Palm oil is native to West Africa. Nigeria employed to be the world’s biggest producer of oil palm prior to the oil boom era, but Malaysia has now taken the top position. Oil palm plantation and allied industries is now the key stay of the Malaysian economy. The palm tree can be utilized in many methods: the leaves are utilised in making brooms and for roofing materials (in the rural places). The bark of the fond can be peeled and woven into baskets, the main trunk can be split like sawn timbers and made use of as component of building materials, even though palm wine can also be obtained from the palm tree, as well as red palm oil, which is readily obtainable from the fresh fruit bunches.
When PHC is processed, even so, the residue obtained can be made use of as fuel (for cooking and fertilizer to strengthen soil nutrient).
Red palm oil is made use of in cooking, generating soap, candle and margarine. Palm kernel oil can be extracted from the nut, when the residue obtainable in the approach of palm kernel oil extraction, otherwise named palm kernel cake, is applied as livestock feed.
Palm kernel oil is utilized in vegetable oil and soap making, and the shells are valuable as energy supply. The uses to which oil palm can be created appear non-exhaustive. This clearly indicates that investment produced in the establishment of oil palm plantation is nothing at all but a sensible one particular.
The marketplace is guaranteed for all the merchandise of oil palm plantation in this era of global food crisis.
Technical Details
To establish palm oil plantation, involves getting a great website exactly where rich, properly-drained acidic soils are abundant. The soil should really have adequate quantities of potassium, magnesium and nitrogen. Soil tests should for that reason be carried out to establish the nutrient status of the land. It is usually superior to use the early maturing variety called ‘tenera,’ which bears fruits as from the fourth year.
Other requirements incorporate seedlings procurement, which can be obtained from trustworthy nurseries. Prospective investors will have to engage the solutions of agricultural professionals in the course of establishing this project.
Other cultural practices are planting, typical weeding, pruning and fertilizer application.
Economic Aspect
We are recommending 50 hectares for a get started. 20 hectares oil palm plantation can conveniently service a palm oil mill that will be established by the owner when the plantation begins to bring fruit. To establish 50 hectares of plantation, the sum of N10, 500,000 will be needed and this is broken down as follows:
Pre-investments: N300, 000
Land acquisition: N4, 000,000
Land clearing/preparation: N3, 000,000
Seedlings procurement: 120/ha(2400 @ N500): N1, 200,000
Other cultural practices @N100, 000/ha: N2, 000,000
Total N10, 500,000
Income Evaluation
A mature plantation will begin to give an investor five tons of red palm oil annually from the fourth year per hectare. one hundred metric tons of oil can be obtained annually from 20 hectares of plantation.
A ton of red palm oil is a minimum of N150, 000, although gross income of N15 million is obtained from red palm oil.
We can also get 3 metric tons of palm kernels per hectare, which offers us 60 tons from 20 hectares. This translates to annual income of N4.2 million. Total income realisable is about N19.two million, even though the annual operating expense is put at N5.8 million.
This leaves us with net earnings of N13.4 million annually for the investor for the rest of his/her life. Really serious-minded investors can be assisted in realising this worthwhile investment.