurs with the help of Elaeidobius kamerunicus and wind. However, mere
wind pollination is not enough; this is why the insects are released on plantations after 2.5-3 years of
tree growing.

The Elaeidobius kamerunicus weevils live for about 11-13 days. Adult insects feed on another
filament, putting eggs into male flowers of the plant. The food for Elaeidobius kamerunicus larvae is
spent flowers of plants.

Flowering And The Necessity Of Ablation

The oil palm has male and female flowers that are cross-pollinated. Both male and female flowers
grow in separate inflorescence spikes on the same plant. There are only male flowers for several
months at first, and then there are only female ones. Oil palm fruit development happens in
fertilized female flowers of the plant.

The palm oil tree bursts into bloom at the age of 14-18 months. Yet, for better growing and strong
vegetation, it is necessary to cut or pull both male and female flowers off the trees during the first 2-3
years of plant cultivation.

Weed Management In The Oil Palm Plantation

Weed species in oil palm groves are quite diverse: a topic study in Central Ghana counted 136
varieties . Among others, the list of common weeds in oil palm plantations includes:

 Chromolaena odorata,

 Clidemia hirta,

 Lantana camara,

 Aspillia Africana,

 Mimosa pudica,

 Panicum maximum,

 Melastoma malabathricum,

 Imperata cylindrical,

 Mallotus oppositifolius,
  Dicranopteris linearis,

 Nephrolepis,

 Stenochlaena palustris,

 Melanthera scandens,

 Ischaemum muticum,

 Paspalum conjugatum,

 Chloris barbata, and more.

The most invasive common weeds in oil palm plantations belong to Poaceae and Asteraceae families,
competing for sunlight, moisture, and nutrients and impairing crop growing.

The common methods of weed control in oil palm plantations suggest physical removal by hand
or chemical spraying.

Protection Against Pests Or Infestations In The Development Of Oil Palm

The plant typically suffers from rhinoceros beetles, bagworms, red palm weevils, mealybugs.
Widespread oil palm tree diseases are rots and wilts:

 stem wet rot,

 basal stem rot,

 bud rot disease,

 Pestalotiopsis leaf spot,

 oil palm wilt, and others.

Even though pruning negatively impacts crop growing, infected and damaged plants must be fully or
partially removed.

Modern disease and pest management methods highly advise avoiding chemical application in
plantations. In particular, the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil System (ISPO) insists on opting for
natural cultivation remedies to kill pests. Biological control in oil palm plantations suggests
introducing predators and parasitoids combined with pheromones and plant-based lures (e.g.,
fermented castor cake). Some successful cultivation examples are as follows:

 fungi Metarhizium anisopliae with lure eradicate rhinoceros beetles;

 baculoviruses and Bacillus thuringiensis control nettle caterpillars;

 Bacillus thuringiensis combats bagworms and nettle caterpillars.

Efficient pest and disease control in plantations strongly depends on early problem
identification and timely response. Plantation areas having an extremely low NDVI rate may indicate
issues with pests or plant diseases. With EOSDA Crop Monitoring, farmers can check their
plantations remotely on a daily basis and always be aware of any changes in vegetation conditions.

Besides, EOSDA Crop Monitoring facilitates regular inspection and upkeep of oil palm plantations.
Growers can use the Scouting feature to assign tasks to scouts, select the exact problem area, collect
plantation data with photos and schedule an effective plan using the Field activity log.
Scouting task based on NDVI map on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Another helpful feature on the software is the Field leaderboard that arranges all the added
plantations according to the latest available satellite image and the most negative NDVI value
change.
Field Leaderboard feature on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Oil Palm Plantation Fertilizer Guidelines

Efficient plant cultivation is secured with a sufficient supply of macro and micronutrients, including
nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, etc. With a lack of nutrients, adequate growing is
impossible.

Fertilization practices for oil palm plantations recommend nutrient applications in equal splits,
sourcing from farmyard and green mature, neem cake, and synthetic products. Common ways to
provide nutrients in the crop’s cultivation are soil incorporation, scattering, or fertigation. Oil palm
plantation fertilizer requirements differ depending on the tree age, with bigger amounts for mature
plants.

Nitrogen

N is responsible for overall plant growing and fruit formation, including leaf health and the bunch
number and size. Oil palms under nitrogen deficiency reveal chlorotic leaves. However, nitrogen
toxicity in cultivation is not beneficial for the plants either since it increases the number of male
flowers distorting the inflorescence sex ratio in palms.

Phosphorus

P boosts the number of female flowers and bunch weight. Plant fronds under phosphorus deficiency
acquire olive-green hues and premature drying in older foliage. P applications are more favorable for
plant cultivation when combined with nitrogen and potassium.

A research on the fertigation effect on palm oil growing on medium black soils in Karnataka in India
concluded that NPK applications in oil palm cultivation of 1200:600:1200 vs. 300:150:300
g/plant/year boosted fresh fruit bunch yields (19.11 kg/bunch).

Potassium

K also boosts the formation of female flowers and bunch size and weight. Under potassium
deficiency, older foliage of palm plants suffers from chlorosis and necrosis due to nutrient allocation
to newer leaves. The typical signs of P deficiency in plantations are orange spots on plant foliage,
starting from pale green to yellow, spreading further on the leaf area and leading to necrosis.
Another prominent symptom to signal a lack of potassium in cultivation is mid-crown chlorosis. As a
rule, leaves are green in the midrib area but suffer from marginal necrosis. New leaves grow short. In
general, oil palm plantations look unhealthy and wither prematurely.

Magnesium

Mg deficiency in oil palm cultivation is recognizable through leaf discoloration, with bright-orange
older leaves and pale green younger ones. In the newest plant foliage, there is no discrepancy in
color. Plantation owners can also understand magnesium deficiency in growing by chlorosis in the
sun-exposed leaf parts while shaded ones still remain deep green.
Micronutrients

The crop doesn’t typically suffer from deficiency of Fe, Zn, Mn, or Cu in acid soils. However, a lack of
boron may cause foliage malformations, including small, “fish-bone”, stiff, and hooked leaves.

Plant nutritional disorders in oil palm cultivation can be corrected with adequate fertilization,
depending on the tree age and severity of symptoms. This is why fertilizer inputs on plantations
must be estimated with sufficient precision to achieve the highest possible yields from oil palm
growing. Vegetation indices, as well as vegetation and productivity maps on EOSDA Crop Monitoring,
prove useful here.

With the analysis of NDRE and RECI indices, it is convenient to estimate nitrogen shortage or
requirements for additional fertilizer application for healthy oil palm growth. Generating vegetation
maps based on these indices makes it possible to adjust nitrogen fertilizer rates in each plantation
zone. Productivity maps are used to assess the long-term fertilization effects of potassium and
phosphorus applications. However, the possibilities to analyze plant needs on EOSDA Crop
Monitoring go beyond the above-listed elements. Vegetation maps of different indices and
productivity maps allow understanding and calculating the amounts of other nutrients as well.
Productivity map on EOSDA Crop Monitoring to allocate fertilizers precisely.

Yielding And Harvesting In The Cultivation Method For Oil Palm

Oil palm growers can expect yields after three years of growing. To correctly determine picking time
and avoid over-ripening are essential for palm oil quality. Harvesting begins when 5-8 fruits drop
loose. Ripe fruit is yellow or orange in color, and orange palm oil seeps outside when pressed with a
finger. Fruit bunches are cut manually by knife, chisel, or sickle. When plants grow too tall, fruit
gathering is assisted with a hook.

Harvesting machines are a more productive and less labor-consuming option to manual picking in
plantations. In fact, complete machine harvesters are attributed to nearly double productivity as
compared to manual cutting with buffalo carts for transportation. At the same time, the equipment
required for oil palm cultivation and management is more expensive than human labor in terms of
maintenance and fuel. However, it will give decent returns in the long run.

Harvesting rounds in plantations are repeated about every 10 to 14 days, which is easier to schedule
and control with neatly arranged records in the Field activity log on the EOSDA Crop Monitoring
platform.
Field activity log on EOSDA Crop Monitoring for planning ag operations.

Sustainable Oil Palm Development

Growing the crop in plantations (f.e. oil palm or avocado farming) cannot be completely
environmentally friendly; still, its negative cultivation effects can be minimized.

In 2004, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) obliged manufacturers to switch to
sustainable sources with zero palm oil deforestation. It is clear that huge companies cannot control
thousands of their sources in place for primary forest cutting. However, they can successfully
monitor oil palm plantation land-use change with remote sensing.

Another EOS product, EOSDA Forest Monitoring, is good at detecting deforestation. This information
can be used as:

 a “proof” of zero-deforestation compliance (if the plantations do not take any primary forest
areas);

 a “proof” of oil palm plantations expansion reduction at the expense of primary forests.

Plantation owners must also contribute to environmental sustainability by improving cultivation

practices:

 avoid rainforest clearing;

 rehabilitate abandoned and infertile lands for agricultural oil palm plantation use;

 restrain from slash-and-burn practices in cultivation;

 protect the environment and encourage tropical biodiversity (e.g., by growing wildlife
corridors nearby or in-between plantations);

 operate plantations ethically and legally;

 provide decent working conditions for their employees;

 optimize plantation performance with sustainable growing methods (e.g., with more
productive seeds);

 minimize chemical applications in cultivation with precision agriculture techniques.

Thus, oil palm plantations cannot be excluded from the global supply chain; still, there are ways of
sustainable farming. Industry sustainability can be achieved through governmental restrictions and
the joint efforts of palm oil growers, manufactures, and end consumers. Satellite technologies and
analytics facilitate corporate social responsibility by contributing to business transparency and
effective yet sustainable cultivation.

References
 1. Saifuddin, N.M. & Salman, Bello & Hussein, Refal & Ong, Mei. (2017). Microwave pyrolysis of
lignocellulosic biomass––a contribution to power Africa. Energy, Sustainability and Society.
7. 10.1186/s13705-017-0126-z.↑Journal article

2. Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2021) - Forests and Deforestation. Published online at
OurWorldInData.org.↑Online source

3. M. Shahbandeh. Palm oil: global production volume 2012/13-2021/22. statista.com↑Online

source

4. Oil palm. plantvillage.psu.edu↑Online source

5. Paul K. Essandoh, Frederick A. Armah, etc. Floristic composition and abundance of weeds in
an oil palm plantation in Ghana. ARPN Journal of Agricultural and Biological Science. Vol. 6,
no. 1, January 2011.↑Journal article

6. Priwiratama, Hari & Susanto, Agus & Prasetyo, Agus. (2018). Biological control of oil palm
insect pests in Indonesia.↑Journal article

7. Reddi, Sanjeevraddi & H.P, Maheswarappa & Chandravathi, B & Patil, D. (2016). Effect of
fertigation on yield and economics of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.). Karnataka Journal of
Agricultural Sciences. 29. 200-202.↑Journal article

8. Mohd Khalid, Mohd Ramdhan & SHUIB, RAHIM. (2014). Field evaluation of harvesting
machines for tall oil palms. Journal of oil palm research. 26. 125-132.↑Journal article

About the author:

Kateryna SergieievaSenior Scientist at EOS Data Analytics

Kateryna Sergieieva joined EOS Data Analytics in 2016. She has a Ph.D. in information technologies
and a 15-year experience in remote sensing.

Kateryna is a Senior Scientist at EOSDA. Her specialty is the development of technologies for satellite
monitoring of natural and artificial landscapes and surface feature change detection. Kateryna is an
expert in the analysis of the state of mining areas, agricultural lands, water objects, and other
features based on multi-layer spatial data.

Kateryna is an Associate Professor conducting research at the Dnipro University of Technology. She
is the author of over 60 scientific papers.

Here's more about crop cultivation:

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 How To Grow Wheat Efficiently On A Large Farm

 Growing Soybeans: Best Planting & Cultivation Practices

  Growing Rice: Sowing, Cultivating, And Harvesting

 Growing Corn: How To Plant, Care, & Harvest Fruitfully

 How To Grow Sugar Cane: From Planting To Harvesting

VIEW FULL LIST

123

Introduction

Oilpalm is used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil which is an edible vegetable
oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. Oil palm cultivation
assumes significance for augmenting the indigenous availability of edible oil as it is the highest oil
yielding perennial crop with 4-5 MT of palm oil and 0.4-0.5 MT palm kernel oil (PKO) per Ha. In
comparative terms, yield of palm oil is 5 times the yield of edible oil obtainable from traditional
oilseeds.

This perennial crop has an economic life span of 30 years. Nearly 70 percent of palm oil is used in
foods like chocolate and ice cream, bread and potato chips. At the same time, industrial uses,
including the production of bio fuels and cosmetics, is constantly expanding and now accounts for
nearly 30 percent of total consumption.

The world edible oil production over last 4 years from 2017-18 to 2020-21 has increased by 4.87% to
199.33 MMT of which Palm Oil is the major edible oil produced in the world and accounts for 36.71%
(73.17 MMT) followed by soybean oil which accounts for 30.32% (60.44 MMT) of the world edible oil
production in 2020-21. The total edible oil production is estimated to increase by 4.07% to 207.44
MMT in 2021-22.
The world edible oil production over last 4 years from 2017-18 to 2020-21 has increased by 4.87% to
199.33 MMT of which Palm Oil is the major edible oil produced in the world and accounts for 36.71%
(73.17 MMT) followed by soybean oil which accounts for 30.32% (60.44 MMT) of the world edible oil
production in 2020-21. The total edible oil production is estimated to increase by 4.07% to 207.44
MMT in 2021-22.

Palm Oil has the best land use efficiency

compared to other edible oils produced in
the world at 3.13 MT per Ha Vs 0.47 MT per
Ha of Soy Oil. It has less land usage.

The consumption of edible oil in India is at 23.46 MMT with a per capita consumption of 16 kg/
person, India’s edible oil production stands at 8.97 MMT in 2020-21 and it is assumed that the
consumption may touch 30 million ton by 2025. The deficit of 14.49 MMT of edible oil is being met
through imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (ITC Trade map) spending huge
foreign exchange. Out of the total imports, Palm oil accounts for 58.03% i.e., 8.45 MMT of the total
imports of 14.49 MMT in 2020-21.
 We are still only a minute portion in terms
of Palm Oil in the total edible oil production
in India. India is dominated by Mustard oil
production (2.85 MMT) followed by
Soybean Oil (1.69 MMT), Cotton Oil (1.41
MMT), Groundnut Oil (1.28 MMT), Palm Oil
(0.24 MMT) in 2020-21.

Palm oil is one of nine major oils traded in the global edible oil and fat market. At present, it is the
largest source of vegetable oil in the world. The world Oil palm area is 241.34 lakh Ha and
production is 731.68 lakh MT during 2020 (USDA). Five countries mainly Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria,
Thailand and Columbia account for over 90% of the world’s total production of FFBs. Small amount
of oil palm areas are grown in many countries, but the global market is dominated by only two
countries i.e., Indonesia (119.50 lakh Ha/435 lakh MTs and Malaysia (54 lakh Ha.,/185 lakh MTs)
during 2020 (USDA). Together Indonesia and Malaysia account for over 85% to 90% of world
production of Crude Palm Oil. With regard to Palm Oil consumption globally, Indonesia stands 1st in
consumption with 150.25 lakh MTs per annum followed by India with 87.55 lakh MTs per annum
during 2020 (USDA). The details of major countries consuming Palm Oil as detailed:

Palm Oil Consumption

Sl. No. Country
(Lakh MT) in 2020
 1 Indonesia 150.25

2 India 87.55

3 China 67.8

4 EU-27 68.05

5 Malaysia 34.35

6 Pakistan 34

7 Thailand 22.27

8 Bangladesh 16.1

9 United States 13.96

10 Nigeria 16.65

The major Palm Oil importing countries are

India, China, European Union, Pakistan, USA &
Bangladesh and India is the major palm oil
importing country @ 16.29% of world share
(USDA).

Oil palm was introduced to India at National Royal Botanical Gardens, Kolkata during the year 1886.
The Maharashtra Association for Cultivation of Sciences (MACS), Pune later introduced African dura
palms along canal bunds, home gardens and, to some extent, in forest lands near Pune during 1947
to 1959. Large scale planting of oil palm was launched from 1971 to 1984 in Kerala by Plantation
Corporation of Kerala Ltd. (subsequently taken over by Oil Palm India Ltd.) and Andaman Forest and
Plantation Development Corporation Ltd., in Andaman and Nicobar Islands during 1976 to 1985. Oil
palm, as a small holders’ crop under irrigated conditions grown under varied agro-climatic
conditions, is totally new to India.
 In the last two decades, down trend is observed in consumption of edible oils like mustard, ground
nut and other vegetable oils whereas the consumption of palm Oil is increased by 6.99% as shown
below:

India's Edible oil consumption profile (Lakh tonnes)

% of increase/decrease in
Oil 2001-02 2020-21
consumption

Palm 29.44 (33.12%) 87.55 (40.11%) 6.99

Soyabean 22.58 (25.39%) 53.27 (24.41%) -0.98

Sunflower 3.09 (3.48%) 24.50 (11.22%) 7.74

Mustard 17.21 (19.36%) 26.80 (12.28) -7.08

Cottonseed 4.43 (4.98%) 14.05 (6.44%) 1.46

Groundnut 12.16 (13.67%) 12.10 (5.54%) -8.13

Total 88.91 (100.0%) 218.27 (100%)

Oil palm has been established as a successful crop in a number of states in the country and at
present, the area under oil palm cultivation is 8.85lakh ac., with Crude Palm Oil production of 2.82
lakh MTs against the requirement of 87.55 lakh MT. About of 90 to 100 lakh MTs of Crude Palm Oil
and Olein is being imported from other countries. To attain self-sufficiency under Oil palm in India,
an additional area of 70 lakh acres is required. The total potential area of Reassessment Committee
2020 is about 70 lakh acres.

The major oil palm producing states in India are Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Assam and Orissa. Andhra Pradesh ranks 1st in Area and Production
of Oil Palm in the country. Telangana stands 6th in Oil palm area, 2nd in production of Fresh Fruit
Bunches and 1st in Oil Extraction Rate (OER) with 19.22 % (2019-20) in the country.

Oil palm cultivation assumes significance for augmenting the indigenous availability of edible oil as it
is the highest oil yielding perennial crop. With good planting material, irrigation and proper
management, there is a potential of 20-25 MT fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per hectare after attaining
the age of 5 years. This in turn is capable of yielding 4-5 MT of palm oil and 0.4-0.5 MT palm kernel
oil (PKO). In comparative terms, yield of palm oil is 5 times the yield of edible oil obtainable from
traditional oilseeds. This perennial crop has an economic life span of plant 30 years, comprising
three distinct phase viz. juvenile period (1-3 years), stabilizing period (4-8 years) and stabilized
period (9-30 years)

The Committees constituted by Government of India up to 2006 have identified a total potential
area of 10.36 lakh ha for Oil palm cultivation in India, out of which an area of 4.00 lakh ha is
identified in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. The Government of India have constituted a committee for
assessment of additional potential area for oil palm cultivation in India under the Chairmanship of
Dr. P. Rethinam and in the year 2012, the committee has identified 19.33 lakh ha (including the
earlier identified area) as area suitable for oil palm cultivation in (18) states of the country including
an area of 4.69 lakh Ha., in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. Up to 2012, an area of 50,000 Ha was
identified in erstwhile Khammam (20,000 ha) and Nalgonda (30,000 ha) Districts.

In 2019, a re-assessment committee was constituted under the chairman ship of Dr. B.M.C Reddy to
re-assess the potential Oil palm area in the country including newly formed Telangana State.
Subsequently, the Government of India has notified an additional potential area in Telangana State
during 2020 for area expansion of oil palm. With this the total area so far notified in Telangana State
comes to 4.36 lakh ha.

As of now, about 61000 (Of which 37000 acres is under bearing age) is under oil palm cultivation in
Telangana, spread across the districts of Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Nalgonda and Suryapet.
Up to 2020 three companies were operating in Telangana viz., TS Oil fed, Godrej Agrovet and Ruchi
Soya Industries Limited. Two processing plants of TS Oilfed are in Dammapet and Ashwaraopet
mandals of Bhadradri Kothagudem.

The Government of Telangana have allotted factory zones to companies to take up Oil palm Area
expansion in the newly identified potential areas in the state by GOI. With this a total of (11)
companies are now operating in Telangana including the existing (3) companies. Nurseries are being
established in new districts/factory zones by the allotted companies.

Oil palm cultivation and processing in Telangana is regulated through the Telangana oil palm
(regulation of production and processing) Act, 1993. The act mandates all harvest to be necessarily
procured by allotted companies in a zone at minimum prices determined by state government. The
act envisages the constitution of Advisory Committee and Zonal Committees for the orderly
development of oil palm cultivation and industry in the state

O/o Commissioner of Horticulture

Address: Inside Public Garden

Nampally, Hyderabad-500029
Telefax:040-23232253/ 7997724914
E-mail:oilpalm-horti[at]telangana[dot]gov[dot]in

MODERN OIL PALM CULTIVATION

1. A modern oil palm plantation needs a grower who has learned how to cultivate oil palms.

Growing selected oil palms is not just a matter of picking the fruit; it is a modern crop.
The grower must learn how to do his work well.
The grower should ask for advice, so that he learns to do better and better.

The grower must think about his work and plan it, so that he can always do his work at the right
time.
Selected oil palms give the grower much more work than the natural trees, but they yield much
more.
An oil palm grower is a modern farmer.
With the money he earns he can buy for his family what they need, and he can modernize his farm.

BEFORE STARTING THINK THINGS OVER CAREFULLY

An oil palm begins to produce 3 or 4 years after it has been planted.

During that time the grower must spend money and work hard, without harvesting any fruit or
earning any money.

2. To make a modern oil palm plantation takes money.

Most often you will have to pay workmen for clearing the site of the plantation and removing tree
stumps.

Then you must buy seedlings and fertilizers.

Unless you apply fertilizers to the oil palms when they are still young, they will not grow well and
you will have to wait a longer time before you can begin to harvest.

You may also have to pay workers to help you look after the young plantation. Weeds must not be
allowed to get in the way of the oil palms, and the trees must be protected from damage by rats and
agoutis.

All this work takes a lot of time, and this means that you may not have enough time to look after
large fields of food crops.
You may have to buy food for your family.
Before you start an oil palm plantation, you must calculate carefully whether you will be able to pay
all these expenses.

3. To grow oil palms takes a lot of work.

Before planting your oil palms, you have to clear the forest and remove the tree stumps.
Then it takes a lot of time to sow the cover crop, dig holes in the plantation, take the seedlings out of
the nursery, carry them to the plantation and plant them.

All this work needs to be carefully done; you must take your time.
Never hurry if you want to be successful with your plantation.

Once the oil palms are planted, you must put wire netting around the young trees, you must spread
fertilizer and keep watch over the plantation.
Young oil palms need a lot of care. It is better to make a smaller plantation, but look after it carefully.

Once the oil palms have begun to produce, the fruit must be harvested at the right moment.
If you cannot pick the fruit at the right moment, it becomes too ripe, many clusters will drop and the
quality of the fruit will be less good.

4. To grow oil palms takes much time and much care.

Do not try to cultivate too large an area, or the work will be badly done.
It is better to cultivate a small plantation and to do the work well.
A small plantation that is well looked after can yield more than a large plantation that is badly looked
after.

LIFE OF THE OIL PALM

5. The oil palm may have a very long life.

It is important to know about the life of the oil palm.

If you know all about the life of the oil palm, you will understand better how to cultivate them.
If you do not take care of the seeds, they will germinate only after several years.
At the research stations, the seeds are kept in a room where it is always very hot.
This makes the seeds germinate sooner, after 90 to 100 days.

6. Each seed germinated is planted in a small plastic container.

A new leaf grows every month.
The young seedling stays in the container for 4 to 5 months.
When you see a left with two points (bifid leaf) coming up, transplant the seedling out into
the nursery.

7. The seedling stays in the nursery for 1 year. When it has about 15 green leaves, it is planted
in the palm grove.
The seedling is therefore 16 to 18 months old when it is ready to be planted in the palm
grove.
 8. When the young oil palm has been planted in the palm grove, it produces male flowers.
The flowers form at the base of each leaf.
For several months, the oil palm produces only male flowers.
After that, for several months, it produces only female flowers.

The male flowers are grouped in spikes.

The female flowers form other spikes.
The male flowers fertilize the female flowers.
Fertilized female flowers turn into a cluster of fruit.
 9. The oil palm has no branches.

It has a trunk and leaves. The trunk, sometimes called a stipe, is the stem of the palm.
At the tip of the stem there is one bud - one only:
This is the growing point, which makes the oil palm live and grow.

If the growing point dies, the tree dies as well.

The growing point of the adult oil palm produces 20 to 25 leaves every year.
It is most important that the growing point should produce many leaves, because there will be a
flower at the base of each leaf.
If there are many leaves, there will be many flowers. And if there are many flowers, there will be
many clusters of fruit.

The oil palm grows well and produces a lot in regions where it is very hot, where the sun is very
strong, and where it rains a great deal.

THE FRUITS OF THE OIL PALM YIELD OIL

10. The clusters consist of spikelets.

The spikelets contain the fruit.

Before getting the oil out of the fruit, the fruit must be separated from the spikelets.

11. The fruits of the oil palm consist of the following parts:
Pulp: the pulp is yellow; when the pulp is crushed it yields palm oil.
Seed: inside the shell of the seed is the kernel; when the kernel is crushed, it yields palm
kernel oil.
The kernel also contains the germ.
 12. The fruits of all oil palms are not the same.

 They are not all of the same size.

 The pulp is not equally thick in all of them.

 The shell is not equally thick.

 Some kernels have no shell at all.

There are different varieties of oil palm:

 dura palms have kernels with a thick shell;

 pisifera palms have kernels with no shell;

 tenera palms have kernels with a thin shell.

 13. When oil palms bear many and large fruit clusters, they yield a lot of oil.

But to get a lot of oil, each fruit must also contain a lot of pulp, a shell that is not very thick, and a
big kernel.

Research stations have developed varieties of oil palm which produce many large clusters with fruits
that have a lot of pulp, a thin shell and a big kernel.
These are selected oil palms.

In order to get a lot of oil, the female flowers of a dura palm are fertilized with the pollen from
a pisifera palm.
Once they are fertilized, the female flowers turn into fruits.
These fruits are of the tenera variety.

The fruits of the tenera palm have a lot of pulp, a thin shell and a big kernel.

WHY CULTIVATE OIL PALMS?

14. In traditional farming, nobody cultivates oil palms.

People simply pick the clusters of fruit from the oil palms that grow in the forest.

But these oil palms produce little.

The oil is extracted by traditional methods, and a lot of oil is left in the pulp and the kernel.
But nowadays oil palms are grown on modem plantations.
These contain selected oil palms with big yields.
The clusters of fruit are sold to mills which extract all the oil from the pulp and the kernels.

These oil palm plantations bring in money

 for the growers who sell the fruit,

 for the workers who work in the mills,

 for the government which can sell the oil to foreign countries.
 15. The growers can also earn money by raising beef cattle.
Beef cattle can be fed with the green fodder from the cover crop grown in the palm groves.
The grower can also feed his cattle with palm-kernel oil cake, that is, what is left over after
extraction of the palm kernel oil.
Palm-kernel oil cake is a protein-rich food.

WHERE TO CULTIVATE OIL PALMS

Oil palms are cultivated in the regions where they grow well and where there are oil mills.

To repary the grower the oil palm needs a region:

16. Where it is hot all the year round

The oil palm grows well where it is hot all the year round: between 25 and 28 degrees C.
If the temperature drops, the oil palm produces fewer leaves and is more often attacked by
diseases. It therefore yields less.
A hot temperature enables the oil palm to make many leaves and to produce many clusters
of fruit.

A lot of sunshine
Where there is a lot of sunshine, there will be strong photosynthesis, provided the oil palm is in soil
which gives it water and mineral salts.
The leaves grow large, the fruit ripens well, and there is more oil in the fruits.

Plentiful rain
If it does not rain much, or if it does not rain for several months, the leaves do not grow well.
If there are few new leaves, there are few flowers and few clusters of fruit.
There is less yield.

17. Where the soil is flat, deep, permeable and rich.

The oil palm needs a flat soil.

If the soil is not flat, transport is difficult and costs a lot.
Erosion is severe; the water carries away the earth.

The oil palm needs a deep soil.

The roots of the oil palm cannot develop il they meet a hard layer.
They cannot take up water and mineral salts that are deep down.
If the oil palm does not have enough water, yields are low.

The oil palm needs a permeable soil.

The oil palm does not grow well if water remains around its roots for too long.

The oil palm needs a rich soil.

In order to produce many large clusters of fruit, the oil palm needs a lot of mineral salts.
If the soil is poor, mineral salts can be added by applying fertilizers.

18. Where there are oil mills.

With traditional methods, a lot of oil is left in the pulp and the kernels.
The machines of the oil mills extract all the oil contained in the pulp and the kernels.

Selected oil palms produce many clusters of fruit.

To get all the oil out of these clusters yourself, you would have to spend a lot of time.
Before planting selected oil palms, make sure you can sell the fruit clusters to a mill.

19. Where business companies or extension services can give the grower advice.

It takes much money and work to make an oil palm plantation.

The grower must use modern methods in order to pay for his expenses and earn money. He will
need advice on:

 how to choose the site for his plantation

 how densely to plant it

 how to look after the plantation

 how to apply fertilizers

 how to protect the oil palms against disease

Oil Palm Plantation: Cultivation And Management

Palm oil is no longer a product of mere gathering by people who rely on rainforests for a living. Oil
palm cultivation has turned into a lucrative and expanding business. Yet, like any business, it
requires patience, reasonable management, monitoring, and a strong producer’s background.

Oil palm plantations embrace subtropical and tropical latitudes, providing the best climate for the
crop to thrive. Growth and production of oil palm are popular in Nigeria, India, Equador,
Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Thailand, etc. Alongside Indonesia, vast oil palm
plantations in Malaysia rank top among global market suppliers.

Table Of Contents

What Oil Palm Plantations Imply

Oil palm is the best oil-containing crop in terms of yield capacity, even though planting oil palms
won’t give immediate returns. The crop’s productivity depends on tree species, soil type, climatic
conditions, oil palm plantation management, and cultivation practices.

In fact, the cost inputs during the first thirty months (prior to the first harvesting) are rewarded
with up to 25 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per ha in mature trees. Plantations give about four
tonnes of crude palm oil per ha, which is eight times more productive than sunflower oil yield.

The commodity is extracted from the plant’s pulp and kernel, yet not each tree is equally valuable
for growing. The oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) represents the Elaeis genus belonging to the
Arecaceae family and originating from West Africa. There are three main crop types for cultivation in
plantations:
  dura – with a thick shell (2-8 mm);

 pisifera – with no shell;

 tenera – a hybrid of the above two.

Tenera is the most commercially valuable type, having a thinner shell and a bigger kernel, which is
the most precious growing quality for plantations. Crop cultivation is performed mainly close to the
equator in Latin America, West Africa, and Southeastern Asia. Growing an oil palm is a popular
plantation business in Malaysia and India.

Oil Palm Plantations In Malaysia

Presently, palm-growing business in the country aims at growing trees for oil. Yet, the development
of oil palm in Malaysia in 1870 started for decorative purposes first. Over a span of time, Malaysia’s
oil palm plantation growth significantly increased. In 2018, the country contributed 20 million metric
tons of oil palm (27%) to 72 metric tons of global cultivation.

Malaysia jointly with Indonesia currently shares 84% of the total commodity supply in the world.

Oil Palm Cultivation In India

On the Indian continent, plantations grow in fifteen states including Goa, West Bengal, Assam,
Karnataka, Kerala, Gujarat, Andra Pradesh, and more. Oil palm tree cultivation in India embraces an
area of nearly 50,000 ha, providing employment and domestic vegetable oil source for local people.

Why Do Oil Palm Plantations Continue To Grow?

The business attracts growers not solely because it yields well but because it sells well, too. The
cultivation of the oil palm is spurred by the high demand for its product – palm oil, an ingredient of
many daily-use items for multiple purposes. Indeed, its global production in plantations accounted
only for 2 million metric tons in 1970.
In the marketing year of 2020/2021, the figure jumped up to 72 million metric tons , which
constituted 31,4% of the world’s oil and fat production. The rise is explained with the expansion of
its traditional applications in pharmaceutics, beauty, personal, and home care to newly discovered
possibilities from human nutrition to bioenergy technical use. Besides, kernel cake is suitable for
cattle feeding, with high protein content and oil residues.

Apart from cultivation productivity and high commodity demand worldwide, plantation best
practices for growing oil palm offer a number of extra agricultural benefits:

 relatively high pest and weed resistance;

 possibility of intercropping in cultivation;

 all-year-round harvesting in plantations;

 monthly income (during the fruit-bearing stage);

 absence of irrigation under sufficient rainfall conditions.

The above-mentioned advantages make the plantation industry rather favorable for many to enter.

Guidelines On Oil Palm Cultivation

Even though planting the crop is highly efficient, growing it does require certain knowledge and
efforts before its producers can benefit from plantation yields. First, the plant needs specific soil and
climate conditions. Second, the growth of oil palm starts after land and seed preparation. Third, the
cultivation method for oil palm includes pest and weed control, irrigation and fertilization, ablation
of early inflorescences, and harvesting.

The economic lifespan of the tree in plantations is rather long and makes 25-30 years. In wild nature,
oil palms can grow up to 200 years, but they get too tall and reduce yields, which complicates
harvesting and, thus, their commercial use.

EOSDA Crop Monitoring from EOSDA helps control plantations continuously at all oil palm growth
stages: from sowing to harvesting and in-between. The platform’s Field activity log keeps the records
of all cultivation activities as well as sowing and harvesting dates. This way, oil palm producers can
keep an eye on all their plantation groups and schedule all necessary events.

EOSDA Crop Monitoring

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Here are some basic cultivation requirements and tips on how to grow oil palm plantations.
Favourable Climate For Oil Palm Tree Growth

The plant is tropical, so it grows best in stable-warm areas with sufficient soil moisture all year
round. The optimal temperatures for the cultivation of oil palm are 30–32°C (86–89.6°F) for 80 days
minimum. Temperatures below 20°C (68°F) and above 40°C (104°F) are critical for growing and
adversely affect crop production.

Proper development of oil palm in plantations is secured with at least 5-6 hours of bright daily
sunshine and 75-100% humidity.

As for precipitations, the plant thrives under evenly distributed rainfalls of 2,500-4,000 mm per
year. Under a lack or uneven distribution of rainfalls in plantations, it is necessary to ensure water
supply with irrigation.

Weather analytics from EOSDA Crop Monitoring allows tracking not only the weather to date but
also historical weather patterns in plantations. Historical weather data is useful for the plantation
owners who plan to grow the crop for the first time in the specific area or those who plan to buy
ready plantations. Historical weather will help evaluate:

 favorable climate conditions for plantation growing;

 costs needed to compensate for lacking or abundant precipitation and temperature;

 forecasts for a general shift of meteorological patterns in the region;

 how these factors will affect the plantation yield as such because it may be more reasonable
to grow another crop in the specific field instead.
Historical weather data for oil palm field available on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Suitable Soils For Oil Palm Plantations

The best soil types for the crop’s cultivation are loamy or alluvial well-drained earths:

 at least one meter deep for root development;

 rich in organic matter;

 with pH 4.0 to 6-8.0;

 having sufficient soil moisture.

Soil salinization, alkalinization, or waterlogging are negative for oil palm tree growth. Since soil
conditions matter, farmers are advised to perform soil testing to check area suitability before
planting.

Preparation Of Seeds In Oil Palm Cultivation

Oil palms for plantations are typically propagated with seeds taken from fruits. Seed treatment is a
responsible stage in oil palm cultivation and management because improperly prepared seeds will
germinate after a couple of years due to long dormancy time. Dried for about 2.5 months in stable
hot rooms (40°C) and soaked for 4-5 days in daily changed water, seeds are supposed to germinate
in about 12 days (3-3.5 months after extraction).

Immediately after germination, sprouts are planted into plastic (polyethylene) bags or containers
with equal ratios of topsoil, sand, and properly decomposed cattle manure. Sprouts for cultivation
remain in the bags for about 4-5 months (until they develop a bifid leaf). Then, bifid-leaved sprouts
continue in a plantation nursery, where they grow further for about a year. Finally, seedlings with
about twelve-fifteen leaves and at least one meter high are mature enough and ready for growing in
palm oil plantations.

The oil palm tree has a stem and leaves with no branching. It grows from the sole bud on the stem. If
the bud is damaged, the plant is lost.
Field Preparation, Spacing, And Planting

Oil palm cultivation needs soil preparation before planting. The plantation soil should be fertilized
with well-decomposed organic matter and cleaned from weeds. Plantation tilling improves the soil
structure.

The optimal timing for planting is the rainy season from June to September. This way, plants can
establish their root systems before the period of droughts.

How to plant an oil palm tree? To get a good yield from cultivation, oil palm trees must be planted at
the right density. The plant sprouts are spaced in a triangular pattern with enough spacing for
growing (9x9x9 m) in pits about 60 cm3. This planting method allows placing around 145 plants per
hectare.

With EOSDA Crop Monitoring, growers can know the exact area of the plantation when adding it to
the platform. Also, they can use the elevation map feature to evaluate the number of seedlings for
cultivation in plantations correctly.
Elevation map of oil palm field on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Benefits Of Intercropping And Cover Cropping In Plantations

During the first three years after planting, the land use can be intensified
with intercropping or cover cropping. Thus, plantation owners can get additional yields and cattle
forage prior to the cash crop will fruit. However, operations and movement of oil palm plantation
machinery for intercropping must not disturb the cash crop’s roots.

Another point to consider in cultivation is that not all plants are suitable to neighbor with palms.
Plantation intercrop plants must tolerate shade and not compete for nutrients, sunlight, and
moisture with the cash crop. Besides, damaging plant fronds or pruning in oil palm plantations
should be avoided because the more leaves a tree has, the more yields it can give. Suitable
intercrops for plantation cultivation are pineapple, ginger, turmeric, flowers, vegetables, banana, or
tobacco. Leguminous plants are an additional source of nitrogen fixation for cash crop growth.

Typical cover crop plants for oil palm plantations are Mucana, Centrosema prutascens, Pueraria
phaeseoloides, Mimosa invisa, Calopogonium mueconoides, etc.

Oil Palm Cultivation Water Needs And Irrigation

The plant can resist several-month droughts, yet the yields will significantly drop. For this reason, oil
palms grow under natural rainfalls, with compensating irrigation when rain-fed soil moisture in
plantations is not enough. Each tree requires about 150-200 mm daily, and mature plants take even
more. Several common precision irrigation methods satisfy the crop’s water needs: micro-
sprinklers, basin, and drip irrigation. The last one is the most economical and thus beneficial for
plant cultivation.

Soil moisture and irrigation management in plantations are easier with EOSDA Crop Monitoring. To
assess soil moisture and irrigation needs, it is possible to use the Normalized Difference Moisture
Index (NDMI) available on the platform. The NDMI describes the crop’s water stress level and
recognizes the plantation areas with water stress issues.
NDMI map of oil palm field on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Mulching In Oil Palm Cultivation

Base mulching helps retain soil moisture and creates a favorable microclimate for plant growing.
Additionally, it suppresses weeds in oil palm plantations. Male flowers, coconut husk, empty
bunches, straw, leaves can serve as natural mulch material in cultivation.

Pollination In Oil Palm Plantations

The plant’s pollination occurs with the help of Elaeidobius kamerunicus and wind. However, mere
wind pollination is not enough; this is why the insects are released on plantations after 2.5-3 years of
tree growing.

The Elaeidobius kamerunicus weevils live for about 11-13 days. Adult insects feed on another
filament, putting eggs into male flowers of the plant. The food for Elaeidobius kamerunicus larvae is
spent flowers of plants.

Flowering And The Necessity Of Ablation

The oil palm has male and female flowers that are cross-pollinated. Both male and female flowers
grow in separate inflorescence spikes on the same plant. There are only male flowers for several
months at first, and then there are only female ones. Oil palm fruit development happens in
fertilized female flowers of the plant.

The palm oil tree bursts into bloom at the age of 14-18 months. Yet, for better growing and strong
vegetation, it is necessary to cut or pull both male and female flowers off the trees during the first 2-3
years of plant cultivation.

Weed Management In The Oil Palm Plantation

Weed species in oil palm groves are quite diverse: a topic study in Central Ghana counted 136
varieties . Among others, the list of common weeds in oil palm plantations includes:

 Chromolaena odorata,

 Clidemia hirta,

 Lantana camara,

 Aspillia Africana,

 Mimosa pudica,

 Panicum maximum,

 Melastoma malabathricum,

 Imperata cylindrical,

 Mallotus oppositifolius,
  Dicranopteris linearis,

 Nephrolepis,

 Stenochlaena palustris,

 Melanthera scandens,

 Ischaemum muticum,

 Paspalum conjugatum,

 Chloris barbata, and more.

The most invasive common weeds in oil palm plantations belong to Poaceae and Asteraceae families,
competing for sunlight, moisture, and nutrients and impairing crop growing.

The common methods of weed control in oil palm plantations suggest physical removal by hand
or chemical spraying.

Protection Against Pests Or Infestations In The Development Of Oil Palm

The plant typically suffers from rhinoceros beetles, bagworms, red palm weevils, mealybugs.
Widespread oil palm tree diseases are rots and wilts:

 stem wet rot,

 basal stem rot,

 bud rot disease,

 Pestalotiopsis leaf spot,

 oil palm wilt, and others.

Even though pruning negatively impacts crop growing, infected and damaged plants must be fully or
partially removed.

Modern disease and pest management methods highly advise avoiding chemical application in
plantations. In particular, the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil System (ISPO) insists on opting for
natural cultivation remedies to kill pests. Biological control in oil palm plantations suggests
introducing predators and parasitoids combined with pheromones and plant-based lures (e.g.,
fermented castor cake). Some successful cultivation examples are as follows:

 fungi Metarhizium anisopliae with lure eradicate rhinoceros beetles;

 baculoviruses and Bacillus thuringiensis control nettle caterpillars;

 Bacillus thuringiensis combats bagworms and nettle caterpillars.

Efficient pest and disease control in plantations strongly depends on early problem
identification and timely response. Plantation areas having an extremely low NDVI rate may indicate
issues with pests or plant diseases. With EOSDA Crop Monitoring, farmers can check their
plantations remotely on a daily basis and always be aware of any changes in vegetation conditions.

Besides, EOSDA Crop Monitoring facilitates regular inspection and upkeep of oil palm plantations.
Growers can use the Scouting feature to assign tasks to scouts, select the exact problem area, collect
plantation data with photos and schedule an effective plan using the Field activity log.
Scouting task based on NDVI map on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Another helpful feature on the software is the Field leaderboard that arranges all the added
plantations according to the latest available satellite image and the most negative NDVI value
change.
Field Leaderboard feature on EOSDA Crop Monitoring.

Oil Palm Plantation Fertilizer Guidelines

Efficient plant cultivation is secured with a sufficient supply of macro and micronutrients, including
nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, etc. With a lack of nutrients, adequate growing is
impossible.

Fertilization practices for oil palm plantations recommend nutrient applications in equal splits,
sourcing from farmyard and green mature, neem cake, and synthetic products. Common ways to
provide nutrients in the crop’s cultivation are soil incorporation, scattering, or fertigation. Oil palm
plantation fertilizer requirements differ depending on the tree age, with bigger amounts for mature
plants.

Nitrogen

N is responsible for overall plant growing and fruit formation, including leaf health and the bunch
number and size. Oil palms under nitrogen deficiency reveal chlorotic leaves. However, nitrogen
toxicity in cultivation is not beneficial for the plants either since it increases the number of male
flowers distorting the inflorescence sex ratio in palms.

Phosphorus

P boosts the number of female flowers and bunch weight. Plant fronds under phosphorus deficiency
acquire olive-green hues and premature drying in older foliage. P applications are more favorable for
plant cultivation when combined with nitrogen and potassium.

A research on the fertigation effect on palm oil growing on medium black soils in Karnataka in India
concluded that NPK applications in oil palm cultivation of 1200:600:1200 vs. 300:150:300
g/plant/year boosted fresh fruit bunch yields (19.11 kg/bunch).

Potassium

K also boosts the formation of female flowers and bunch size and weight. Under potassium
deficiency, older foliage of palm plants suffers from chlorosis and necrosis due to nutrient allocation
to newer leaves. The typical signs of P deficiency in plantations are orange spots on plant foliage,
starting from pale green to yellow, spreading further on the leaf area and leading to necrosis.
Another prominent symptom to signal a lack of potassium in cultivation is mid-crown chlorosis. As a
rule, leaves are green in the midrib area but suffer from marginal necrosis. New leaves grow short. In
general, oil palm plantations look unhealthy and wither prematurely.

Magnesium

Mg deficiency in oil palm cultivation is recognizable through leaf discoloration, with bright-orange
older leaves and pale green younger ones. In the newest plant foliage, there is no discrepancy in
color. Plantation owners can also understand magnesium deficiency in growing by chlorosis in the
sun-exposed leaf parts while shaded ones still remain deep green.
Micronutrients

The crop doesn’t typically suffer from deficiency of Fe, Zn, Mn, or Cu in acid soils. However, a lack of
boron may cause foliage malformations, including small, “fish-bone”, stiff, and hooked leaves.

Plant nutritional disorders in oil palm cultivation can be corrected with adequate fertilization,
depending on the tree age and severity of symptoms. This is why fertilizer inputs on plantations
must be estimated with sufficient precision to achieve the highest possible yields from oil palm
growing. Vegetation indices, as well as vegetation and productivity maps on EOSDA Crop Monitoring,
prove useful here.

With the analysis of NDRE and RECI indices, it is convenient to estimate nitrogen shortage or
requirements for additional fertilizer application for healthy oil palm growth. Generating vegetation
maps based on these indices makes it possible to adjust nitrogen fertilizer rates in each plantation
zone. Productivity maps are used to assess the long-term fertilization effects of potassium and
phosphorus applications. However, the possibilities to analyze plant needs on EOSDA Crop
Monitoring go beyond the above-listed elements. Vegetation maps of different indices and
productivity maps allow understanding and calculating the amounts of other nutrients as well.
Productivity map on EOSDA Crop Monitoring to allocate fertilizers precisely.

Yielding And Harvesting In The Cultivation Method For Oil Palm

Oil palm growers can expect yields after three years of growing. To correctly determine picking time
and avoid over-ripening are essential for palm oil quality. Harvesting begins when 5-8 fruits drop
loose. Ripe fruit is yellow or orange in color, and orange palm oil seeps outside when pressed with a
finger. Fruit bunches are cut manually by knife, chisel, or sickle. When plants grow too tall, fruit
gathering is assisted with a hook.

Harvesting machines are a more productive and less labor-consuming option to manual picking in
plantations. In fact, complete machine harvesters are attributed to nearly double productivity as
compared to manual cutting with buffalo carts for transportation. At the same time, the equipment
required for oil palm cultivation and management is more expensive than human labor in terms of
maintenance and fuel. However, it will give decent returns in the long run.

Harvesting rounds in plantations are repeated about every 10 to 14 days, which is easier to schedule
and control with neatly arranged records in the Field activity log on the EOSDA Crop Monitoring
platform.
Field activity log on EOSDA Crop Monitoring for planning ag operations.

Sustainable Oil Palm Development

Growing the crop in plantations (f.e. oil palm or avocado farming) cannot be completely
environmentally friendly; still, its negative cultivation effects can be minimized.

In 2004, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) obliged manufacturers to switch to
sustainable sources with zero palm oil deforestation. It is clear that huge companies cannot control
thousands of their sources in place for primary forest cutting. However, they can successfully
monitor oil palm plantation land-use change with remote sensing.

Another EOS product, EOSDA Forest Monitoring, is good at detecting deforestation. This information
can be used as:

 a “proof” of zero-deforestation compliance (if the plantations do not take any primary forest
areas);

 a “proof” of oil palm plantations expansion reduction at the expense of primary forests.

Plantation owners must also contribute to environmental sustainability by improving cultivation

practices:

 avoid rainforest clearing;

 rehabilitate abandoned and infertile lands for agricultural oil palm plantation use;

 restrain from slash-and-burn practices in cultivation;

 protect the environment and encourage tropical biodiversity (e.g., by growing wildlife
corridors nearby or in-between plantations);

 operate plantations ethically and legally;

 provide decent working conditions for their employees;

 optimize plantation performance with sustainable growing methods (e.g., with more
productive seeds);

 minimize chemical applications in cultivation with precision agriculture techniques.

Thus, oil palm plantations cannot be excluded from the global supply chain; still, there are ways of
sustainable farming. Industry sustainability can be achieved through governmental restrictions and
the joint efforts of palm oil growers, manufactures, and end consumers. Satellite technologies and
analytics facilitate corporate social responsibility by contributing to business transparency and
effective yet sustainable cultivation.

A Complete Guide for Palm Oil Plantation

Published on: October 6, 2022

Palm oil is a necessity across countless industries. Its presence cannot be replaced in a huge number
of products all around the world, serving as a needed ingredient in the products’ formulations. It’s
clear that organic palm oil is irreplaceable, but how is palm oil made? What happens to transport
palm oil from the crops on the plantation to the shelves of your local grocery store? To understand
the ins and outs of palm oil production, we need to begin on the oil palm plantations, where the
growth process begins. Curious about the complete process on palm oil plantations? Keep reading to
discover more!

CONDITIONS & CLIMATE

Palm oil is a vegetable oil that is sourced from the fruit of oil palm trees, otherwise scientifically
known as Elaeis guineensis. This crop yields two different types of oil – crude palm oil from the fruit
and palm kernel oil from the crushed kernel. Oil palm trees thrive in tropical climates with
temperatures between 30–32°C. Ideally, the plantation should be in an area that has plenty of
sunlight and high levels of humidity. These plants require plenty of precipitation in order to keep the
soil moist all year round. Without this moisture, the crops cannot properly flourish. Most palm oil
plantations are located in Malaysia and Indonesia, which have the perfect weather conditions for
this crop. Some other places where oil palm trees can be found include Nigeria, Colombia, and
Guatemala.

FIELD REQUIREMENTS

In addition to the climate, there are plenty of considerations about the way the fields are prepared
for oil palm crops. The ideal time to plant the oil palm tree is during the rainy season, which spans
from June to September. When planting the sprouts, it’s necessary to consider the spacing and the
way the plants are arranged. There should be plenty of space for the sprouts to spread and grow.
Additionally, the sprouts need to be planted in a way that allows for the most sunlight to reach the
plant. It is recommended that the sprouts have 9 square meters of space to grow. This ends up
amounting to 145 plants per hectare. It’s important to note that palm oil has an excellent yield per
hectare, especially when compared to other vegetable oils. This means that palm oil makes more
effective use of the land.

Another important aspect of the fields where oil palm trees are grown is intercropping.
Intercropping is the practice of planting two or more crops in close proximity. It offers more nutrition
to the soil than if you simply plant one crop, and it improves the soil’s fertility. It can even help to
control pests. In the case of oil palm trees, there are plenty of crops to grow alongside it that can
enhance the growth of the crop and serve as a great use of space on the plantations. Common crops
planted with oil palm trees are ginger, turmeric, bananas, and tobacco, among others. It’s crucial to
keep weeds at bay on palm oil plantations, though, as these invasive plants can harm the crops.

HARVESTING AND MANUFACTURING

The next part of the process is the harvest. Oil palm trees take about 30 months to reach maturity,
which is when the workers on the plantations begin to harvest. The process can be repeated every
seven to ten days. Using a long sickle, the fresh fruit bunches of the oil palm tree are removed. The
bunches that are ready for harvest can be identified by their vibrant reddish orange color. Once the
fruit is harvested, it’s time for the manufacturing process. As previously mentioned, two different
parts of the crop are used for the products made from the crop – the fruit and the kernel. This
becomes important during manufacturing.

From the palm oil plantations, the crop is then taken to the mills. Here, the bunches are treated with
steam, which sterilizes them. Then, the stripping process occurs, which removes the fruit from the
fresh fruit bunches. It also deactivates the enzymes that can potentially decrease the quality of the
fruit. At the factory, the fruit and the kernels are pressed to produce the palm oil.

PALM OIL’S PURPOSE

Palm oil is ubiquitous, found in many products across the globe. It is included in the formulation of
things from lipsticks to packaged cookies to detergent, and its presence cannot be replicated by any
other similar vegetable oils. Palm oil offers a high melting point, a neutral taste and smell, a creamy
texture, and moisturizing properties, along with plenty of other great advantages that can transform
the qualities of a product. Especially because similar oils cannot be produced at the same rate as
palm oil because of its high yield, it would be increasingly difficult to replace and replicate what palm
oil does for the formulations it is added to.

PALM DONE RIGHT

The process of growing, harvesting, manufacturing, and distributing palm oil is a necessary one for
the unique benefits of organic palm oil. Although the ethics of palm oil plantations and factories has
been called into question in recent years, it’s important to note that with transparency and
increased standards along the palm oil supply chain, the production of palm oil can be done with
ethical consumerism in mind. Interested in finding out about the people who are committing
themselves to enhanced sustainability and ethics in the palm oil industry? Discover Palm Done Right,
an organization dedicated to supporting people, animals, and the environment by improving
practices in palm oil production. Learn more about us and our community today!

https://www.asiafarming.com/growing-oil-palms-palm-oil-beginners

https://www.agrifarming.in/top-16-steps-to-boost-oil-palm-yield-how-to-increase-production-size-
and-quality

Telangana: Palm oil

cultivation to be
increased to 2 lakh
acres
The government has issued orders allocating factory
zones for the expansion of oil palm in the newly
identified areas of the state. So far an area of 9.49
lakh acres has been notified for the cultivation of
these crops.

News Desk| Posted by K Sherly Sharon | Updated: 20th March 2023

11:31 pm IST
Palm oil cultivation
Hyderabad: Telangana agriculture department is set to
increase the area under palm oil cultivation to 10 lakh
acres in the next four years and plans to cultivate palm oil
in 2 lakh acres in the year 2023-24.
The government has issued orders allocating factory zones
for the expansion of oil palm in the newly identified areas
of the state. So far an area of 9.49 lakh acres has been
notified for the cultivation of these crops.

The government is providing assistance to take up oil palm

cultivation with 50% assistance on mechanisation and
plans to take up oil palm cultivation on a mission mode as
part of crop diversification, said a government press
release here on Monday.

Telangana ranks first in the country in Oil Production

Percentage (OER) with 19.32 per cent in 2021-22. Among
the oilseed crops, palm oil is the highest yield with 10-12
tons per acre, for a period of 25-30 years.

The government pays a subsidy of up to Rs 50,918 per acre

for oil palm plantations, ownership intercropping and
micro-irrigation for the first four years.

ALSO READ
Telangana: March ‘wettest’ in 10 years owing to rainstorm
According to the release, the area under oil palm
cultivation in India is about 9.25 lakh acres. The country’s
annual production of crude palm oil is 2.90 lakh metric
tonnes, whereas the demand is estimated at more than
100 lakh metric tonnes. This deficit is met through imports.

In 2021-22, under various schemes, nearly 68,440 acres

have been brought under oil palm cultivation.

In 2022-23, 61,277 acres have been brought under oil palm

cultivation. The government has released Rs 107.43 crore
as the first installment for the implementation of this
scheme, out of which Rs 82 crore has been given as a
subsidy to farmers and companies, the release said.

Telangana requires about 3.66 lakh tonnes of palm oil. The

current production is 52,666 tonnes. Two processing units
are functioning in the state, one at Aswaraopeta and the
other at Apparaopeta village, Bhadradri Kothagudem
district, Dammapet Mandal,

Telangana requires about 3.66 lakh tonnes of palm oil. The

current production is 52,666 tonnes. Two processing units
are functioning in the state, one at Aswaraopeta and the
other at Apparaopeta village, Bhadradri Kothagudem
district, Dammapet Mandal, the release said.

A total of 11 companies are operating in the state, and 30

nurseries with a capacity to grow 2.67 crore oil palm plants
have been set up.

Production of Palm Oil

Posted On: 10 DEC 2021 6:51PM by PIB Delhi
The State-wise and year-wise details of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and the percentage share of
Andhra Pradesh in the total production of CPO during last five years is given at Annexure-I.
As per ICAR-IIOPR, Oil Palm requires less water compared to crops like Rice, Banana and
 Sugarcane for its optimum cultivation. Under the National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm
(NMEO-OP), emphasis has been given to promote micro irrigation and water conservation in
oil palm for efficient water management and judicious use of water.

Oil Palm is not covered under One District One Product (ODOP) scheme.

The State-wise and year-wise details of Crude Palm Oil during last five years from 2016-17 to
2020-21
(Quantity in Metric Tons)

Sl. State 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21

No

1 Andhra Pradesh 190999 234696 232938 208359 240016

(AP)

2 Goa 436 379 411 309 305

3 Karnataka 2051 2224 2280 2184 2734

4 Kerala 5989 5191 4857 4825 4281

5 Mizoram 603 648 625 535 675

6 Tamil Nadu 1194 938 1017 532 698

7 Telangana 8947 27274 37205 38050 39347

All India 210219 271349 279332 254794 288056

% share of AP 90.86 86.49 83.39 81.77 83.32

This information was given by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri
Narendra Singh Tomar in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

State-wise Production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) from

2017-18 to 2022-23

Sl. No. State 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23

1 Andhra 234696 232938 208359 237900 320942 280799
 Pradesh
2 Karnataka 2224 2280 2184 2734 3304 2881
3 Tamil Nadu 938 1017 553 698 1001 1013
4 Goa 379 411 309 305 353 289
5 Kerala 5191 4609 4824 4281 4521 199
6 Mizoram 648 625 535 675 691 942
7 Telangana 27275 37205 38050 39442 52667 43027
Total Total 271351 279085 254814 286035 383479 329150

https://data.gov.in/resource/state-wise-production-crude-palm-oil-cpo-2017-18-2022-23

What is the Cost of

Planting Oil Palm Per
Hectare
March 31, 2022

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The cost of planting oil palm per hectare is shown in the below tables.

Cost Analysis for One Hectare

of Oil Palm
Year 1
Cost of Land Acquisition 100,000.00
Cost of Oil Palm Seedlings 150,000.00
Fertilisers 75,000.00
Manure 10,000.00
Pesticides 10,000.00
Cost of Transplanting 10,000.00
Labour Cost 50,000.00
Herbicides 15,000.00
Farm Tools and Machines 20,000.00
Farmland Preparation 50,000.00
490,000.00
Year 2
Fertilisers 85,000.00
Manure 5,000.00
Pesticides 10,000.00
Labour Cost 50,000.00
Herbicides 15,000.00
Farm Tools and Machines 25,000.00
190,000.00

Year 3
Fertilisers 95,000.00
Manure 5,000.00
Pesticides 10,000.00
Labour Cost 50,000.00
Herbicides 15,000.00
Farm Tools and Machines 25,000.00
Cost of Harvesting 20,000.00
220,000.00

Revenue Analysis (Palm Oil)

Revenue Analysis (Palm
Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Yea
Oil)
Yield of Palm Oil (tons) 0.5 0.75 1 2
Price of Palm oil/ton 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 1,000,000.00 1,
Total Revenue 500,000.00 750,000.00 1,000,000.00 2,000,000.00 3,

Profit Analysis (Palm Oil)

Profit Analysis
Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9
(Palm Oil)

Total Revenue 500,000.00 1,000,000 2,000,000 3,000,000. 4,000, 4,000,000.00

750,000.00
.00 .00 00 000.00

Total Cost 220,000.0 220,000.0 220,00 220,000.00

490,000.00 190,000.00 220,000.00
0 0 0.00

Profit (Palm Oil) 10,000.00 780,000.0 1,780,000 2,780,000. 3,780, 3,780,000.00

560,000.00
0 .00 00 000.00
Revenue/Cost/Profit Analysis
(Palm Kernel Oil)
Revenue/Cost/Profit of
Palm Kernel Oil
(PKO)
Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year
Yield of PKO (tons) 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.4
Price of PKO/ton 650,000.00 650,000.00 650,000.00 650,000.00 6
Total Revenue on PKO 65,000.00 97,500.00 130,000.00 260,000.00 3
Cost Incurred on PKO 26,000.00 39,000.00 52,000.00 104,000.00 1
Profit (PKO) 39,000.00 58,500.00 78,000.00 156,000.00 2

Total Profit Analysis

Total Profit Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7
Profit (Palm Oil) 10,000.00 560,000.00 780,000.00 1,780,000.00 2,780
Profit (PKO) 39,000.00 58,500.00 78,000.00 156,000.00 23
Total Profit 49,000.00 618,500.00 858,000.00 1,936,000.00 3,014

Assumptions of the Cost

Analysis of a One Hectare
Farmland of Oil Palm
In year 1, total cost or expenses is expected to be N490,000. These costs include
cost of land acquisition, cost of oil palm seedlings, fertilizers, manure, pesticides,
cost of labour, farmland preparation, cost of transplanting and herbicides.
In year 2, total cost is expected to be incurred is N190,000. These costs include cost
of fertilizers, manure, herbicides, farm tools and machines, pesticides and labour
cost.
In year 3, total cost is expected to be N220,000. These costs include cost of
fertilizers, manure, herbicides, farm tools and machines, pesticides and labour cost.
We envisage that the cost will increase by the annual inflation rate till the
foreseeable future. Please note that an oil palm tree can fruit for above 25 years. So
you would be expected to incur some costs till the foreseeable future.

Assumptions of the Revenue

Analysis of a One Hectare
Farmland of Oil Palm
It is assumed that the oil palm will start fruiting from the end of year 3. 0.5 tons of
palm oil is expected to be the palm oil yield in year 3. With an expected price of palm
oil to be N1 million, the revenue from palm oil sales in year 3 will be N500,000.
The yield of palm oil in year 4 is expected to be 0.75 tons with a revenue of
N750,000. By year 7, the palm oil yield is expected to be 3 tons with a revnue of N3
million per hectare.
The total revenue on Palm Kernel Oil (PKO) in year 3 is expected to be N65,000. In
year 7, the revenue on PKO is expected to be N390,000.

Assumptions of the Profit

Analysis of a One Hectare
Farmland of Oil Palm
Profit on palm oil in year 3 is expected to be N10,000. Profit in Year 5 is expected to
be N780,000. Profit beyond year 5 is expected to rise significantly because of the
expected increase in yield of the oil palm.
Profit on PKO in year 3 is expected to be N39,000 and will hit N312,000 in year 8.

Note to Computations
The data in the computations were gotten from public records. We did not take into
cognizance the effects of inflation and the volatility in the value of the Naira.
Also, note that the oil yield we assumed for these computations is very conservative.
Some oil palm varieties like Tenera hybrid oil palm variety can do double and
thrice the yield figure we used for this analysis.
Also, take note that the prices of palm oil and palm kernel oil can vary for as high as
100% in a year. There is always a yearly peak and off peak times for these
commodities in Nigeria.
You are advised to do your own due diligence and cost/profit analysis before going
into oil palm cultivation.
Should you need a detailed business plan, market research or feasibility studies for
oil palm cultivation in Nigeria, kindly reach us through sales@vegieconcept.ng.

Inadequate Cold Storage/Transport

Despite India being world’s largest producer for milk and second largest producer of
fruits and vegetables, about 40 to 50 per cent of the total production valued of $440
billion (bn) ends up wasting, noted an ASSOCHAM-MRSS India study released in
October 2017.

Highlighting that about 60% of this capacity is spread across states of UP, West
Bengal, Gujarat and Punjab, the ASSOCHAM-MRSS India joint study noted, “The
situation is severe in southern part of India due to unavailability of cold storage units,
moreover as the climate is far more hot and humid.”

While there are many positive changes in Indian cold chain market, however high
operating costs is a major roadblock for sector’s overall growth. Shortage of
adequate infrastructure, lack of trained personnel, outdated technology and
inconsistent power supply are other major obstacles in growth of cold chain
infrastructure in India, according to the study.

Assessing India’s Cold-Chain Capacity

In order to evaluate the Status and Gaps of the nation’s Cold-Chain Infrastructure,
the National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) under the Union Ministry of
Agriculture & Farmers Welfare released a Report titled “All India Cold-Chain
Capacity Assessment (Status & Gaps)” in 2015. The Report noted that India over the
years witnessed a marked increase in production of perishable high nutrition
products like fruits, vegetables, meat and poultry products etc. but development of
cold-chain infrastructure was not strategically directed, for safe handling and to
convey these perishable products to markets, except in the dairy sector. A resultant
demand supply mismatch emerged across these agricultural commodities, frequently
contributing to wide spread price fluctuations and inflation.

According to the NCCD Report, cold-chain is not just about the “cold” but it refers to
all logistical procedures applied, to maintain multiple parameters of finished produce
during the pre-conditioning, handling, transport, storage and retail of products. The
cold-chain includes varied aspects of packaging, atmospheric gases, biology, injury,
humidity, trace ability, infrastructure, people & product flow, besides temperature. In
fact, temperature control can only work with all others in synch.

The Report observed that the existing food distribution suffers food losses due to
lack of integrated cold-chains.Establishing modern supply chains for perishable food
items, not only minimizes the food losses, but also empowers the farmers to reach
across to more distant markets. Integrated cold-chain enables the farmer groups
proactively connect to various demand centres and take advantage of the National
Agriculture Market (NAM). This empowering aspect of cold-chain, allows for a
greater geographical spread of markets by countering produce perishability, and is
key to gainful and improved value realization for farmers, stated the Report.

“To use cold storage as stepping stones to markets, requires a matching

development of back-end infrastructure in form of modern pack-houses with
refrigerated transport attached. In case of frozen foods, to suit demand based flow, a
greater capacity in form of modern retail shelves at merchandising end is indicated,”
the Report stated.

The Report observed that holistic development is key to integrating the supply chain,
to improve the existing domestic supply of food items, to include the complete basket
of perishable foods in cold-chain, to mitigate food losses, to improve direct market
connectivity for producers and for greater inclusive wealth creation in the country.

Augmenting Storage Capacity

The total storage capacity available for storage of foodgrains as on December 31,
2021 was 961.73 LMT, comprising covered godowns of 792.81 LMT and Covered
and Plinth (CAP) facilities of 168.92 LMT.
Government is implementing a Central Sector Scheme for construction of godowns
with focus on augmenting storage capacity in the States of North Eastern (NE)
Region and a few other States. Under this Scheme “Storage and Godowns”, funds
are released directly to Food Corporation of India (FCI) in the form of equity for land
acquisition and construction of storage godowns and infrastructure like railway
sidings, electrification, installation of weighbridge, etc. Funds are also released as
grants-in-aid to the Governments of the North-Eastern States including Jammu &
Kashmir for construction of intermediate storage godowns considering the storage
gaps as well as difficult geographical and climatic conditions in these States. During
12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), a total capacity of 1,84,175 MT had been created in
NE States and other than NE States.

Government of India has also approved an action plan/road map for construction of
steel silos in the country in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode for modernizing
storage infrastructure and improving shelf life of stored foodgrains. Under the plan
for silo development, upto December 31, 2021, 29.25 LMT capacity in various
locations throughout the country have been awarded. Out of which, a capacity of
11.125 LMT is completed and remaining are under various stages of development.

References:

1. Economic Survey 2021-22

2. All India Cold-Chain Capacity Assessment (Status & Gaps), NCCD-NABARD

Consultancy Services, 2015
3. Up to half of milk, fruits & veggies produced in India goes waste due to poor cold
chain infra: Study, ASSOCHAM, October 24, 2017

Palm oil is a widespread component of products in the Indian market – from daily
use products like soaps and toothpastes to edible products like biscuits, cooking oil,
chocolates and more.

India consumes more than nine million metric tonnes of palm oil annually and its
edible oil import bills are in trillions of rupees. India is the world’s largest importer of
palm oil.

Oil Palm is the key to achieve self-sufficiency in edible oils. It constitutes 37% of
edible oil demand in the country and 97% of demand for palm oil is met through
imports.

India has the potential to cultivate Oil Palm in 19.33 Lakh Hectare. Despite being a
smallholder crop for the last 30 years, only 3.5 Lakh Hectare (till Fiscal Year 20) has
been converted to Oil Palm plantation.

To ease the burden of the treasury and lower the dependence on imports, the union
government is on a mission to expand the cultivation of oil palm across the country
under its ambitious National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)
programme. It aims to increase the area of oil palm to 10 lakh (one million) hectares
by 2025-26, up from 3.5 lakh (350,000) hectares in 2019-20.
Key Challenges:
 The oil palm plantation requires a long gestation period before giving returns to farmers.
Hence, long term investment and long-term commitment by all stakeholders – Farmers,
Processors and Government is necessary.
 The profitability of the farmer depends on Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) prices, which are
highly volatile and uncertain. Compared to other crops, there is a little relief offered to
farmers for FFB prices. Hence, this does not seem remunerative to farmers and the
expansion of crop is hindered.
 Frequent changes in FFB pricing formula without any financial aid from the Govt make it
risky for the processers to commit long term capital investment, the breakeven happens
only after 8 years and this is not lucrative for the processors.
 A major issue with increasing oil palm cultivation is the water requirement. Most farmers
are using groundwater for irrigation. If a farmer doesn’t have a borewell facility, oil palm
cultivation is not easy.
 Oil palm is a water intensive crop, with one tree requiring 200 to 300 litres of water per
day. While this may be lower than what the typical water intensive crops such as
sugarcane and paddy use, it is still a considerable amount that could impact water
resources.

Despite challenges, Telangana plans to expand

oil palm plantation area by 22 times
by Manish Kumar on 2 December 2022

 The Telangana government has planned to bring a total of 8,09,371 hectares of

land in the state under oil palm cultivation in the next four years.
 This is a 22-fold increase in area from the existing 36,421 hectares of land
under palm oil cultivation.
 The state government supports farmers from farm to market, thus, assuring
income with palm oil plantation.
 However, the inclination toward palm oil cultivation comes with many challenges
such as low benefit for small and marginal farmers, dependence on
groundwater and long gestation period. Globally too there are concerns about
the environmental impacts of oil palm monoculture.

This is the first article in a two-part series on oil palm cultivation in

Telangana. Part Two discusses the state’s shift from traditional crops to water
intensive crops such as paddy and oil palm and their potential impacts on the
environment.

On a cool, mid-November evening, Vidya Sagar, a 56-year-old farmer, was

rushing from one corner of his 3.2-hectare oil palm field to another, hurriedly
gathering fresh fruit from the trees before the sun sets. Sagar is a resident of
Khammam district’s Medepally village in the state of Telangana. He plans to
expand the oil palm plantation on the remaining 1.2 hectares of his land, given
that the government is incentivising the crop.
“There is no reason to think otherwise,” he says, listing many benefits the state
government offers for oil palm cultivation: an assured procurement of all his
produce, free electricity which makes irrigation cost-free and subsidised
seedlings provided by oil processing firms.

“Oil palm (from which palm oil is derived) cultivation has proved very profitable for
the farmers for several reasons. First, there is huge government support to grow
the crop. There is little risk of monkey and wild boar attacks on these crops. Oil
palm trees can withstand harsh weather conditions, and there is far less labour
involved in growing them,” Sagar tells Mongabay-India while working on his oil
palm field.

Another farmer, 62-year-old Hariprasad S. from the same village, adds to the
ongoing conversation. He has converted four hectares of his mango farm to an oil
palm farm. The reason, he says, was the assured procurement of all his produce
by these oil processing firms.

He shows his diary in which he has written the rates at which he sold his fresh
fruit at the nearby Sathupally oil processing unit in Khammam, over the last one
year. The best price he got in the last six months was around Rs. 13,000 per
tonne. Usually, he is able to pick and sell oil palm fruits about twice a month. He
claims that if these rates continue, he could earn around Rs. 3.32 lakh (Rs.
332,000) annually, from each acre (o.4 hectares), which would mean an annual
income of almost Rs. 33.2 lakh (Rs. 3.32 million) from his four-hectare land.

In Medepally village, where Sagar and Hariprasad are from, at least a dozen
farmers are into oil palm farming. Many of them opted for cultivating this crop,
more than 30 years ago. Vidya Sagar is one among them.

“Currently, there are 23,000 farmers in Telangana who are into oil palm
cultivation. We have around 36,421 hectares under oil palm cultivation, out of
which 16,187 hectares are fruit-bearing fields,” informed an official from the state
horticulture department, requesting anonymity.

Telangana’s oil palm farmers see their fortune growing with the country’s
increasing consumption of palm oil, which is derived from the oil palm fruit.

Palm oil is a widespread component of products in the Indian market – from daily
use products like soaps and toothpastes to edible products like biscuits, cooking
oil, chocolates and more. Globally though, the use of palm oil is controversial as
the supply chain is usually riddled with environmental issues.

India consumes more than nine million metric tonnes of palm oil annually and its
edible oil import bills are in trillions of rupees. India is the world’s largest importer
of palm oil. It needs to import this oil to meet the gap of 61.80 percent between
the total domestic demand and the local production.
India and other palm oil consuming countries depend heavily on producer
countries in Southeast Asia, such as Indonesia and Malaysia for imports.
However, the environmental impact of large-scale oil palm cultivation in these
geographies is of concern, globally as the regions continue to be associated with
deforestation and peatland destruction for oil palm cultivation.

To ease the burden of the treasury and lower the dependence on imports, the
union government is on a mission to expand the cultivation of oil palm across the
country under its ambitious National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)
programme. It aims to increase the area of oil palm to 10 lakh (one million)
hectares by 2025-26, up from 3.5 lakh (350,000) hectares in 2019-20. Telangana
sees a share for itself in this pie.

Read more: [Commentary] Palm oil value chain and India’s role in
global deforestation

Telangana’s ambitious plans

Oil palm plantation is not new to the southern Indian state of
Telangana, second after Andhra Pradesh in crude palm oil production. It started
in the early 1990s when some farmers in districts like Khammam started growing
it with seeds imported from other countries. The state now has around 36,421
hectares of land under oil palm plantation.

In 2021-22, the state produced 46,171 MT (Metric Tons) of crude palm oil. Most
of these oil palm plantations are confined to four districts of the state –
Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Suryapet, and Nalgonda. However, the state
government has decided to go big on oil palm farming, beyond the target given
by the union government.

A senior official from the state horticulture department told Mongabay-India that
the union government had given the target of growing oil palm over 1,21,405
hectares in the state in the next four years. But the state has decided to bring
8,09,371 hectares of the state land under palm oil cultivation in the same period.
The plan is also to expand its plantation in 27 out of a total of 33 districts of the
states. Six districts that face water crises and urban areas in the state are not
part of this plan. Overall, the state wants to expand oil palm plantations to 22
times the current land under oil palm.
A matured oil palm fruit which will be crushed to extract palm oil from it. Photo by Manish
Kumar/Mongabay.

In the latest annual state budget, presented by state finance minister T. Harish
Rao in March, the government announced a Rs. one billion budgetary allocation
for covering an additional 1,01,171 hectares of land under oil palm cultivation in
the current financial year 2022-23. Data suggests that the government anticipates
investing a total of Rs. 72 billion between 2022-23 and 2026-27 to boost palm oil
production in the state.

Reaping the benefits

Samnini Nageswar Rao is another farmer from Medepally village of Khammam
district. He explained how much he invests in oil palm maintenance annually. As
electricity in Telangana is free for farmers, there is no cost involved in irrigating
their land with motor pumps. In each acre of land, there are around 56 oil palm
trees. They need anywhere between Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 22,000, which includes
the cost of fertiliser, manure, and others annually, whereas the annual profits they
get is around Rs. three lakh (Rs. 300,000) per annum for each acre (0.4
hectares).
The state government supports the farmers opting for oil palm plantation in their
fields. “In palm oil, we get subsidies for drip irrigation equipment, fertiliser and
intercropping for the initial four years. I have planted groundnut as an intercrop in
the space left between oil palm trees, to make profits from the farmland. It will
continue until the palm oil trees start bearing fruit,” says Pratap Kumar Reddy,
another palm oil farmer from the Thirumalagiri village of Suryapet district. He
recently switched to oil palm farming from cotton farming. All these subsidies,
however, cease to exist after four years when the palm trees start bearing fruits,
he complains.

Samnini Nageshwar Rao, an oil palm farmer at Medepally village in Khammam district of
Telangana. Photo by Manish Kumar/Mongabay.

Free electricity and irrigation matter as most farmers use groundwater for oil palm
cultivation in the state. Most of the farmers Mongabay-India met in Khammam,
Kodad and Suryapet districts claim that they use water from wells and borewells
to cultivate oil palm. Each mature oil palm tree requires around 200-250 litres of
water per tree.

Besides the relief in irrigation, the farmers get support for other purposes. For
example, oil-producing companies in the state have their nurseries where they
grow saplings and provide them to farmers at subsidised rates. In Telangana, the
number of oil-producing companies has increased from three to eleven in the last
five years. They have 30 nurseries in the state now, the highest in the country, as
claimed by the state horticulture department.

One of the key attractions of oil palm farming is the buyback guarantee that these
oil companies provide. It has lured many farmers to shift to palm oil, farmers
admitted during the conversation with Mongabay-India.

These farmers are confident about the price as it is decided by the state
horticulture department, depending on the international market. It is also a
prerequisite for the department to establish factories in each district before it is
taken up for palm oil plantation.

Through the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) scheme,
Telangana government gives incentives to farmers to grow intercrops like pulses,
groundnut, and other crops for four years of new palm oil gardens during this
transition period to compensate for the losses due to the shift. These include an
80 percent subsidy to start drip irrigation in palm oil gardens, the government
bearing the majority of the cost of palm oil plant material, and assistance of Rs
10,500/hectare annually for intercropping, among others. The
government plans to give “subsidies of Rs 26000, Rs 5000, and Rs 5000 per acre
in the first, second and third year of palm plantation.”
A young garden (below 4 years) in Medepally village in Telangana. These gardens do not
produce fruit in the initial our years. Photo by Manish Kumar/Mongabay

Experts find the decision to expand palm oil farming beneficial for the farmers.
I.V. Srinivas Reddy, an associate professor at Professor Jayashankar Telangana
State Agricultural University, has researched palm oil production. He told
Mongabay-India that oil palm plantation has some added benefits too. He
claimed that studies have shown that it has good carbon sequestration
tendencies, while the by-product of oil palm could also be used in mulching
activities.

“First of all, oil palm uses four times less water than crops like paddy and
sugarcane. There are other benefits, too, with palm oils. It has helped farmers
increase their incomes and reduce agriculture-related drudgeries and risks of
crop failure and pest attacks. As these are long period crops which are grown up
to 25 years to 30 years, this assures a sustainable income for the farmers,” he
said.

Cultivation concerns
While there is a rosy picture painted at one end, at the other, there are
challenges in oil palm cultivation. Many farmers said there is nothing for small
and marginal farmers in this business. Hariprasad, the farmer from Medepally,
admits that most oil palm farming is confined to big farmers in the state who can
devote more than two hectares of their land to oil palm plantations. The farmers
with small landholdings seldom take up this plantation, he adds. This is because
there is no productivity in the initial four years from the land. These plants have
long gestation periods, and the fruits are born only after four years.

The second issue with increasing oil palm cultivation is the water requirement.
Most farmers are using groundwater for irrigation. If a farmer doesn’t have a
borewell facility, oil palm cultivation is not easy.

A bunch of palm oil fruits in a palm garden at Kodad in Telangana. These are sold in the
processing mills when they mature and turn reddish in colour. Photo by Manish
Kumar/Mongabay

Puspawati Shirarao, a farmer in Kodad in Khammam district, for example, uses

canal water from one of the water reservoirs from Kodad. During summers,
especially in May, the low water availability leads to less production of fruits, she
shares. She says intercropping can be done in oil palm fields primarily in the new
ones, up to the initial four years. “After four years, when the palm oil trees grow
bigger, their strong roots expand underground, and the soil fertility in the free
areas in the farm gets affected. So, it is tough to grow any other crop in these
aged gardens,” she tells Mongabay-India.

Some experts say that the ambitious scale of expansion of oil palm cultivation in
the state may not be economically viable. Ramanjaneyulu G.V., an agricultural
scientist at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, told
Mongabay-India that the impulsive decision of the state government to expand oil
palm cultivation in the state could create new problems. “Till now, the state
government is giving much thrust to a particular crop. The bumper subsidies and
government support have forced many farmers to shift to this plantation. But what
will happen if this support ceases to exist in the future? This comes at a time
when the state is now importing vegetables and other traditionally produced
crops in this state. This could not be an economically viable option for the farmers
and the agriculture sector at large,” he said.

Banner image: Villages cross along a 10-acre aged palm oil garden at
Medepally village in Mudigonda mandal of Khammam district. Photo by Manish
Kumar/Mongabay.

Marketing & Pricing Woes

India being a predominantly agrarian economy, Agriculture is the primary source of
livelihood in the country and a key driver to the economy. The country has made
tremendous progress in Agriculture with increasing production levels during the post-
 independence period, but farmer income has not improved simultaneously owing to
some serious flaws in India’s Agricultural Marketing.

Agricultural marketing refers to the buying and selling of agricultural products.

Modern day agricultural marketing involves a series of exchanges or transfers from
one person to another before it finally reaches the end-user or consumer. There are
mainly three marketing functions involved in this, i.e., assembling, preparation for
consumption and distribution.

In India, most of the agricultural products are sold by farmers to moneylenders or to

village traders. These private traders and middlemen dominate the marketing and
trading of agricultural produce thus exploiting the poor farmers due to lack of
adequate marketing infrastructure in the organised sector.

Many Constraints

 Presence of Too Many Intermediates/Middlemen results in the exploitation of both

farmers and consumers with the middlemen offering lower prices to farmers and
charging higher prices from the consumers.
 Highly Fragmented Nature of Markets across the States denies adequate market
access to the farmers on one side and hinders the development of infrastructure
required for handling of the growing volume of agricultural produce on the other.
 Huge Variation in the Density of Regulated Markets in different parts of the country
acts as a barrier in the efficient handling of ever increasing marketed surplus and easy
market access to farmers.
 Inadequate Marketing Infrastructure restricts the various benefits farmers are entitled
ina regulated market environment. These benefits include covered and open auction
platforms, common drying yards, cold storage, grading facilities, electronic weigh-
bridges.
 High Incidence of Market Fee/Charges including commission charges by the licensed
agents, development cess, entry tax, purchase tax, weighment charges etc. results in a
higher transaction cost and low price realization by the farmers in a regulated market.
 Less Remuneration to the Farmers & High Intermediation Cost in a long supply
chain deny the remunerative prices to the farmers.
 Asymmetry in Market Informationamongest the farmers living in distant areas in rural
India compels the farmers accepting whatever price the traders offer to them.
 Inadequate Rural Farm Credit Facilities compels poor Indian farmers to resort to
‘distress sales’ immediately after the harvest even if the prices are low at that point of
time.
 Lack of All-Weather Transport Facilitiesin many rural areas of the country obstructs
the smooth movement of the agri produce to the marketplace, thus denying fair price to
the farmers.
 Insufficient Storage Facility causes wastage of agri produce and farmers are left with
no choice but to either sell their produce at a low price or to bear huge post-harvest
losses.
 Unfavourable Conditions and Malpractices in Mandis e.g. deducting money for
donations, chanda etc., taking out large amount of grains for sampling, offering lower
prices by terming a product sub-standard, adulteration, black-marketing, hoarding of
stocks etc. take a toll on farmer income.
Importance of Oil Palm
1. Oil palm is one of the highest yielding oilseed crops in the world.

2. It constitutes 33% of global and 60% of India’s edible oil consumption.

India imports 1 crore MTs of crude palm oil worth Rs.80,000 crores from
Malaysia and Indonesia; 2nd highest import after crude oil.

3. Oil palm needs 25% water compared to paddy. Returns from Oil palm
are 5 times of paddy in a fully mature plantation.

4. However, oil palm requires an initial gestation period of 4 years.

Intercropping can supplement earnings during gestation years. To
establish greenfield oil palm plantations, the ecosystem of nurseries,
plantations and oil-mills must be put in place simultaneously.

5. Since oil palm must be crushed within 24 hours of harvest, it is

necessary to create clusters of cultivation (~200-500 acre / village) in a
50 km radius from the mill.
Current Status

6.Oil palm cultivation and processing is regulated through The Telangana

Oil Palm (Regulation of Productions and Processing) Act 1993. The act
mandates all harvest to be mandatorily procured by allotted companies in
the zone at prices determined by state government.

7.Presently 45,000 acres is under oil palm cultivation in Khammam,

Kothagudem and Suryapet. 3 companies operate in Telangana e., TS
Oilfed, Godrej & Ruchi Soya. Oilfed has 2 processing plants in Dammapet
and Ashwaraopet of Kothagudem.
Our Plan for Promotion of Oil Palm

8. GoI has notified an additional target of 8.24 lakh acres in 25 districts of

Telangana. 9 companies have been allotted zones across the state.

9. Our target is to bring over 20 lakh acres under oil palm over 3 years:


1. 1st year (2022-2023): 3 lakh acres
2. 2nd year (2023-2024): 7 lakh acres
3. 3rd year (2024-2025): 10 lakh acres
Financing the Plan and Implementation Arrangements

10. To support farmers, Government may give subsidy of Rs.36,000 per

acre

1. Year 1: Rs 26,000 per acre

2. Year 2: Rs 5,000 per acre
3. Year 3: Rs 5,000 per acre
11. The subsidy will be paid directly into the accounts of the farmers
under the DBT mode like in Rythu Bandhu

12. Total funds required will be Rs 780 Cr during 2022-23, Rs 1,970 Cr in

2023-2024, Rs 3,100 Cr in 2024-25, Rs 850 Cr in 2025-26 and Rs 500 Cr in
2026-27. (See Table below)

13. Government of India offers subsidy support under National Food

Security Mission in the Centre (60%) State (40%) ratio which during the
current year is Rs 21600 and Rs 14400 respectively. The support received
from GoI will be adjusted to the State Government account

14. Possibility of tie up with NABARD and NCDC can be explored to fund
the subsidy portion of the plan

15. Under the act, government may levy a cess on oil palm companies for
purchase of FFBs (fresh fruit bunches). With a FFB cess of Rs.100 / MT, the
state may earn an additional Rs.200 crores per annum from oil palm
companies

16. Banks will be encouraged to make a credit scheme for farmers to

finance oil palm cultivation

17. TS Oilfed be encouraged and supported to establish more oil mills (at
least 30TPH) in a cluster approach. (Each mill @ capital investment: Rs.80
crores and land: 50 acres)

18. Moreover, TS Oil-Fed may consider establishing a JV with prominent

companies from Costa Rica to generate indigenous capabilities in seed
production, nursery management, yield maximization, productive
intercropping and oil processing.

19. To implement the Telangana State Oil Palm Mission, a Cabinet Sub-
Committee headed by the Hon’ble Minister for Horticulture and consisting
of Hon’ble Minister for Finance and Hon’ble Minister for Industries along
with other Hon’ble Ministers as may be decided, be constituted to decide
the policy and implementation strategies

20. Further, an inter-departmental committee of officials may also be

constituted to ensure coordination between departments and drive the
mission.

Anticipated Returns

21. The promotion of Oil Palm in an extent of 20 lakh acres over the next
three years is expected to yield the following returns

21.1 Reduce the burden on paddy procurement by an estimated 25

lakh MTs

21.2 Reduce annual electricity subsidy burden by an estimated Rs

1500 Crore per annum since Oil palm cultivation requires only 25% water
compared to paddy.

21.3 Increase the state’s agriculture GVA (gross value addition) by

10%,

21.4 Increase the annual incomes of an estimated 4 to 5 lakh

households by at least 4 times, generate annual SGST revenues of Rs
2,000 Cr, generate rural employment for 30,000 personnel (direct) and
farm level employment for 200,000 personnel.

22. In this context, the approval of the Cabinet is sought for the following

22.1 Approve the plan for promotion of Oil Palm Plantation in 20 lakhs
acres in the three years from 2022-2023\

22.2 Approve the subsidy pattern of Rs 26000; Rs 5000; and Rs 5000

per acre in the first, second and third year of plantation

22.3 Agree for necessary funding from State Budget/NCDC/NABARD

22.4 Agree to utilize the resources with Forest Department, Forest

Development Corporation and with PR&RD department to raise nurseries

22.5 Agree to depute a team to Costa-Rica, Malayasia, Thailand and

Indonesia to study the crop and its ecosystem
 22.6 Agree to extend the incentives under Tidea and TS SFPZ to the
Oil palm processing units

Table: Budgetary
requirement to bring 20 lakh
acres under oil palm in 3
years
2nd year
1st year Plantation 3rd year Plantation
Year Plantation Total
(3 lakh acres) (10 lakh acres)
(7 lakh acres)

2022-23 Rs 780 Cr – – Rs 780

Cr

2023-24 Rs 150 Cr Rs 1,820 Cr – Rs 1,970

Cr

2024-25 Rs 150 Cr Rs 350 Cr Rs 2,600 Cr Rs 3,100

Cr

2025-26 – Rs 350 Cr Rs 500 Cr Rs 850

Cr

2026-27 – – Rs 500 Cr Rs 500 C

 Spindle bug: Carvalhoia arecae (Miller) (Hemiptera: Miridae)

 Root grub: Leucopholis burmeisteri (Brenske) (Coleoptera:Melolonthidae)
  Rhinocerous beetle: Oryctes rhinoceros (Linneaus) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)
 Red palm weevil: Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (Olivier) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
 Case worm: Pteroma pendula (de Joannis) (Lepidoptera: Psychidae)
 Acaria sp.

Diseases
 Stem wet root/ stem bleeding: Theilaviopsis paradoxa (de Seynes)
 Bud rot disease: Phytophthora palmivora (Butler)
 Basal stem rot: Ganoderma lucidum (Karst)
 Bunch rot: Marasmius palmivorus (Sharples)
 Anthracnose: Botryodiplodia palmarum (Cooker)
 Leaf spot: Pestalotiopsis spp
 Bacterial bud rot/Spear rot: Erwinia spp

Several major, potentially lethal diseases can attack landscape palms in California. The best
strategy for managing these diseases is an integrated approach that combines prevention,
exclusion, sanitation, appropriate species selection, and proper care. Selecting the right palm for
the right spot, then planting and caring for it properly, are critical to avoid most diseases or help
palms recover from some diseases.

Maintain healthy, vigorous palms through appropriate selection and cultivation.

 Select the right palm for the right place.

 Plant and transplant palms correctly.
 Follow appropriate irrigation practices.
 Apply a specialized palm fertilizer—one high in nitrogen and potassium with half as much
magnesium as potassium—following label rates and directions.
 Keep turfgrass, groundcovers, shrubs, and weeds at least 2 feet away from the trunk, and
maintain mulch several inches deep over this area.
 Apply mulch.
 Minimize pruning and other cultivation practices that can wound palms.
 Avoid using chain saws and tree spikes, because they can spread inoculum and cause
wounds.
 Use straight-edge, manual saws, thoroughly disinfect blades before use on each palm, and
prune out and appropriately discard of infected material and palms.
 Don't recycle or chip infected material for use as mulch, because it might contain and spread
the pathogens.

Even if you inherit a poorly adapted or managed palm, providing proper care can significantly
reduce the chances for disease development and help reduce disease severity. Prevention is
usually better than treating a disease after it develops, and in some instances, it is the only option.
Use fungicides only as a last resort.

Table 1 provides quick identification of the major palm diseases discussed in this publication. Table
2 lists common palms in California, their botanical names, and their resistance or susceptibility to
these diseases.

DIAMOND SCALE
Despite the name, diamond scale is not an insect pest. Instead the fungus Phaeochoropsis
neowashingtoniae causes this common foliar disease, which derives its name from its
characteristic black, diamond-shaped fruiting bodies.
Hosts: Diamond scale attacks primarily the California fan palm in coastal regions and the
intermediate and interior valleys of California subject to marine influence; it rarely occurs in arid
regions such as the Central Valley or the deserts of Southern California.

Diamond scale can occur on hybrids of the California fan palm with the Mexican fan palm, and the
incidence and severity usually are proportional to the amount of California fan palm in the hybrid.
Diamond scale has not been observed on pure Mexican fan palm or any other palm species in
California.

Symptoms and Biology: The palm typically has a much reduced canopy of leaves. Older or lower
leaves prematurely yellow and die. Close inspection reveals shiny black, diamond-shaped fruiting
bodies 1/8 to 1/3-inch long by 1/16 to 1/8-inch wide on leaf blades and petioles. Lower, older leaves
are most severely affected because the longer the leaf remains exposed, the greater the number
of infections; however, even upper, new green leaves will have some black fruiting bodies. Initial
infection sites are dark, water-soaked spots the size of a pinprick that eventually turn black and
enlarge.

Heavily infected leaves have a black, sooty dust that rubs off easily when you brush against or
handle them during removal, making the plant a nuisance to work with.

Disease severity often is cyclical. The dry, warm seasons of summer and fall favor growth of
California fan palm rather than diamond scale. Palms tend to grow quickly, producing leaves faster
than the pathogen can colonize them.

In contrast, the moist, cool seasons of winter and spring favor the pathogen over the host. Palms
tend to grow more slowly, and the disease advances higher into the canopy, resulting in a sparse
canopy of leaves.

Because of their more vigorous growth rate, young palms tend to have less disease and a fuller
canopy of leaves than older, less vigorously growing plants.

Although not particularly lethal by itself, diamond scale reduces vigor and stresses the palm,
leaving it vulnerable to other diseases such as pink rot.

Management: The best option in areas where the disease occurs is to replace the California fan
palm with diamond scale-resistant species of similar habit, such as the Mexican blue palm, San
Jose hesper palm, Guadalupe palm, Australian fountain palm, Chinese fountain or fan palm,
Chinese windmill palm, and pure Mexican fan palm.

Keep existing California fan palms as vigorous as possible by irrigating regularly, especially in the
summer and during winters with little rainfall. Fertilize regularly to encourage rapid growth.

The fungal spores that cause diamond scale are everywhere and can travel by wind and water;
therefore, removing and disposing of infected leaves is probably not a viable management
strategy.

Table 1. Identification of Major Palm Diseases in California at a Glance.

Disease and pathogen Common hosts Symptoms

Diamond Scale California fan palm and  Much reduced canopy of leaves.
Phaeochorospsis hybrids with the  Older or lower leaves prematurely
neowashingtoniae Mexican fan palm yellow and die first.
(Washingtonia ×  Small, shiny black, diamond-shaped
filibusta) fruiting bodies on leaf blades and
petioles.

Fusarium Wilt Canary Island date palm  Much reduced canopy of leaves.
Fusarium oxysporum f.  Symptoms usually in older or lower
sp. canariensis leaves first and only on one side of
leaf
 Leaves turn yellow then brown but
remain hanging on the palm
 Most leaves affected or dead in
advanced cases
 Extensive, external, brown to black
discoloration or streaking along the
petiole and rachis
 Reddish-brown internal tissue with a
slight pinkish blush

Petiole/Rachis Blight Mostly the date palms  Reduced canopy of leaves.

Cocoicola californica and fan palms  Lower or older leaves are first and
Serenomyces spp. most severely affected.
 Pinnae die on one side of leaf blade
first in pinnate-leaved date palms
 Segments in the leaf blade yellow
and die in a wedge-shape pattern in
fan palms
 Petiole and rachis have a reddish
brown, dark brown, or even black
streak

Pink Rot Nearly all outdoor  Spotting and rotting on nearly any
Nalanthamala vermoeseni landscape and indoor part of the palm.
palms, especially queen  Symptoms occur on leaf bases,
palm and California fan petioles, rachises, blades, the apical
palm meristem area where leaves are
produced, inflorescences (flower
stalks), roots, and possibly even the
trunk.
 Stunting, distortion, discoloration,
and even death of new leaves as
they emerge from the apical
meristem
 Pinkish spore masses
 Brownish syrupy exudate.

Infected plants weaken and can die,

especially if the apical meristem is attacked

Sudden Crown Drop Canary Island date  Canopy of leaves remains green
Thielaviopsis palm, date palm and healthy
paradoxa (unconfirmed)  Pseudobark appears normal and
intact
 Internal decay destroys the
trunk.Palms frequently pruned with
a chain saw are the most
susceptible.
 Look for palms with sculpted
“pineapples” or, especially,
“skinned” or “peeled” trunks

FUSARIUM WILT
The fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. canariensis causes Fusarium wilt, a lethal vascular disease
of Canary Island date palm. The fungus destroys the vascular tissue of the palm, leading to
decreased water uptake, wilt, and death.

Host: Different forms of Fusarium oxysporum exist, and they typically are host-species-specific.
The form in California, and referred to as forma specialis canariensis, causes disease only on
Canary Island date palms in the landscape. However, in a field experiment forma specialis
canariensis also attacked California fan palm and Senegal date palm. Keep in mind that forma
specialis canariensis has only been observed attacking Canary Island date palms, not other kinds of
palm, in a landscape setting. Other forms of Fusarium oxysporum cause wilts on other kinds of
date palms and other palm species but in other parts of the world.

Symptoms and Biology: The palm has a much reduced canopy of leaves. Symptoms usually
appear in older or lower leaves in the canopy first, then move toward the upper or newest leaves,
although occasionally mid-canopy leaves are affected first. Leaves turn yellow then brown but
remain hanging on the palm.

Initially symptoms might affect the leaflets or pinnae on only one side of the leaf. Pinnae on the
other side remain green, although they eventually also will turn brown and die. This pattern was
once thought to be diagnostic for Fusarium wilt, but other diseases such as petiole and rachis
blights and pink rot also can cause one-sided death of leaves. Pinnae death typically occurs first at
the base then moves progressively toward the leaf tip, although this pattern sometimes is
reversed.

In contrast to petiole and rachis blights (see later), which also produce one-sided leaf death but
only on a few leaves, typically with Fusarium wilt many leaves in the canopy are affected or dead.
The quantity of diseased or dead leaves or green, healthy leaves in the canopy can help to identify
most cases of Fusarium wilt. Typically with Fusarium wilt a preponderance of leaves in the canopy
will be affected or dead. Similarly, if the palm is frequently pruned to remove dead leaves and
constantly appears to have a much reduced canopy of living leaves, it likely has Fusarium wilt.

Another common symptom of Fusarium wilt is extensive, external, brown to black discoloration
or streaking along the petiole and rachis. This streaking corresponds to internal discoloration of
vascular tissue when viewed in transverse section. Internally the tissue is reddish-brown and often
has a slight pinkish blush; although incompletely understood, this pinkish discoloration might be
diagnostic for the disease.

In the landscape, Fusarium wilt nearly always spreads on pruning tools, especially chain saws. The
pathogen enters cut petioles and, in extreme cases, the cut and exposed vascular tissue of
severely pruned or skinned trunks (trunks where the persistent leaf bases have been skinned or
peeled off). The pathogen can spread indirectly during pruning, because contaminated sawdust
can drift as far as 100 feet.

The pathogen also can spread by entering the palm through its roots. Canary Island date palms
tend to form a dense, extensive network of above-ground roots called pneumatophores, especially
under excessively damp or wet conditions, and these may facilitate pathogen entry.

Fusarium wilt might spread if people dispose of diseased palms or their seeds using a municipal
yard-waste program that recycles debris into mulch. The pathogen can survive in the soil for at
least 25 years.

Infected palms can die within a few months after symptoms appear, or they can linger for several
years. Because wilt diseases decrease the ability of the host to take up water, palms with Fusarium
wilt in cooler, more humid environments such as near the coast, might show reduced disease
severity and survive for many years. Infected palms in hotter, drier interior climates might show
severe symptoms and die rapidly.

Because Fusarium wilt stresses palms, the opportunistic and mostly secondary disease pink rot is
frequently present and can obscure or mask symptoms and hasten death. In fact, pink rot might
kill a palm before Fusarium wilt runs its course.
Management: Because no cure exists for Fusarium wilt and it is nearly 100 percent fatal,
prevention and exclusion are critical to disease management. When first planting, obtain palms
from a reliable source, and avoid poorly drained soils and excessive irrigation that can increase the
formation of above-ground roots.

Keep the area around the base of the trunk free of plants, which can damage above-ground roots,
and avoid using municipal yard waste as mulch on Canary Island date palms.

Do not replant a Canary Island date palm in the same site where one died or was removed because
of Fusarium wilt. The fungus surviving can infect a new, healthy palm. Instead, use other species of
palms including Mexican blue palm, San Jose hesper palm, Guadalupe palm, pindo palm, queen
palm, and Mexican fan palm.

If you want the date palm "look," consider staminate (male) plants of the date palm (Phoenix
dactylifera), which are more robust than the pistillate (female) fruit-bearing plants and more
closely imitate the larger, robust habit of Canary Island date palms.

Frequently pruned Canary Island date palms are more likely to suffer from Fusarium wilt than those
in an unmaintained setting. If you must prune, thoroughly clean and disinfect all tools prior to work
on each palm by vigorously brushing them to remove sawdust and other particles. Disinfect the
tools for 10 minutes in a 1:3 pine-oil-to-water solution, 1:1 solution of household bleach, or heat
saw blades for at least 10 seconds per side with a handheld butane torch. Clean and disinfect (as
described above) all tools used in the root zones of Canary Island date palms such as shovels,
spades, rakes, hoes, and weeders, because they can spread the disease.

Use manual pruning saws rather than chain saws whenever possible, because chain saws are
difficult if not impossible to clean and disinfect adequately. If you have extremely valuable palms,
consider using a new saw for each tree, which you either could discard after one use or dedicate
for future use on that one palm only. Avoid pruning palms in windy weather to minimize the spread
of sawdust.

Because a Canary Island date palm with Fusarium wilt eventually will die, it is prudent to remove it
as soon as possible. To avoid spreading the pathogen, excavate the root ball and use a crane to
remove the palm with its crown of leaves, trunk, and root ball still attached, if possible. Keep
cutting, grinding, and digging to a minimum.

Use plastic or wooden barriers to contain sawdust and other diseased plant parts during removal.
After collecting and securely bagging all debris, prepare removed palms for incineration or removal
to a landfill; do not use a waste recycling program. Removing the soil will likely not prevent the
spread of Fusarium wilt because just one small piece of infected root is all that is necessary to
infect a newly planted palm.

Table 2. Common Palms of California and Their Relative Disease Susceptibility.

Mostly Diamon Fusariu Petiole/Rachis Pink Sudden

Disease d m Blights Rot Crown
Resistant Scale Wilt Drop

Australian fountain palm X

(Livistona australis)

Bamboo palm X
(Chamaedorea spp.)

California fan palm X X X

(Washingtonia filifera)

Canary Island date palm X X X X

(Phoenix canariensis)

Chinese fountain or fan X

palm (Livistona chinensis)
Chinese windmill palm X
(Trachycarpus fortunei)

Date palm (Phoenix X X X

dactylifera)

Fishtail palm X
(Caryota spp.)

Guadalupe palm (Brahea X

edulis)

Kentia palm (Howea X

forsteriana)

King palm X
(Archontophoenix
cunninghamiana)

Lady palm (Rhapis spp.) X

Majesty palm (Ravenea X

rivularis)

Mediterranean fan palm X

(Chamaerops humilis)

Mexican blue palm X

(Brahea armata)

Mexican fan palm X X

(Washingtonia robusta)

Pindo palm (Butia X

odorata; sometimes
known by the misapplied
name B. capitata)

Pygmy date palm (Phoenix X X

roebelenii)

Queen palm (Syagrus X

romanzoffiana)

San Jose hesper palm X

(Brahea brandegeei)

Senegal date palm X X

(Phoenix reclinata)

Triangle palm (Dypsis X

decaryi)

PETIOLE AND RACHIS BLIGHTS

Cocoicola spp. and Serenomyces spp. are the primary pathogens causing petiole and rachis blights
in palms although other fungi, including Diplodia, Dothiorella, Fusicoccum, Macrophoma, Phoma,
and Phomopsis have also been implicated. The diseases cause the petiole (the slender stalk
holding the leaf blade to the leaf base) and sometimes the rachis (the extension of the petiole with
pinnae along its length), and then the entire leaf to die. Although typically not lethal, they can
stress the palm sufficiently that other diseases kill it.
Hosts: Petiole and rachis blights primarily attack date palms and California and Mexican fan
palms.

Symptoms and Biology: The palm often has a reduced canopy of leaves. Lower or older leaves
are first and most severely affected. In the pinnate-leaved date palms pinnae typically die on one
side of leaf blade first, with those on the opposing side remaining green (compare with Fusarium
wilt earlier). In the fan palms, segments in the leaf blade yellow and die in a wedge-shape pattern.
In both types of palms the petiole and rachis typically have a reddish brown, dark brown, or even
black streak that corresponds to internal discoloration of vascular tissue when viewed in transverse
section. Close examination of diseased petioles and rachises might reveal fungal structures of the
pathogen, especially fruiting bodies, causing the blight. Eventually the entire leaf dies.

In contrast to Fusarium wilt on Canary Island date palms, which also produces one-sided leaf death
and affects many leaves in the canopy, typically with petiole and rachis blights only a few leaves in
the canopy are diseased.

While pinnae (of a pinnate leaf) or segments (of a fan or palmate leaf) die, they are not infected;
only the petiole or rachis is infected. Pinnae and segments die because the pathogen has caused
vascular tissues in the petiole or rachis to die. Although the disease can move higher into the
canopy, killing more leaves, it rarely kills the palm; however, it can weaken or stress a palm so that
another disease like pink rot can kill it.

Management: Little is known about management of petiole and rachis blights and environmental
factors that favor disease development. Because fungal spores are probably the primary methods
of disease spread and high humidity is likely an important factor encouraging disease
development, sanitation and water management are critical in managing these blights.

Removal and disposal of affected leaves might be a means of reducing disease spread to nearby
palms. On smaller palms avoid overhead irrigation. Maintain palms in optimal cultivation and
health as described earlier.

PINK ROT
The fungus Nalanthamala vermoeseni (previously called Penicillium vermoeseni or Gliocladium
vermoeseni) causes the disease pink rot. Caused by a weak but opportunistic pathogen, pink rot
primarily is a secondary disease that affects stressed, weakened, and or wounded palms. While it
can attack all parts of a palm, it is most problematic in the growing tips, or apical meristem where
new leaves are produced, and in newly emerged leaves. Its role in causing trunk decay on queen
palm and other species is unconfirmed.

Hosts: Pink rot can affect nearly all outdoor landscape and indoor palms in California, including
king palms, bamboo palms, some date palms, Chinese windmill palms, kentia palms, queen palms,
and California fan palms.

Symptoms and Biology: Symptoms of pink rot are variable and include spotting and rotting on
nearly any part of the palm. Symptoms occur on leaf bases, petioles, rachises, blades, the apical
meristem area where leaves are produced, inflorescences (flower stalks), roots, and even
the trunk although this latter occurrence is unconfirmed in many cases. Stunting, distortion,
discoloration and even death of new leaves as they emerge from the apical meristem is
common. Pinkish spore masses, from which the disease derives its name, are often present,
especially when protected behind overlapping leaf bases or other structures. Brownish syrupy
exudate also might be present. Infected plants weaken and decline and eventually can die,
especially if the apical meristem is attacked.

Like diamond scale, disease severity frequently can be cyclical in large, established palms. For
example, the pathogen can infect growing tips and spear leaves, the youngest leaves that have not
yet unfolded, during the cooler, moist weather of winter and spring when leaf production and
growth are slow. This scenario is especially true of California fan palms. As weather warms in late
spring and early summer and the winter-produced spear leaves push out and unfold, previous
damage appears even though the disease no longer is active. The palm then produces an
abundance of disease-free leaves during vigorous summer and fall growth. As leaf production and
growth slow in the winter, the disease becomes more active again. This cyclical nature and the way
palms produce leaves sequentially in the crown often results in a distinctive pattern of a few
damaged leaves regularly distributed among otherwise healthy ones.

Cultivation or environmental conditions can stress or weaken palms, making them susceptible to
pink rot. These conditions include:

 palms planted too deeply

 transplanted palms, especially when done at the incorrect time of year, such as the fall and
winter
 excessive irrigation
 poor drainage
 poorly aerated root zones
 improper nutrition
 pest infestations and other diseases and disorders
 cold weather or freeze damage
 inappropriate pruning and leaf-base removal
 poorly adapted species

Although not always necessary for disease development, wounds facilitate pathogen entry and
increase infection risks. Avoid injuring palms when pruning and performing other horticultural
procedures. Especially avoid premature leaf-base removal, which can tear and wound the trunk,
causing permanent damage and increasing infection risk.

High humidity and temperatures of 65° to 80°F favor the pathogen and disease development.
Palms grown in cool, humid, coastal areas are more susceptible to pink rot than those grown in
warmer, more arid, inland sites. Pink rot is unusually problematic on bamboo palms produced in
humid greenhouses nurseries, especially if overhead sprinkler irrigation is used; in these situations
it causes leaf and trunk rot, bleeding, wilt, and death.

The fungal spores that cause pink rot are everywhere and can travel by wind and water; therefore,
removing and disposing of infected leaves is probably not a viable management strategy.

The judicious and temporary use of some fungicides can be effective in suppression of pink rot until
the cultivation problems stressing the palm can be corrected; however, fungicidal treatment alone
is not a viable management strategy. Fungicides can be beneficial after heavy pruning to protect
wounds and freshly cut, immature tissue, or both, or temporarily to protect stressed palms in
unfavorable environmental conditions.

SUDDEN CROWN DROP

Sudden crown drop is a lethal disease where, as the name implies, the entire crown, including the
canopy of leaves and upper part of the trunk, which can weigh several tons, fails and drops from
the top of the trunk with little or no warning. Hidden internal decay weakened the trunk until it
could no longer support the crown.

Although the fungus Thielaviopsis paradoxa has been isolated from Canary Island date palms that
have failed due to sudden crown drop, it is unconfirmed that this pathogen is the primary cause of
the disease. Other pathogens might be involved, either alone or in tandem with T. paradoxa.

Hosts: Sudden crown drop primarily affects Canary Island date palms and, to a lesser extent, date
palms.

Symptoms and Biology: Unfortunately, no conspicuous symptoms of sudden crown drop occur.
The canopy of leaves typically remains green and healthy and the outer layer of trunk tissue
(pseudobark) appears normal and intact, making this disease extremely problematic to detect.
However, internally hidden decay is destroying the trunk in a roughly hourglass shape, with the
healthy tissue on the inside and the decayed tissue on the outside still within the intact
pseudobark. Sufficient healthy tissue remains inside the trunk to maintain a normal-appearing
canopy of leaves. Eventually, the healthy tissue in the “waist" or constricted part of the hourglass
is insufficient to support the weight above it, and the trunk fails, suddenly dropping the crown of
leaves and attached portion of trunk.

Although cultural factors, including drought stress, may promote disease development and severity
in Canary Island date palms, the extensive use of chain saws to prune leaves and to shape and
sculpt "pineapples," the ball-like mass of persistent leaf bases just below the leaves, and especially
to “skin” or “peel” trunks of old, persistent leaf bases can create gaping wounds that facilitate
pathogen entry and onset of decay. Thus, annual screening or testing is essential for detection.

Frequently pruned Canary Island date palms, especially those with a history of chain saw pruning,
are the most susceptible to sudden crown drop. Look for palms with sculpted pineapples or,
especially, skinned or peeled trunks below the leaves where the surface appears smooth, devoid of
elliptic leaf base scars, or even straight-sided instead of round, sure indicators of past chain saw
use. Not only can such severe pruning create entry sites for the pathogen, the typical position of
such pruning, high up on the trunk where tissues have yet to attain anywhere near their maximum
strength and resistance to decay, increases the likelihood of decay and crown drop.

Management: Avoid pruning practices such as sculpting pineapples, and skinning or peeling
trunks of old leaf bases, which typically create large wounds that facilitate pathogen entry.

Thoroughly clean and disinfect all pruning tools prior to work on each palm by vigorously brushing
them to remove sawdust and other particles. Disinfect the tools for 10 minutes in a 1:3 pine-oil-to-
water solution, 1:1 solution of household bleach and water, or heat the saw blades for at least 10
seconds per side with a handheld butane torch. Clean and disinfect as described all tools used in
the root zones of Canary Island date palms, such as shovels, spades, rakes, hoes, and weeders,
which can spread the disease.

For detection of sudden crown drop use a heavy rubber mallet or sturdy wooden stick to sound and
listen for hidden decay in the upper part of the trunk. When sharply struck, healthy tissue emits a
solid, sharp, resonating tone and the stick bounces back quickly. In contrast, decayed tissue emits
a low, dull thud when sharply struck and the stick does not bounce back with much force. If
sounding detects decayed tissue, then the area can be probed with a long, sharp, slender tool to
determine extent of decay. If decay is extensive, the palm should be removed.

Because a Canary Island date palm with sudden crown drop will eventually die and poses an
extreme and imminent hazard, it is prudent to remove it as soon as possible following the same
procedures outlined earlier under Fusarium wilt to prevent the spread of pathogens.

Weeds

Broad leaf weeds

 Crofton weed: Eupatorium odoratum L. (Asteraceae)
 Sensitive plant: Mimosa pudica L. (Fabaceae)
 Siam weed: Chromolaena odorata (L) R.M. King & H. Rob (Asteraceae)
 Carrot grass: Parthenium hysterophorus L. (Asteraceae)
 Coat buttons: Tridax procumbens L. (Asteraceae)
 Horse purslane: Trianthema portulacastrum L. (Aizoaceae)
 Pig weed: Amaranthus viridis Hook. F. (Amaranthaceae)
 Common purselane: Portulaca oleracea L. (Portualacaceae)
 Plantation bindweed: Convolvulus arvensis L. (Convolvulaceae)
 Painted spurge: Euphorbia geniculata (Ortega) Klotzsch & Garcke (Euphorbiaceae)
 False Mallow: Malvastrum coromandelianum (L.) Garcke (Malvaceae)
Grassy weeds
 Cogon grass: Imperata cylindrical (L.) Raeusch. (Poaceae)
 Goosegrass: Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertner. (Poaceae)
 Burmuda Grass:Cynodon dactylon (Poaceae)
 Rabbit/crow foot grass: Dactyloctenium aegyptium (L.) Willd (Poaceae) Sedges
 Purple nutsedge: Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae)
 Flat sedge: Cyperus iria L. (Cyperaceae)

Rodents
 Lesser bandicoot: Bandicota bengalensis
 Soft furred plantation rat: Millardia meltada
 Common house rat: Rattus rattus

Vertebrate pest
 Common mynah: Acidotheres tristis
 Forest crow

Pest of Regional Significance

Insect and Mite pests

 Scale: Aspidiotus destructor (Signoret) (Hemiptera: Diaspididae)

 Mealy bug: Dysmicoccus brevipes (Cockerell) (Homoptera: Pseudococcidae)
 Termites: Odontotermes obesus (Rambur) (Isoptera: Termiitidae)
 Nettle caterpillar: Thosea andamanica (Holloway) (Lepidoptera: Limacodidae)
 Mite: Tetranychus piercei (McGergor) ((Acarida: Tetranychidae)
Fungal diseases[edit]
Fungal diseases

Bayoud (Fusariose) Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. albedinis

Belaat Phytophthora sp.

 Ceratocystis paradoxa

Bending head Chalara paradoxa [anamorph]

= Thielaviopsis paradoxa
Lasiodiplodia theobromae
= Botryodiplodia theobromae

Black leaf spot Coniothyrium palmarum (Israel, India and Cyprus) [1]

Ceratocystis paradoxa
Black scorch
Chalara paradoxa [anamorph]

Diplodia phoenicum
Diplodia disease Lasiodiplodia theobromae
= Diplodia natalensis

Alternaria spp.
Aspergillus spp.
Fruit rots
Fusarium spp.
Penicillium spp., etc.

Graphiola leaf spot Graphiola phoenicis

Diplodia spp.
Inflorescence rot Fusarium spp.
hielaviopsis spp.

Khamedj Mauginiella scaettae

Leaf dieback Alternaria sp.
Omphalia tralucida
Omphalia root rot
Omphalia pigmentata

Pestalotiopsis palmarum
Pestalotia leaf spot
= Pestalotia palmarum

Mycosphaerella tassiana
Taches brunes (brown leaf
spot) Cladosporium herbarum [anamorph]

Ceratocystis paradoxa
Terminal bud rot
Chalara paradoxa [anamorph]

Wilt of fruit bunches Fusarium moniliforme

Nematodes, parasitic[edit]
Nematodes, parasitic

Root knot Meloidogyne arenaria

 Meloidogyne hapla
Meloidogyne incognita
Meloidogyne javanica

Root lesion Pratylenchus penetrans

Insect pests[edit]
Insect pests

hole excavation Rhynchophorus ferrugineus[2][3]

seed eating Coccotrypes dactyliperda

sap sucking, sooty

Ommatissus lybicus (the "Dubas bug")
mould formation
 OILPALM

INTRODUCTION
Oil palm requires evenly distributed annual rainfall of 2000 mm without a defined dry season. In areas
with dry spell, a deep soil with high water holding capacity and a shallow water table augmented with
copious irrigation will satisfy the water requirement of the palm.

Temperature can be a limiting factor for oil palm production Best oil palm yields are obtained in places
where a maximum average temperature of 29-33oC and minimum average temperature of 22-24oC
are available. Higher diurnal temperature variation causes floral abortion in regions with a dry season.

The crop requires 1800-2000 sunlight hours annually, more than 300 cal/cm2 / per day, constant
sunlight of atleast 5 hours per day for better oil palm yield.

Moist, deep and well drained medium textured soils rich in humus content are considered ideal.
Gravelly and sandy soils, particularly the coastal sands are not ideal for oil palm cultivation. Heavy
clay soils with poor drainage properties may pose problems of aeration during rainy seasons.

NURSERY AND ITS MANAGEMENT

Nursery is raised by planting germinated sprouts initially in a pre-nursery bed or in polybags in a
primary nursery and transplanting them at five leaf stage to a secondary nursery of large sized
polybags. Raising seedlings in large polybags without a pre-nursery stage is also being practiced.

The potting mixture is made by mixing top soil, sand and well decomposed cattle manure in equal
proportions. Smaller polybags of 250 guage and 23 x 13 cm size, preferably black are used for raising
primary nurseries. These bags are filled with the potting mixture leaving one cm at the top of the bag.
A healthy germinated sprout is placed at the centre at 2.5 cm depth. While placing the sprout, care
must be taken to keep the plumule of the sprout facing upwards and the radicle downwards in the soil.
It is better to plant sprouts soon after the differentiation of radicle and plumule. The seedlings are to
be watered daily. Application of a fertilizer mixture containing one part of ammonium sulphate, one
part of super phosphate, one part of muriate of potash and two parts of magnesium sulphate is
recommended at 15 g at one month stage, 45 g at three months stage and 60 g at six months stage
per seedling. This has to be applied 6 - 8 cm away from seedlings during the first application, 10-12
cm away during second and 15-20 cm away during the third application in primary nursery. Surface
soil is slightly scratched at the time of fertilizer application.

SINGLE STAGE POLY BAG NURSERY AND SECONDARY NURSERY

The germinated seeds can be directly planted into large black polybags with the advantage of
avoiding the pre-nursery stage. At present the single stage polybag nursery is recommended in India.
Since the plants are to remain in these polybags for more than one year, good quality polybags of 500
gauge and 40 x 45 cm size are to be used. On the lower half of the bag, perforations are made at an
interval of 7.5 cm for drainage. A bag can carry 15 - 18 kg of nursery soil depending on the type of soil
mixture used.

The water requirement for different stages of growth of seedlings are as follows: 0 - 2 months at 4
mm/day, 2 - 4 months at 5 mm/day, 4 - 6 months at 7 mm/day and 6 - 8 months at 10 mm/day. It is
better to supply if feasible the daily requirement in two halves to prevent overflow and wastage
caused by one time application. Application of 9 - 18 lit. of water per seedling per week according to
the stage of growth and soil type.

FIELD PLANTING
Prepare the land for oil palm plantings at least 3 months before transplanting the seedlings to the
main field. In soils with low permeability, drainage channels are to be constructed to prevent water
stagnation in upper layer of soil.

AGE OF SEEDLINGS AT TRANSPLANTING

It is advisable to plant well grown seedlings of 12 - 14 months old. At this stage, a well developed
tenera seedling will have a height of 1-1.3 m from base and will have more than 13 functional leaves.
These seedlings were found to maintain higher leaf production, bear earlier, produce heavy bunches,
give higher fruit/bunch ratio and a higher oil to mesocarp in the first year of harvest.

SELECTION OF SEEDLINGS
All deformed, diseased and elongated seedlings are to be discarded. Differences in the height of
healthy seedlings ranging from 90 to 159 cm tend to even up after 14 months of transplanting to
maintain.

TIME OF TRANSPLANTING
Transplanting to the main field has to be done during the onset of rainy season. In very impermeable
soils and where there is chance for the seedlings to suffer severely during rainy season, proper
drainage has to be ensured.

SPACING AND METHOD OF PLANTING

The optimum planting density for oil palm is the density of population that gives maximum production
from unit area. Triangular system of planting with 9 x 9 x 9 m spacing accommodates 143 palms/ha. is
being recommended. For efficient utilization of solar energy the rows are to be oriented in the North-
South direction. Equilateral triangular system of planting with 9 m spacing between palms will allow
each plant to occupy the centre of a hexagon thus allowing better use of the area.

TRANSPORTING SEEDLINGS AND PREPARING PITS

While transporting seedlings to the planting site one hand is placed at the bottom of the bag while
holding the plant collar with the other one. Leather gloves can be used to avoid injury with spines of
the leaves.

Pits of 60 cm3 are taken prior to planting and filled with surrounding top soil and allowed to settle.
Rock phosphate is applied at 200 g per planting pit. Nitrogen is not usually applied in the planting pits
as the application of fertilizers may damage the root system and affect survival of the plants if there is
a dry period soon after planting. Nitrogen and potassium are usually applied 4 - 6 weeks after
planting. In Mg deficient soils, magnesium is applied at 100 g as anhydrous MgSO4 or 200 g epsum
salt per seedling.

REPLACEMENT AND GAP FILLING

Field inspection is carried out one to two months after planting to gap fill dead plants. Replanting is
carried out during the onset of next monsoon. These palms are to be given special care so that they
can catch up with the rest of the plantations. Early production of more female inflorescences in the
initial 30 months, is an indication of high yielders and all those that fail to produce female bunches will
remain as poor yielders. However, replacements are found to be affected to some extent by the
vigorous growth of the neighbouring palms which will shade the replanted palms.

FERTILIZER REQUIREMENT
Based on the fertilizer experiments conducted under rainfed conditions in India, the following fertilizer
schedule is recommended for oil palm until specific results are derived from multilocational fertilizer
trials.

Fertilizer recommendation for oilpalm

Nutrients
Age (gram/palm/year)
N P K
First year 400 200 400
Second year 800 400 800
Third year 1200 600 2700

METHOD OF FERTILIZER APPLICATION

The fertilizers are preferably applied in two equal split doses during May - June and September -
October by uniformly spreading them within a 2 metre circle around the base of the palm and forking
to incorporate them into the soil. Supply of sufficient quantity of green leaves or compost is
advantageous especially where the soil is poor in organic matter content. Mg deficiency can be
corrected through the application of 500 g of MgSO4 /palm/year. Borax @ 100g per palm per year is
also recommended.

Urea is found to be the most economic nitrogen source if losses by volatilization and leaching are
minimised. Rock phosphate and muriate of potash are the best source for phosphorus and potassium
respectively. During the initial years fertilizers may be applied within the area covered by the crown
canopy. In the case of older palms, fertilizers are applied depending on the concentration of roots and
are usually applied in the weeded circle. Appropriate soil conservation methods such as growing
cover crops and platform cutting (on sloppy lands) enhance the efficiency of fertilizers by preventing
losses through run off.

NUTRIENTS - FUNCTIONS AND DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS

The effect of major nutrients on growth and yield of oil palm has been studied in most of the oil palm
growing countries in Asia and Africa.

a) Nitrogen: In oil palm, characteristic yellowing symptoms are developed under N deficiency
conditions. Nitrogen is found to be essential for rapid growth and fruiting of the palm. It increases the
leaf production rate, leaf area, net assimilation rate, number of bunches and bunch weight. Excessive
application of nitrogen increases the production of male inflorescence and decreases female
inflorescence thereby reducing the sex ratio.

b) Phosphorus: In oil palm seedlings, P deficiency causes the older leaves to become dull and
assume a pale olive green colour while in adult palms high incidence of premature desiccation of
older leaves occurs. Phosphorus application increases the bunch production rate, bunch weight,
number of female inflorescences and thereby the sex ratio. However, lack of response to P due to P
fixation in soils is very common in the tropics. Eventhough the main effect of phosphorus on the
productivity of the palm has not been significant in most studies, it gives a positive interaction with
nitrogen and potassium.

c) Potassium: When potassium is deficient, growth as well as yield is retarded and it is

translocated from mature leaves to growing points. Under severe deficiency, the mature leaves
become chlorotic and necrotic. Confluent orange spotting is the main K deficiency condition in oil palm
in which chlorotic spots, changing from pale green through yellow to orange, develop and enlarge
both between and across the leaflet, veins and fuse to form compound lesions of a bright orange
colour. Necrosis within spots is common, but irregular. Mid crown yellowing is another prominent K
deficiency condition of the palm in which leaves around the 10th position on the phyllotaxy become
pale in colour followed by terminal and marginal necrosis. A narrow band along the midrib usually
remains green. There is a tendency for later formed leaves to become short and the palm has an
unthrifty appearance with much premature withering.

Potassium removal is large compared to the normal exchangeable K content in most top soils. It is
mostly required for the production of more number of bunches, maximum number of female
inflorescences, increased bunch weight and also for increasing the total dry matter production and
yield.

d) Magnesium: In adult oil palm and in seedlings in the field, severe Mg deficiency symptoms are
most striking and have been named as ‘orange frond’. While the lower most leaves are dead, those
above them show a gradation of colouring from bright orange on the lower leaves to faint yellow on
leaves of young and intermediate age. The youngest leaves do not show any discolouration. The
most typical Mg-deficiency symptom is the shading effect in which the shaded portion of the leaflet will
be dark green while the exposed portion of the same leaflet is chlorotic. Heavy rates of K applications
induce Mg-deficiency, particularly on poor acid soils.

Among the secondary nutrients, calcium and sulphur, and probably chlorine, may not pose much
problems to oilpalm cultivation in the country.

e) Micronutrients: Micronutrient elements, iron, manganese, copper and zinc are not generally
found limiting in the nutrition of oil palm on acid soil conditions. Boron deficiency is occasionally found
on young palms in the field showing a reduction of leaf area in certain leaves producing incipient ‘little
leaf’, advanced ‘little leaf’ with extreme reduction of leaf area and bunching and reduction in the
number of leaflets and ‘fish-bone’ leaf. The ‘fish-bone’ leaves are abnormally stiff with leaflets reduced
to projections. Leaf malformations including ‘hook leaf’ and corrugated leaflets are some other
associated symptoms. Soil application of 50 - 200 g borax decahydrate, per palm, depending on age,
and severity of symptoms is practiced for correcting the malady.

WATER REQUIREMENT
Continuous soil moisture availability encourages vigorous growth and increased yield of oil palm.
Adequate supply of water, good soil depth and water holding capacity contribute to water availability.
In oil palm as water deficiency increases, stomata will remain closed and the development and
opening of spear will be inhibited. Water deficiency adversely affects flower initiation, sex
differentiation and therefore, results in low sex ratio due to production of more male inflorescences. It
is established that oil palm needs 120 - 150 mm of water to meet its monthly evapo-transpiration
needs. In areas where perennial water source is available, basin irrigation is possible. But where the
terrain is undulating and water is scarce during summer months, drip irrigation is recommended to
keep four drippers per palm in the weeded palm circle to supply atleast 90 litres of water per palm per
day during summer months which will vary according to the ETP values in a locality.

WEED CONTROL
The basin area of oil palm is kept free of weed growth through ring weeding. It is more important for
young palms, roots of which are to be kept free from competition from weed. Depending on the extent
of weed growth and rainfall, hand weeding is carried out even upto four times in a year during early
years of the plantation which is progressively reduced to two rounds a year.

Herbicide application has become common in recent years. Care must be taken in the choice of
herbicide and its application to prevent the damage of young palms. It is recommended to preferably
apply contact herbicides rather than translocated herbicides. Translocated herbicides like Paraquat
which is inactivated when contacted with soil are also used. Herbicides such as 2, 4-D, 2, 4-5-T,
halogenated aliphatic acids Dalapon and TCA are found to produce abnormalities in oil palm
seedlings and are to be avoided. Herbicide mixtures of 2 kg a.i. of Paraquat with 3 - 4 kg Atrazine
Monuron and Diuron per ha sprayed/ground applied twice a year has been found to give control of
weeds.
MAINTENANCE OF PATHS
In young plantation, the maintenance of paths is important for inspection and in later years for
harvesting. This is carried out by timely weed control as done in the case of ring weeding.

ABLATION
The bunches produced initially will be very small and have low oil content. Removal of such
inflorescences is called ablation or castration. Removal of all inflorescences during the initial three
years is found to improve vegetative growth of young palms so that regular harvesting can commence
after three and half years of planting. Ablation is done at monthly interval by pulling out the young
inflorescence using gloves or with the help of devices such as narrow bladed chisels. Ablation
improves drought resistance capacity of young palms by improving shoot and root growth especially
in low production areas where dry condition exists.

PRUNING OF LEAVES
In oil palm two leaves are produced per month. Therefore, it becomes necessary to prune excess
leaves so as to gain access to bunches for harvest. Severe pruning will adversely affect both growth
and yield of palm, cause abortion of female flowers and also reduce the size of the leaves. It was
suggested that palms aged 4 - 7 years should retain 6 - 7 leaves per spiral (48 - 56), those aged 8 -
14 years 5 - 6 leaves per spiral (40 - 49) and those above 15 years should have 4 - 5 leaves per spiral
(32 - 40). Leaf pruning is carried out in India using chisels so that leaf base that is retained on the
palm is as short as possible or otherwise it may catch loose fruits, allow growth of epiphytes and the
leaf axils form a potential site for pathogens. The leaf petioles are removed by giving a clear cut at a
sufficient distance from the base of the petiole using a sharp chisel for young palms and with the long
sickle in taller palms.

Pruning is preferably carried out at the end of the rainy season. It is also better to carry it out during
the low crop season when labourers are also available. Pruning is confined to only lower senile leaves
during initial harvests but when canopy closes in later years, leaves are cut so as to retain two whorls
of fronds below the ripe bunch.

Insect pollination in oil palm

The oil palm, hitherto though to be wind pollinated, has been now proved to be an a insect pollinated
species. From West Africa, the original home of oil palm, eight species of pollinating weevils were
reported. Occurence of Eldeidobius kamerunicus in the oil palm plantations of Kerala was
introduced during 1985 from where it was introduced and got established in little Andamans during
1986.

The weevils are dark brown in colour. Adult weevils feed on the anther filament. Eggs are deposited
inside the male flowers and larva feeds on the spent flowers. Life-cycle is completed within 11 to 13
days. Males live longer than females. The activity of the insects is in accordance with the receptivity of
the male and female inflorescences. It was roughly estimated that 40 palms in a grove might be the
minimum to sustain a sufficiently high continuous population of pollinators to pollinate. All are
receptive female inflorescences. The weevils carry maximum pollen during the third day of antheses.
Antennae, rostrum, thorax, legs etc. are the main sites of pollen land. E.kamerunicushas a fairly good
searching ability. It can survive in dry as well as in wet seasons.

Introduction of weevil in India increased the fruit let from 36.8 percent to 56.1 percent resulting in 40
per cent increase in F/B ratio. The maximum attainable pollination potential was as much as to cent
percent with 57 percent increase in FFB weight.

For introduction, male flowers cut from palms which have the weevils are transferred to a plantation
where one wishes to introduce. In order to make sure that they are not carrying any plant pathogens
to other area/countries, we have to breed them under laboratory conditions for seven or eight
generations before introduction.

HARVESTING
Proper and timely harvesting of fruit bunches is an important operation which determines the quality of
oil to a great extent. The yield is expressed as fresh fruit bunches (FFB) in kg per hectare per year or
as oil per hectare per year. The bunches usually ripen in six months after anthesis. Unripe fruits
contain high water and carbohydrate and very little oil. As the fruit ripens oil content increase to 80 -
85% in mesocarp. Over ripe fruit contains more free fatty acids (FFA) due to decomposition and thus
increases the acidity. Usually the ripe fruits, attached to the bunches contain 0.2 to 0.9% FFA and
when it comes out of extraction plant the FFA content is above 3%.Ripeness of the fruit is determined
by the degree of detachment of the fruit from bunches, change in colour and change in texture of the
fruit. Ripening of fruits start from top downwards, nigrescens fruits turning reddish orange and the
virescens (green) to reddish brown. Fruits also get detached from tip downward in 11 - 20 days time.
Ripeness is faster in young palms than in older palms for the bunches of equal weight. The criteria
used in determining the degree of ripeness based on the fruit detachment are as follows:

a)fallen fruits: 10 detached or easily removable fruits for young

palms and 5 for adult palms,
b)number of fruits detached after the bunch is cut; 5 or more
fruits/kg of bunch weight,
c)quantity of detachment per bunch; fruit detachment on 25% of
visible surface of bunch.

These criteria could be applied with flexibility.

FREQUENCY OF HARVESTING
Harvesting rounds should be made as frequent as possible to avoid over ripening of bunches. A
bunch which is almost ripe but not ready for harvest for a particular harvesting round should not be
over-ripe by next round. In lean period of production, harvesting can be made less frequent and it
should be more frequent in peak periods. Harvesting rounds of 7 - 14 days are generally practiced.
Other factors determining frequency are, extraction capacity of the mill, transportation facilities, labour
availability and skill of the workers. In India, harvesting is usually carried out with a chisel of 6 - 9 cm
wide attached to a wooden pole or light hollow aluminium pipe, Bunches are cut without damaging the
petiole the leaf that supports it. Use of narrow chisel is usually carried out till the palm reaches two
meters above the ground. For taller palms upto 4 meters, a wider chisel of 14 cm is used. The curved
knife is attached to a long bamboo or aluminium pole with screws or steel wires to harvest from taller
palms. In uneven stands, an adjustable, telescopic type of pole is in use.

Yield of Oilpalm
In well maintained garden the yield of oilpalm will be as furnished below :

Yield
Age of oilpalm
Ton/ha/year
3-4 years 5
4-5 years 12
5-6 years 25
6-25 years 30

ECONOMICS
A detailed account of the economics of oilpalm cultivation in India has been furnished. The data
furnished therein is modified using current labour charges and oil price and the details on various
investments and returns from one hectare adult plantation. This excludes the cost of land as we
expect government owned land, leased land, or already owned property will be used for oilpalm
cultivation. From the fourth year, the yield of bunches increases upto tenth year, and a stabilized
bearing is attained thereafter. The investment during first year under irrigation will be almost three
times of that under rainfed conditions mainly on account of the initial expenditure required to install the
drip irrigation system. With irrigation the annual returns will exceed the annual expenses from the first
harvest itself, i.e, during the fourth year after planting. By the end of sixth year the total returns will be
more than total investments including all the expenditure for installing pumpset and the drip irrigation
system. A minimum of 22 FFB per hectare can be expected from the tenth year onwards.

TABLE 1 - COST OF PRODUCTION AND (Rs.) PER HECTARE

 S.No Cost of
Particulars
. production
Labour cost for 200 Nos. @ Rs.120/- per 24,000
1
day as casual labour
2 Fertilizer cost 5,000
3 Plant Protection cost 500
Total cost of production 29,500

TABILE 2 : INCOME FROM OILPALM GARDEN DEPENDING UPON THE BUNCH PRODUCTION

Net income
Gross
No. of FFB yield (Gross income
S.No. Income
Bunches/tree/year t/ha/year – cost)
Rs./ha/year
Rs./ha/year
10 bunches @
1 14.3 1,02,960 73,460
10kg/tree/year
12 bunches @
2 25.7 1,85,040 1,55,540
15kg/tree/year
12 bunches @
3 34.3 2,46,960 2,17,460
20kg/tree/year

Cost of one tonne of FFB is Rs.7200

New source
market. Thailand comes to
India’s rescue with crude
palm oil exports
Updated - June 14, 2023 at 09:52 PM. | Mangaluru, June 14

Shipments from Bangkok have increased over 15 per cent this

season, from a meagre 1.37 per cent in 2019-20

BY AJ VINAYAK

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In April 2022, Indonesia (one of the major palm oil producers

in the world) announced a ban on the export of palm oil,
which resulted in a shortage of edible oils in the global
market. It also proved to be a turning point for Thailand,
which till then was a minor supplier of crude palm oil (CPO) to
India.

Thanks to the Indonesian ban, Thailand today has emerged

as an important supplier of CPO to India. Another reason for
India to increase imports is that Bangkok does not levy
export duty on palm oil exports unlike Indonesia and
Malaysia.

Though Indonesia and Malaysia remain major palm

oil suppliers to India, Thailand’s share has risen to 11.65 per
cent during the oil year 2021-22 (November to October),
from 1.37 per cent in 2019-20 . Thailand’s share has
increased to 15.24 per cent in the first six months of the oil
year 2022-23.

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Also read: India cuts import tax on refined palm oil to 12.5%
to calm prices

USDA report

Data available with the Solvent Extractors’ Association (SEA)

of India shows that Thailand’s palm oil exports were at
90,998 tonnes in 2019-20, which increased to 6.98 lakh
tonnes (lt) in 2021-22. In fact, India imported 5.73 lt of palm
oil in the first six months of the oil year 2022-23.
According to the June report of the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service titled
‘Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade’, Thailand produces
around 3.5 million tonnes (mt) of palm oil.
The increase in Thailand-sourced palm oil started in 2021-22,
a year when Malaysia and Indonesia faced challenges getting
domestic production to export markets. The problems faced
by the palm industry in these countries enabled Thailand to
capture more than 10 per cent market share in India in 2021-
22, the report said, adding this market share appears stable
in 2022-23 given exports to date.

Rising production

Sudhakar Desai, President of the Indian Vegetable Oil

Producers’ Association (IVPA), told businessline that Thailand
had helped meet Indian demand when Indonesia had banned
palm oil exports. Thailand has emerged a natural supplier of
oil palm to India.

However, Thailand’s production does not match the scale of

either Indonesia or Malaysia.

While palm oil production in Thailand would continue to grow,

it would continue to be the third largest producer of oil palm.
“I am told production is consistently increasing in that
country,” he said, adding, it is good for India to de-risk from
its dependence on Malaysia and Indonesia. Unlike Indonesia,
Thailand is more interested in sending CPO to India, Desai
said.

The USDA report said Thailand is now forecast as the third

largest exporter of palm oil in 2022-23 with shipments
forecast at 9,00,000 tonnes. It said exports from Thailand
account for less than 2 per cent of the global palm oil trade.

Meagre output

Highlighting the logistical advantage of exporting from

Thailand, BV Mehta, Executive Director of SEA of India, said a
voyage from Phuket to any southern port in India is hardly 4-
5 days, while it is around 10-12 days from Indonesia and
Malaysia.

Though Thailand does not impose any export duty or levy on

palm oil unlike Indonesia, its production is limited to around
3.5 mt. Of this, domestic consumption is around 1.3 mt, and
around 1.2 mt is used for bio-diesel blending. With this,
Thailand is left with around 1 mt for export.

Asked if there is scope for India to bargain for more palm oil
from Thailand, Mehta said the country has limited quantities
to sell. It is not a big producer, but has a surplus of a million
tonnes. India has already bought it this year, he said.

Read more at: https://www.hashmicro.com/blog/palm-oil-

export/

India's July palm oil imports

hit 7-month high as refiners
boost purchases
By Rajendra Jadhav and Brijesh Patel
August 14, 20237:28 PM GMT+5:30Updated 21 days ago
 Palm oil fresh fruit bunches are seen at the collector site before being transported to CPO factories
in Pekanbaru, Riau province, Indonesia, April 27, 2022. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan/File
Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

 Summary

 Palm oil imports hit 7-month high at 1.08 mln T -trade body
 Soyoil imports drop 22% m/m to 342,270 tons- trade body
 Sunoil imports jump 71% m/m to 327,259 tons-trade body

MUMBAI, Aug 14 (Reuters) - India's palm oil imports in July jumped 59%
from the previous month to 1.08 million metric tons, the highest in seven
months, as refiners took advantage of lower prices to increase purchases,
a trade body said on Monday.

Higher imports by India, the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils, would
help top producers Malaysia and Indonesia bring down stocks and support
Malaysian prices .

Imports of soyoil fell by around 22% to 342,270 tons and those of

sunflower oil were up 71% at 327,259 tons, the Mumbai-based Solvent
Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said in a statement.
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India's edible oil imports in July rose to a record 1.76 million tons as
refiners built up stocks for upcoming festivals given uncertainty over
supplies from the Black Sea, dealers said.
Reuters Graphics
The discount of crude palm oil prices to crude soyoil widened to over $150
per ton, prompting refiners to switch to palm oil, said a Mumbai-based
dealer with a global trade house.

"This trend would continue even in coming months. We are expecting

around 1 million tons of imports in September," the dealer said.

Read more at: https://www.hashmicro.com/blog/palm-oil-export/