Oil-Palm Industry

The Oil Palm or Elaeis Guineensis originated from West Africa but has been discovered in Central and East Africa and Madagascar. European merchants trading came to purchase palm oil with West Africa to use it occasionally for cooking, but they noticed the palm oil was of a lower quality compared to olive oil. From there, Palm Oil became unfamiliar outside West Africa until state-owned slaves built their large Palm Tree Plantations in Asante Confederacy. King Ghezo of the Kingdom of Dahomey submitted a law in 1856 that forbids the cutting down of Oil Palms. Africa started a small export trade and began to produce palm oil for cooking. British traders went back seeking palm oil to use as an industrial lubricant for machinery during the Britain’s Industrial Revolution.

It was then used for production of candles, Unilever Soaps and the American Palmolive Brand. In 1870, palm oil was so in demand that it made contribution as a primary export of Western African Countries such as Nigeria and Ghana. Research and development in palm oil breeding began in the year 1960’s when Malaysia’s Department of Agriculture established an exchange program with West Africans, when four of the private plantations built an Oil Palm Genetics Laboratory. In 1970’s, the Malaysian government established the University of Pertanian Malaysia to train agricultural and agro-industrial engineers and agro-business graduates for a research. In 1979, the oil palm industry became very well-known that the Government set up Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM) to help and train scientists in oil palm breeding. PORIM was changed to Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) in the year 2000 and has continuously gained International Fame and Reputation on dynamic oil crop genetics, dietary fat nutrition and engineering processes.

OIL PALM IN THE PHILIPPINES

It was late 1960’s when Oil Palm industry started in the Philippines. It did not succeeded well that time due to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. Policies indicate discouragement between CARP beneficiaries and the industry players which led into production and demand drop. Oil Palm is a special variety of Palm Tree that is used for commercial agriculture to produce Palm Oil. There are two types of Oil Palm – the African Oil Palm from West Africa and the American Oil Palm from Central and South America. Local demand escaped poor oil palm industry when the development of medium-scale and giant companies started to ascend after few years time.

OIL PALM INDUSTRY IN COTABATO PROVINCE

With the efforts of the University of Southern Mindanao Researchers who made a study of Comprehensive Suitability Map for Oil Palm Growing, it was identified that Cotabato Province has the highest potential in Oil Palm Plantation in Region 12. More than that is the productive effect on plantations due to its soil quality and micronutrient contents. Study shows that 66% of the Cotabato area is classified as highly sustainable for palm oil. Majority of these locations are found in the Municipality of Alamada, Antipas, Arakan, Magpet, Makilala, Pres. Roxas and Tulunan. However, parts of Cotabato Province are moderately considered for Oil Palm plantations as well. Oil Palm is sensitive to a poor drainage and drought. Cotabato Province is tropical with an average daytime temperature of 35 degrees Celsius and is also a typhoon free area. Cotabato Province has a very high sustainability for these crops, reason why it can be one of the leading producer of Oil Palm. It is expected that the high quality value of oil palm will create a name in the industry with its less production cost. With the growing Oil Palm industry, investment opportunities were identified – oil palm plantations, nurseries for seedlings, trucking, buying stations, mills, processing plants for beauty soaps, hand wash, powdered soaps, and personal care products. Cotabato Province has a total potential area of 58,769 hectares for Oil Palm plantation. As of February 28, 2011, a total of 5,259.74 hectares were planted with bearing and non bearing oil palms. Tulunan ranked first in terms of planted area with a total of 1,150.62 hectares where 1,092.41 hectares are bearing and 58.21 hectares are non-bearing. Cotabato Province has an average yield of 1.6 Metric Tons per Hectare per Month. (source: OPA)

The continuous increase of food industries and the rise of industrial companies are the biggest opportunity to penetrate.  More than that is the study conducted in Malaysia that palm oil can be a potential source of diesel fuel. These are seen and once the industry grows, it will soon compete with the World Market.