1. Oil Palm
The oil palms (Elaeis)
belong to the Arecaceae, or
palm family.
They are used in commercial
agriculture in the production
of palm oil.
2. • The oil palm is a tropical palm tree. There are
two species, the better known one is the one
originating from Guinea, Africa and was first
illustrated by Nicholaas Jacquin in 1763, hence
its name, Elaeis guineensis Jacq. The other
species is Elaeis oleifera is native to tropical
Central America and South America.
• The generic name is derived from the Greek for
oil, elaion, while the species name refers to its
country of origin.
5. • Mature trees are single-stemmed, and
grow to 20 m tall. The leaves are pinnate,
and reach between 3 - 5 m long. A young
tree produces about 30 leaves a year.
Established trees over 10 years produce
about 20 leaves a year.
6. • Oil palm is a crop that bears both male
and female flowers on the same tree,
meaning they are monoecious
• The flowers are produced in dense
clusters; each individual flower is small,
with three sepals and three petals.
7. • The trunks of young and adult plants
are wrapped in fronds which give
them a rather rough appearance.
• The older trees have smoother trunks
apart from the scars left by the fronds
which have withered and fallen off.
8. • Each tree produces compact bunches (tandan)
weighing between 10 and 25 kilograms with
1000 to 3000 fruitlets per bunch.
• Each fruitlet is almost
spherical or elongated
in shape. Generally the
fruitlet is dark purple,
almost black and the colour
turns to orange red when ripe.
9. Each fruitlet consists of
an oily, fleshy outer layer
(the pericarp), with a single
seed (kernel), also
rich in oil.
The fruit takes five to six months
to mature from pollination to maturity
10. • A normal oil palm tree will start bearing
fruits after 30 months of planting and will
continue to be productive for the next 20 to
30 years thus ensuring a consistent supply
of oil.
• Unlike other relatives, the oil palm does
not produce offshoots; propagation is by
sowing the seeds.
11. History of Oil Palm Cultivation in Malaysia
• The oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis)
originated from West Africa where it was
growing wild and later developed into an
agricultural crop.
• It was first introduced to Malaya in early
1870’s as an ornamental plant (pokok
hiasan). In 1917 the first commercial
planting took place in Tennamaran Estate
in Selangor, laying the foundations for the
vast oil palm plantations and palm oil
industry in Malaysia to what it is today.
12. The cultivation of oil palm rapidly
increased beginning in the sixties
(1960s) under the government’s
agricultural diversification
programme which was to reduce
the country’s economic
dependence on rubber and tin.
13. Late in the 1960s,the government introduced
land settlement schemes (e.g. FELDA, etc.)
for planting oil palm as a means to eradicate
poverty for the landless farmers and
smallholders.
14. Current Scenario
• The oil palm plantations in Malaysia are
largely based on the estate management
system and smallholders scheme.
• Today, over 4 million hectares of land in
Malaysia is under oil palm cultivation
producing 15 million tons of palm oil in
2008.
15. • Malaysia is the largest producer and
exporter of palm oil in the world,
accounting for 34% of the world’s traded
edible oils & fats supply.
• The industry provides employment to more
than half a million people and livelihood to
an estimated one million people.
16. In Malaysia, 11% of the total land area
(about 62% of the country’s agricultural
land) is devoted to palm oil.
17. • Worldwide palm oil production during the
2005 - 2006 growing season was 39.8
million metric tons, of which 4.3 million
tons was in the form of palm kernel oil.
• It is thus by far the most widely-produced
tropical oil, and constitutes thirty-four
(34%) percent of total edible oil production
worldwide
18. • In Malaysia, the trees planted are mainly
the tenera variety, a hybrid between the
dura and pisifera.
• The tenera variety yields about 4 to 5 tons
of crude palm oil (CPO) per hectare per
year and about 1 ton of palm kernels.
19. • The oil palm is most efficient in terms of
production level, requiring only 0.25
hectares to produce one ton of oil, while
• soybean, sunflower and rapeseed need
2.15, 1.50 and 0.75 hectares respectively.
20. Agriculture
Oil palms are grown for their clusters of
fruit, which can weigh 40 - 50 kg. Upon
harvest, the fleshy fruit, pericarp and
seeds are used for production of soap and
edible vegetable oil; different grades of oil
quality are obtained from the pericarp and
the kernel, with the pericarp oil used
mainly for cooking oil, and the kernel oil
used in processed foods.
22. • For each hectare of oil palm, which is
harvested year-round, the annual production
averages 10 tons of fruit, which yields 3,000
kg of pericarp oil, and 750 kg of seed kernels,
which yield 250 kg of high quality palm kernel
oil as well as 500 kg of kernel meal.
• Palm fronds and kernel meal are processed
for use as livestock (animal) feed.
• Some varieties have even higher
productivities which has led to their
consideration for producing the vegetable oil
needed for biodiesel.
23. • For every 100 kilograms of fruit bunches
(tandan buah), typically (biasanya) 25 - 30
kg of edible pericarp oil and 2.0 – 2.5 kg
of palm kernel oil can be extracted.
24. Propagation
• Oil palm seeds are carefully selected and
germinated under well-controlled condition
in order to produce highest quality oil palm
seedlings.
• In 2002, a total of 42.6 million oil palm
germinated seeds were produced in
Malaysia.
• These seeds are planted in nurseries
where they will remain for at least 11
months before planting in the field.
25. Contd/-
This is a period of intensive care, when
adequate irrigation, correct fertilization and
immediate remedial treatment of any
disease or pest attack are fundamental
pre-requisites to ensure the production of
healthy, well-grown seedling for
transplanting in the field.
26. Contd/-
• Preparing for a good nursery begins
with:
- Preparation of land
- Construction of roads and drains
- Installation of irrigation system
• Producing good seedlings involves:
- Selecting and planting of superior seeds
- Nurturing the seeds
- Culling
27. Nursery Management
Land Preparation
• Ideally, a nursery should be located on flat
land as this would position and maintain the
poly bags upright for proper growth of the
seedlings. Flat land is also most suitable for
performing other management and
maintenance activities, which are constantly
carried out in the nursery.
• In sloping areas, the steepness of a slope
should not exceed 15%.
28. Land Preparation (contd)
• The use of clay soil is preferred when
filling the polybags at the nursery. It would
not break easily in polybags, a crucial
criterion during transfer of seedlings to
bigger polybags, or planting of seedlings in
the field.
• If clay soil is unavailable at the site, it
should be brought from other areas.
29. Land Preparation (contd)
Preparation of land for a nursery includes:
(a) clearing of land,
(b) loosening of soil using tractor with
plough,
(c) building of roads and drains,
(d) installing irrigation system, and
(e) erecting fences to keep away pests
such as wild boars and cattle
30. Nurturing seeds and seedlings
Germinated seeds:
Once planted in small poly bags, the
period of intensive care for the germinated
seeds soon begins. Adequate irrigation,
correct fertilization and immediate
remedial treatment of any disease or pest
attack are of utmost importance for the
premium growth of the
seedlings.
31. Seedling maintenance:
• During the first two months, the seedlings
are placed under coverings to shelter it
from harsh weather.
• Other maintenance involved are topping of
polybags with new soils, weeding, keeping
the polybags in upright position and to
gradually remove the coverings from the
seedlings.
32. Contd/-
• In the nursery, rows after rows of poly bag
beds are marked with signboards, which
are used to identify the age group of each
row of seedlings planted.
• Each group are presented with the
following information:
- Number of seedlings planted
- Date of planting in small polybags
- Date of transfer to bigger polybags
- Type of seedlings and the supplier
33. Watering (Irrigation)
• The oil palm seedlings are watered daily. With
each seedlings requiring minimum of 1.7 liter
water per day (@ a supply of 76,600 liter of
water daily is essential for watering a hectare of
nursery area). As such, nursery is best located
within an area with huge reservoir of water,
where water is easily
accessible even during
drought season.
34. Contd/-
# The popular choice for watering oil palm
seedlings in the nursery is by using the
Overhead Sprinkler System. The system is
designed to provide consistent, adequate
and efficient watering.
# Others would use perforated lay-flat
polythene tube spray-mist system or
simply by hand watering. (Expert help is
needed in planning watering schedule to
minimize waste caused by run-off, wind
drift and evaporation).
35. Infrastructure (Roads & Drains)
The roads network in a nursery are
planned and built as main roads (where
most of the nursery transport passes), the
subsidiary roads (which serves a link into
the interior of the nursery) and perimeter
roads (which provides accessibility for
workers to carry out their daily activities at
the nursery).
(All roads, particularly the access road to
the nursery, must always be kept in good
order, to ease transportation of seedlings
to plantation).
36. Contd/-
Nurseries located in flood prone areas
should be equipped with a good drainage
system. Properly prepared drains and
ditches will avoid flooding in these areas
and saves potential loss of seedlings
37. Seedlings
Planting materials:
In order to obtain high yield of crude palm
oil, the most important factor at the outset
is the selection of planting materials. In
Malaysia, the best planting material at the
present time is the cross between dura
and pisifera (D x P), which is known as
tenera.
38. The selection of seedlings by removing or
destroying abnormal oil palm seedlings (or
culling) at the nursery will ensure only high
quality seedlings are produced for
planting.
This process is vital (penting sekali) as
planting of quality seedlings promises
higher yield.
39. Culling of Seedlings:
• Culling is carried out a few times during
the year the oil palm seedlings were at the
nursery. Normally, the first culling started
about 1½ to 2½ months after the
germinated seeds were planted in the
small poly bags.
• It is later repeated right before the
seedlings were re-planted in bigger poly
bags.
40. • The abnormality in seedlings planted in
small poly bags is:
- Narrow leaf; - Rolled leaf
- Crinkled leaf; - Twisted leaf
- ‘Co lante’; - Chimaera (diseased)
41. Culling (contd/-)
After 3 to 4 months in the big poly bags and about a
month before planting in the field, the seedlings are
again culled.
The abnormality in seedlings planted in big poly bags is:
- Erect habit
- Flat top
- Stunted growth
- Flaccid, limp appearance
- Juvenile appearance
- Wide internode
- Short internode
- Acute (narrow) pinnae
42. Fertilization
The Malaysian climate and many of its
soils are ideally suited for oil palm
cultivation; humid tropical lowland climate
with about 80 inches of annual rainfall,
temperature ranged between 20 - 30°C,
constant sunshine for at least 5 hours per
day, together with well textured volcanic,
alluvial or marine clay soils.
43. Contd/-
However, high yields of fresh fruit bunches
are not determine by these conditions
alone. A promise of high fruit bunch yields
comes with proper maintenance of the oil
palm trees, particularly in the most
effective way of applying the fertilizer and
the best tool to use.
44. Pest and Disease Control
• In oil palm plantation, better control of
diseases and pests is crucial in reducing
crop losses, as most parts of the trees
could be easily affected; the bunches, the
fronds, the male flowers, the spears or the
trunk.
• The popular approach towards this
problem is by using chemical pesticides,
which is not environmentally friendly.
45. Contd/-
• Research are constantly being conducted
with the aim to intensify awareness and
better integration of biological control
agent in pest management, thus reducing
reliance on pesticides.
• Among device recommended is
pheromone trapping for trapping adult
beetles (Oryctes sp), and owls for rat
control.
46. Harvesting of Fresh Fruit Bunches
Oil palm gives the highest yield of oil per
hectare of any crop. Harvesting of oil palm
bunches commences 30 months after
planting reaches maturity in three years, at
intervals of 7 to 10 days throughout the
palm's economic life which may vary from
20 to 30 years.
47. Contd/-
• In Malaysia, good control of the harvesting
standard ensures that oil quality is maintained at
a high level.
• Harvesting of the younger palm is carried out by
means of a wide chisel, but when the palm
grows beyond the access of the chisel, a sickle
attached to a long bamboo pole is used.
• MPOB has introduced mechanized devices fit for
this purpose such as, the Harvesting Machine,
the Mechanized Sickle and Tuah Chop Cutter.
48. Transportation and handling of fruit bunches
• Injured fresh fruit bunches due to
insufficient care during cutting, collection
and loading for transportation to the mills
could cost oil palm growers' maximum
high quality oil.
49. Contd/-
• Between the stage when the fruit bunch is cut
and the time it is put into the sterilizer in the mill,
some factors need to be avoided:
- Harvesting fruit bunches when the fruit is
overripe
- Harvesting fruit bunches before the fruit is ripe
- Injuring good, ripe fruit
- Keeping good fruit bunches for more than 24
hours before processing
- Contamination of fruit with dust of earth during
collection