Elaeis guineensis (Oil palm

Oil Palm.

African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis). Source Wikipedia.

Elaeis guineensis is a species of palm commonly called oil palm. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa. E. guineensis is monocotyledonous. Mature palms are single-stemmed and grow to 20 meters tall. A young palm produces about 30 leaves a year. Established palms over 10 years produce about 20 leaves a year. The flowers are produced in dense clusters; each individual flower is small, with three sepals and three petals.

Fruit bunch on palm. Source Wikipedia.

The palm fruit takes 5–6 months to develop from pollination to maturity. It is reddish, about the size of a large plum, and grows in large bunches. Each fruit is made up of an oily, fleshy outer layer (the pericarp), with a single seed (the palm kernel), also rich in oil. When ripe, each bunch of fruit weighs between 5 and 30 kg depending on the age of the palm tree. Oil palms can produce much more oil per unit of land area than most other oil-producing plants (about nine times more than soy and 4.5 times more than rapeseed).

The history of palm oil stretches back thousands of years.

3000 BC. The oldest record of its use dating from 3,000 BC when in the late 1800s archaeologists discovered several kegs of palm oil in a tomb located in Abydos, Egypt. It is believed that Arab traders had brought the oil to Egypt. Middle 15th Century. Written records of palm oil being used as a local food source by European travellers to West Africa. Palm oil from E. guineensis has long been recognized in West and Central African countries, used widely as a cooking oil. European merchants trading with West Africa occasionally purchased palm oil for use as a cooking oil in Europe. 16th and 17th Century. Red palm oil became an important item in the developing trade network supplying caravans and ships of the Atlantic slave trade. 18th Century. British industrial revolution created palm oil demand for candle-making and as a lubricant for machines. This was supplied by a modest export trade from West Africa. Early 19th Century. European-run plantations were set up in Central Africa and Southeast Asia.

1884. Oil Palms introduced to Java by the Dutch.

1902. German investment in Cameroon brought about the discovery of the Tenera breed of palm oil. This high-yielding breed is what is used today in large-scale plantations.

1910. Palm oil was introduced into Malaysia by a Scotsman named William Sime and an Englishman by the name of Henry Darby.

1940-1960. Technological improvements in edible oil refining and transport drive the usage of unhydrogenated palm oil in western foods.

1970-1990. Malaysia emerged as the world’s largest palm oil producer, by 1990 global palm oil production reached close to 11 million metric tonnes. Since 2007, Indonesia has been the world's largest producer, supplying approximately 50% of world palm oil volume.

Brief History Of Oil Palm Development In Papua New Guinea

The Germans were the first to plant oil palm in 1894-95 on the Rai Coast of Papua New Guinea (Sack and Clark 1979, quoted in Grieve 1986). The Germans also established additional experimental plantings in the early 1920s near Popondetta in Northern (Oro) Province (Landell Mills 1991).

Commercial plantings were established in 1967 following a World Bank recommendation that oil palm on a nucleus estate-smallholder system be introduced to New Britain or Bougainville to diversify the agricultural economy and increase the export income of Papua New Guinea.

By 2000, oil palm was grown in five areas in PNG. Hoskins and Bialla in West New Britain, Popondetta, Milne Bay and New Ireland. There were over 14,500 smallholder oil palm blocks in 2000, producing approximately 531,264 tonnes of FFB (value K36.5 million) accounting for 33 % of total production with company estates producing the balance. In 2000, oil palm exports accounted for 32 % of the total value of PNG’s agricultural exports and 5 % of total PNG exports.

Hoskins Oil Palm development New Britain 1995. Photo credit Dick McCarthy.

Source: PNGRIS

REF:I BRD 1965; Grieve 1986). Koczberski, G., Curry, G.N. & Gibson, K. (2001). Improving Productivity of the Smallholder Oil Palm Sector in PNG. RSPAS, ANU.