Oil Palm Production and Establishment

Nobles Nigeria is an agricultural organization that specialize on oil palm production. On this article we will be sharing few important information on oil palm and establishment techniques for optimum profit.

Oil Palm Production and Establishment

Oil palm {Elaesis guineensis} industry is one high profit yielding business in Nigeria, contributing greatly to the economy of the country, provide employment and foreign exchange commodity. The products from oil palm such as the crude oil, palm kernel oil are of high demand globally for food, cosmetics and other industrial raw material. The average lifespan of a palm tree is about 80 years and maintains profitable production throughout this period, this quality makes oil palm establishment a lifetime investment for investors. It takes 3-4 years from the time of transplanting to main field for oil palm to start producing fruits. The average yield per hectare per year is approximately 3-8 tons of crude oil. There're some key factors to consider during palm plantation establishment.

Historical Background

Nigeria was once the largest producer of palm oil in the world in the 1960s, producing about 43% of the world's total production. This was lost due to a shift in the policies toward petroleum. Today Nigeria is the fifth largest global producers contributing about 2% of world's total production. Despite its potentials in the sector the country still imports significant quantity to meet local needs.

Profitability and production of Oil Palm

Oil palm production is one of the most profitable and stable Agricultural business, this is because there is a global demand for its product for food, cosmetics and industrial raw materials. The estimated profit margin of oil palm production is as follows

Oil Palm Plantation Establishment

The basic area of discussion in this article is the plantation establishment, this the part that do with placing the plant in the permanent field for growth. Plantation establishment skills is a key part of a successful oil palm business and as such should be considered carefully because this part determines the yield of the plantation throughout the lifetime of each palm trees. The major factors to consider during plantation establishment are as follows:

Factors to consider during oil palm establishment

The following are some of the key factors to consider during oil palm establishment for optimum profit.

*Land

*Climate region

*Choice of species

*Plant spacing

*Plant arrangement orientation

*Field maintenance

Land

Oil palm tree grows on a wide range of soil type but does well in a well-drained loamy soil. Selecting good land is essential because type of land determines the lifespan and productivity of oil palm tree. Lands that're considered agriculturally bad lands should be avoided.

Climate

The climate region is another important factor to consider when establishing oil palm plantations. Some of the climate belt considered favorable is the guinea savannah and the rain forest climate zones, in these regions there is adequate rain fall and sunlight to support the growth and reproduction of oil palm trees.

Choice of Species

There are various species in oil palm, your choice of species should be determined by your intended target of oil palm product. Most time investors target palm oil while others target palm kernel oil, palm kernel cake and breeding purposes, any of these will determine the species you should plant. There are three main species of oil palm, these includes

*Dura

*Precifera

*Tenera

Dura

This species contains more of kernel products because of its large seed nature, with quality and slug free, but fewer red oil quantity. An investor who wants palm kernel products should consider planting the Dura species.

Precifera

This is another species of oil palm, it is most time seedless and with large quantity of slug which affect the quality and quantity of the oil, this species is mainly used for breeding purposes.Researchers who want to work on plant improvement shoud consider planting this species.

Tenera

This species is a hybrid species and is mainly for commercial palm oil production, it contains quality and large volume of palm oil quantity.

Plant Spacing

Basically, oil palm tree does well with appropriate spacing and plant populations. Planting distance for oil palm tree is nine meters apart, which is approximately thirty feet. The ideal plant population per an acre of farmland is sixty oil palm plant stands and that is also one hundred and fifty oil palm plant stands per hectare of farmland.

Plant Arrangement Orientation

This is the technical part of plantation establishment that requires a professional to handle the plant placement in the main or permanent field for grow out. A proper planting orientation will allow adequate sunlight and aeration in the plantation which will support the survival of every flower bud and fruit bud produced by the oil palm tree making it possible to set fruits round the treetop. Plant arrangement orientation is done in such a way that during planting, the baseline is taken in a south north direction, such that each plant does not shadow the next plant in the field, that’s plant receives their own sunlight without obstructions, in other to be sure you got it right the baseline view should form a right angle with the shadow of the pegs in the baseline. This part of the plantation establishment is very important and should be taken into absolute consideration during oil palm planting.

Field Maintenance

These activities include every practice to ensure that the immediate environment of the plant is conducive enough for the plant to grow healthily, they are weed control, pruning, ring weeding, fertilizer application.