Here is some info for you guys to ponder about oil palm, deforestation and land clearing by burning:
Malaysia and Indonesia are the two largest producer of palm oil in the world. 90% of palm oil in the world come from these two countries alone. Palm oil is the largest contributor to world's oils and fats, so without palm oil, the world would have difficulty meeting the demand for vegetable oil.
Oil palm is popular for several reasons.
Firstly, oil palm produces the most amount of oil per hectare of land than any other crop. This means in 1 hectare (ha), the amount of oil from oil palm is the highest (8 ton per ha) compared to other crops such as corn (0.2 ton per ha), soybean (0.5), olive (1.5), and coconut (3.2). So, if we want to replace oil palm with corn, for example, Malaysia has to clear 40 times more forest land area just to get the same amount of oil as we got from oil palm.
Secondly, palm oil has a variety of uses. The food industry people like it. Palm oil is one of the cheapest oil to produce and refine, making the use of palm oil as a food ingredient more preferable over other vegetable oils in processed foods (such as chocolates and margarines). Cheaper oil means the food can be cheaper and stay competitive. The biofuel industry people like palm oil too because, as stated earlier, oil palm produces the most oil per unit land area than any other crops. High oil prices and greater awareness of detrimental climate change have made the world to look for other energy sources and supplements such as from biodiesel/biofuel from oil palm.
Thirdly, crude palm oil price in the commodities market is one of the highest: the price can fluctuate between RM 2000 to 3000 per ton (the current price is about RM 2400 per ton).
In the end, oil palm is a highly profitable crop with huge local and world demand.
Oil palm covers 5 million ha in Malaysia. This land area is equivalent to nearly one-fifth (20%) of Malaysia. This means nearly 20% of Malaysia is covered by a single crop alone: the oil palm. No wonder then when you "balik kampung" you see nothing but endless stretches of oil palm trees along the highway.
But Malaysia has ran out of fertile land for oil palm. Oil palm is a large tree, where a single tree can occupy nearly 70 sq. m of land area. The land area that is left for oil palm (as well as for other crops) in Malaysia is marginal (or less fertile) soils such as peat lands (in Sarawak for instance) and hill slopes -- and virgin forests.
Malaysia has 58% forest cover, but Malaysia loses about 68,000 ha of forest per year mainly due to agriculture purposes. This amount of loss is equivalent to the size of 11 football fields per hour. However, Malaysia's deforestation rate has declined over the years due to increased efforts of reforestation. Malaysia faces enormous international pressure over our forest clearing activities. One margarine company from Australia, for example, recently declared they would stop using palm oil as their vegetable oil because of pressure from their consumers. So, imagine if every company in the food industry followed likewise. The impact on Malaysia's economy would be enormous.
I took this picture from a local supermarket. This is one way pressure is exerted on Malaysia's oil palm industry.
Because of lack of new land area, Malaysia has gone to other countries to open up new oil palm plantations, namely in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and some tropical African countries. Land clearing unfortunately involves burning because the forest trees are cut down and the shrubs cleared -- but where to throw them away? There is no DBKL to pick up the trees and shrubs. So, the forest litter are burned. Two positives of burning are lower risk of pests and diseases and increase in soil fertility. However, burning is very air-polluting, as we all know.
There is a zero burning practice where there is no burning involved at all. The cut forest trees are chipped (cut into smaller pieces) and left on the ground, together with the shrubs, to decay. But leaving the litter lying around impedes field operations. Sometimes the forest litter are buried but at additional and sometimes prohibitive cost. Zero burning may be good for the environment, but it could cause some serious problems later on for oil palm: higher risk of disease (e.g., Ganoderma) and pests (e.g., Rhinoceros beetle).
Malaysian oil palm plantations practise zero burning (except for a few who choose to break the law) but at a price of heavy infestation of Rhinoceros beetles, especially those near the palm oil mills (where they extract the oil).
So, at the end: it is a great challenge to break away from the usual business-as-usual way of economic development and to pursue an economic and social growth that is sustainable.
Malaysia and Indonesia are the two largest producer of palm oil in the world. 90% of palm oil in the world come from these two countries alone. Palm oil is the largest contributor to world's oils and fats, so without palm oil, the world would have difficulty meeting the demand for vegetable oil.
Oil palm is popular for several reasons.
Firstly, oil palm produces the most amount of oil per hectare of land than any other crop. This means in 1 hectare (ha), the amount of oil from oil palm is the highest (8 ton per ha) compared to other crops such as corn (0.2 ton per ha), soybean (0.5), olive (1.5), and coconut (3.2). So, if we want to replace oil palm with corn, for example, Malaysia has to clear 40 times more forest land area just to get the same amount of oil as we got from oil palm.
Secondly, palm oil has a variety of uses. The food industry people like it. Palm oil is one of the cheapest oil to produce and refine, making the use of palm oil as a food ingredient more preferable over other vegetable oils in processed foods (such as chocolates and margarines). Cheaper oil means the food can be cheaper and stay competitive. The biofuel industry people like palm oil too because, as stated earlier, oil palm produces the most oil per unit land area than any other crops. High oil prices and greater awareness of detrimental climate change have made the world to look for other energy sources and supplements such as from biodiesel/biofuel from oil palm.
Thirdly, crude palm oil price in the commodities market is one of the highest: the price can fluctuate between RM 2000 to 3000 per ton (the current price is about RM 2400 per ton).
In the end, oil palm is a highly profitable crop with huge local and world demand.
Oil palm covers 5 million ha in Malaysia. This land area is equivalent to nearly one-fifth (20%) of Malaysia. This means nearly 20% of Malaysia is covered by a single crop alone: the oil palm. No wonder then when you "balik kampung" you see nothing but endless stretches of oil palm trees along the highway.
But Malaysia has ran out of fertile land for oil palm. Oil palm is a large tree, where a single tree can occupy nearly 70 sq. m of land area. The land area that is left for oil palm (as well as for other crops) in Malaysia is marginal (or less fertile) soils such as peat lands (in Sarawak for instance) and hill slopes -- and virgin forests.
Malaysia has 58% forest cover, but Malaysia loses about 68,000 ha of forest per year mainly due to agriculture purposes. This amount of loss is equivalent to the size of 11 football fields per hour. However, Malaysia's deforestation rate has declined over the years due to increased efforts of reforestation. Malaysia faces enormous international pressure over our forest clearing activities. One margarine company from Australia, for example, recently declared they would stop using palm oil as their vegetable oil because of pressure from their consumers. So, imagine if every company in the food industry followed likewise. The impact on Malaysia's economy would be enormous.
I took this picture from a local supermarket. This is one way pressure is exerted on Malaysia's oil palm industry.
Because of lack of new land area, Malaysia has gone to other countries to open up new oil palm plantations, namely in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and some tropical African countries. Land clearing unfortunately involves burning because the forest trees are cut down and the shrubs cleared -- but where to throw them away? There is no DBKL to pick up the trees and shrubs. So, the forest litter are burned. Two positives of burning are lower risk of pests and diseases and increase in soil fertility. However, burning is very air-polluting, as we all know.
There is a zero burning practice where there is no burning involved at all. The cut forest trees are chipped (cut into smaller pieces) and left on the ground, together with the shrubs, to decay. But leaving the litter lying around impedes field operations. Sometimes the forest litter are buried but at additional and sometimes prohibitive cost. Zero burning may be good for the environment, but it could cause some serious problems later on for oil palm: higher risk of disease (e.g., Ganoderma) and pests (e.g., Rhinoceros beetle).
Malaysian oil palm plantations practise zero burning (except for a few who choose to break the law) but at a price of heavy infestation of Rhinoceros beetles, especially those near the palm oil mills (where they extract the oil).
So, at the end: it is a great challenge to break away from the usual business-as-usual way of economic development and to pursue an economic and social growth that is sustainable.
