Oil Palm

 Oil Palm - Elaeis guineensis TAXONOMY The African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis Jacq., is placed in the Arecaceae family along with coconut and date palms. Cultivars There are three naturally occurring forms of the oil palm fruit, termed dura, tenera, and pisifera. Most cultivars are the tenera form which produces fruit with higher oil content. ORIGIN, HISTORY OF CULTIVATION The African oil palm is native to tropical...

Read More

FFB Processing

For mature plantations not exceeding 40 ha, a hand-operated hydraulic press will be enough for extraction of oil. In the case of large-scale plantations, the hydraulic press will not be economical and as such, mechanically driven oil mills have to be established. The fruit bunches brought to the factory are first quartered by means of a chisel. They are then sterilized in steam or boiling water for 30-60 minutes. The objective of this process is...

Read More

Oil Palm Physiology

Palm oils consist mainly of glycerides and, like other oils in their crude form, small and variable portions of non-glyceride components as well. In order to render the oils to an edible form, some of these non-glycerides need to be either removed or reduced to acceptable levels. In term of solubility study – glycerides are of two broad types: oil insoluble and oil soluble. The insoluble impurities consisting of fruit fibres, nut shells and free...

Read More

Seeds of Oil Palm

MODERN OIL PALM CULTIVATION 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...

Read More

Palm Nursery

Nursery practices The fruits are separated from the bunch and seeds are extracted by scraping off the exocarp and mesocarp with a knife, or by retting in water. The seeds are then dried by spreading them on concrete or wooden floors under shade for two days. Such seeds can be stored for 3-9 months at about 27 ºC without much reduction in viability.Seeds are soaked in water for five days, changing the water daily. Thereafter, the seeds are spread...

Read More

Oil Palm Planting

Oil palm is planted in the main field in triangular system at spacing of 9 m accommodating 140 palms per ha. Planting is preferably done at the onset of monsoon during May-June. The polythene bag is torn open and the entire ball of earth is buried in the pit (50 x 50 x 50 cm) and levelled. Leaf pruning Dead and diseased leaves and all inflorescences should be cut off regularly up to three years after planting. When the palms are yielding, judicious...

Read More

Insect and Control

Introduction The bagworm, Oiketicus kirbyi is a polyphagous insect feeding on several crops: Musaceae (Musa spp.), cacao (Theobroma cacao L.), oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacquin), peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth), coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), citrus (Citrus spp.), teek (Tectona grandis L.), eucaliptus (Eucalyptus spp.), Eryobothria japónica, Terminalia catappa L) and many more. The insect became a serious problem in some commercial banana plantations...

Read More

Oil Palm Fertilizer

The Non-judicious use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is primarily attributed to the lack of knowledge about the alternatives and their source. This module provides the farmer with the information of the licensed retail outlets and fertilizers. Farmers and extension personals can use this effectively to make knowledgeable decision in using/recommending better options. Users can select the availability of fertilizer based on location items...

Read More

Pollination Beetle and control

The pest causes severe damage to emerging fronds and spindle. The adult beetle feeds on the softer tissue of the rachis, resulting in snapping off of the fronds and spears at the feeding sites. Field sanitation and elimination of breeding sites are essential components of the pest management operation. This pest can be suppressed by using the virus Baculovirus oryctes.    ...

Read More

Pest and diseases control

Tropical climates with ample sunshine, heat and moisture mean that weeds thrive and may compete with crops for space, water and nutrients, and shade the crop plants, especially when they are young. A large number of annual and perennial weeds infest oil palm plantations. However, if effectively managed, with ‘noxious’ species being removed, many weeds have longer term benefits.A number of insects are potentially damaging to oil palm in various parts...

Read More

Vertebrate animal

Once oil palm has replaced the immense variety of hundreds of species of trees, vines, shrubs, mosses, and other plants found on every acre of lowland rainforest, most animals can no longer live there. An oil palm plantation is, in effect, a "biological desert." As an industrial plantation crop, oil palm is grown as a monoculture. Most of the other plants found are low-growing ground cover. Without the rainforest's plenteous variety of fruits, nuts, leaves, roots, nectar, bark, shoots, and other plant materials to eat, most animals cannot survive....

Read More

Plant Integration in palm

Protein Sources Sources of protein for animal feeds are many and varied, with considerable opportunities for further diversification and substitutions. More research is required on alternative sources before many of the opportunities can be exploited in practice. Plant Protein Sources Soybean Soybean remains the most important and preferred source of high quality vegetable protein for animal feed manufacture. Soybean meal, which is the by-product of oil extraction, has a high crude protein content of 44 to 50 percent and a balanced amino acid...

Read More