Oil Palm Plantation and Production in Malaysia

Oil palms plantation

One of the World Largest Palm Oil Exporter

The Oil Palm tree (Elaeis guineensis jacq.) originates from West Africa where it grows in the wild and later was developed into an agricultural crop. It was introduced to Malaysia, then Malaya, by the British in early 1870's as an ornamental plant.

In 1917, the first commercial planting took place in Tennamaran Estate in Selangor, laying the foundations for the vast oil palm plantations and the Palm oil industry in Malaysia. The cultivation of oil palm increased at a fast pace in early 1960s under the government's agricultural diversification programme, which was introduced to reduce the country's economic dependence on rubber and tin.

Chemical Composition of Palm Oil

Palm Oil

The Oil

The Oil Palm produces two types of oils ; Crude Palm Oil (CPO) from the fibrous Mesocarp and Crude Palm Kernel Oil (CPKO) from the kernels. Although both oils originate from the same fruit, Palm Oil is chemically and nutritionally different from Palm Kernel Oil. It is one of the only two mesocarp oils available commercially, the other being olive oil.

Palm Oil Production and The Nutrition for Health

Palm Oil

Palm Oil Production

As of 2012, the annual revenue received by Indonesia and Malaysia together, the Top two producers of palm oil, is US$40 billion. Between 1962 and 1982 global exports of palm oil increased from around half a million to 2.4 million tonnes annually and in 2008 world production of palm oil and palm kernel oil amounted to 48 million tonnes. According to FAO forecasts by 2020 the global demand for palm oil will double, and triple by 2050.