India's palm oil output may face winter chill: Malaysian scientist

Harikrishna said that in India winter is the main concern in getting optimum yields as when the temperature drops palms get stressed and start producing male flowers

India’s palm oil yield, which currently averages around 18-20 tonnes per hectare, will require robust investment in research to match global standards but winter remains a hindrance in getting optimum yield under natural conditions, a senior scientist at one of the world’s largest palm plantation companies based in Malaysia has said.

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest and most widely used vegetable oil, and is found in everything from cookies to lipstick.

“Most probably India can hit an average yield of 18-20 tonnes per hectare. To push beyond that, one needs to have a better understanding of what type of genetics works better here because winter is a concern,” Harikrishna Kulaveerasingam, head in-charge of research and development at Malaysia’s Sime Darby Plantation told Business Standard.

Kulaveerasingam was in India a few days back to start joint pilot projects with Godrej Agrovet Ltd (GAVL) for trials on oil palm planting materials with high oil content and low gestation period.

They will be conducted in four different agro-climatic zones in the country, in the first such experiment that Sime Darby has conducted in association with a private company.

He said that in India winter is a concern because when the temperature drops, the palm gets stressed and begins to produce male flowers. “In China, the palms are not productive because of the winter,” he explained. He said the ideal temperature for oil palms is between 20-30 degrees Celsius but it should not be less than 15 degrees for a prolonged period. This is why getting optimum yields in the Northeast with current materials remains a challenge.

Globally, in Malaysia, the peak yield of palm plantations is close to 30 tonnes and there are planting materials available that can push these yields to 40 tonnes per hectare depending on the weather and soil conditions.

Large plantations, which can go up to 50 hectares’ block give better yields.

On oil content, he said the average oil content in Indian palm is 18-21 per cent while the indigenous materials give a yield of around 17-19 per cent.

He said that oil palm materials developed through research can give a higher oil content depending on the soil in which one has planted the palm

“Palm in Malaysia has an oil content, which is close to 30 per cent. And depending on the areas that you plant in — let's say if you plant in volcanic soil — you can get 31-32 per cent of oil to bunch,” he added.

Oil palms have long gestation periods and take time to give adequate returns which could be a big put-off for large-scale adoption by Indian farmers.

Previous hybrids and indigenous material had a long gestation period lof upto 7 years, but modern hybrids from Sime Darby start yielding from the fourth year.

GAVL has been distributing these planting materials since 2020 among farmers, Sougata Niyogi, chief executive officer of Oil Palm Plantation, said.

“In Papua New Guinea, 24 months after planting, the plant is considered to be in commercial production because of the high rainfall, and volcanic soil. In Malaysia, it is considered to be in commercial production in 36 months,” Kulaveerasingam elaborated.

He said the plantation materials developed by Sime Darby begin to produce bunches (also called fresh fruit bunches) early on.  “We normally ablate them because they start fruiting within a year after being planted,” he noted.

“It can be anywhere between 12-14 months, and after that the initial fruits are ablated. As they develop, we begin harvesting. We consider it pre-commercial production. So, 24 months or so in Malaysia, depending on which area the plantation is, like if you are in a coastal area with good rainfall, good soil, you can be in commercial production in 2 years. Normally it takes 36 months in Malaysia,” he added.