Environmental Impact Management for Palm Oil Production
By Mohd Radzi Bin Muhamad Dul
Oil palm plantations in Malaysia were started in 1870 by the British colonials when oil palm seeds ( elaeis guineensis ) were brought to Malaysia from West Africa . The first commercial oil palm plantation was established in the Tennaram Estate , in Batang Berjuntai , Selangor in the year 1917 . The cultivation of oil palm was boosted in the 1960s when the Government introduced a policy to diversify the agricultural sector with an emphasis on high commercial value products . Malaysia became the world ’ s largest oil palm producer until 2006 when Indonesia became the largest . The common oil palm hybrid that is planted in Malaysia is the Tenera hybrid that was bred from dedicated Dura and Pisifera hybrids . Over the years , research and development has been carried out to produce high quality Tenera seeds to maximise palm oil production .
In 2019 , the nationwide planted area of oil palms was recorded at 5.90 million hectares with the crude palm oil ( CPO ) production recorded at 19.86 tonnes . Palm oil is recognised as a versatile vegetable oil which is used in all manner of daily life including food , cosmetics , utilities , etc . Compared with other oil seeds , oil palm is the world ’ s highest yielding oil crop with an average yield per hectarage recorded at 3.83 t ha -1 year -1 , almost four times compared with other oil seeds .
ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECT AND IMPACT OF OIL PALM ACTIVITIES
Palm oil production is divided into three major categories : upstream , midstream and downstream activities . Upstream activities involve pre-nursery , nursery , land clearing and preparation , planting , harvesting , loading and delivery of fresh fruit bunches ( FFB ) to a palm oil mill . Midstream activities involve FFB processing in a palm oil mill to produce two major products : crude palm oil ( CPO ) and palm kernel ( PK ). While downstream activities involve further processing of the CPO and
FEATURE
Table 1 : Productivity of Various Major Oil Crops 2006 / 2007 ( Source MPOB )
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