There is a possibility of palm oil production being affected due to the increasing number of old trees in the plantations.
10-Oct-2024 05:58 PM
Jakarta. The three major palm oil producing and exporting countries of South East Asia - Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand - have large plantations of oil palm, but the number of old trees in them is said to be high, whose productivity is getting weak.
There is not much space for planting new plantations, while the pace of planting new trees in old plantations is seen to be slow.
Due to this, there is a possibility of a decline in palm oil production there in the future. Palm oil is the most traded in the global edible oil market, so if production decreases in the producing and exporting countries, then it can create a better basis for increasing the demand and consumption of soybean oil,
sunflower oil and rapeseed canola oil. According to trade analysts, 27 percent of the palm trees in Malaysia's plantations are 20 years or more old, while it is also difficult to pluck palm pods from tall trees.
This can create problems and challenges for the Malaysian palm oil industry. Malaysia is the second largest producer and exporter of palm oil in the world and the quote on BMD Exchange is considered to be the global benchmark futures price of CPO.
There is a risk of reduction in the production of oil palm and palm oil due to the increasing number of old trees there. In Malaysia, palm trees of 20 years or more age are planted in plantations of about 37 lakh acres area, which is about 27 percent of the total plantation area of the country.
Usually, better production is obtained from palm trees up to 15-17 years and after that the number of pods on those trees starts decreasing.
According to experts, there is a dire need to take immediate necessary steps in Malaysia to stop the decline in the yield rate of oil palm.
Apart from this, emphasis will also have to be given on mechanization solutions because plucking palm pods from tall trees is not an easy task.
The number of fresh crop bunches (FFB) is also less in it. During the year 2023, the area of plantations of trees older than 25 years in Malaysia was estimated to be around 15.40 lakh acres, out of which only 3.24 lakh acres were planted with new trees. By the year 2027,
the area of such plantations is estimated to increase to 50 lakh acres or 35 percent of the total area. If this problem is not resolved as soon as possible,
then the production of palm oil there may start declining, whereas production is expected to increase during the current year.