fghanni:
1. Technical aspects of oil palm :

Oil Palm (Elaeis guinensis Jacq.) is a native of Guinea Coast of West Africa. It belongs to family Palmae and tribe Cocoineae. Oil palm is the highest oil producer among perennial oil yielding crops. It produces two distinct oils viz., palm oil (extracted from meso carp of fresh fruits) and palm kernel oil (from kernel). Palm oil has excellent health attributes. It is rich in vitamins A and E and is cholesterol free. Palm oil can be used in formulation of margarine and cooking fat such as vanaspathi. It can be used in manufacture of biscuits, ice creams, soaps, detergents, and shampoos and also as frying fat. Palm kernel oil has variety of industrial uses.

1.1 Varieties: Broadly, there are three varieties viz., Dura, Piscifera and Tenera. Tenera, a hybrid of Dura and Piscifera is characterized by a thin shell and medium to high mesocarp (65-90%) and high oil content (16-20%). It is a commercially cultivated variety.

1.2 Soil and climatic requirements: Deep well-drained medium loam soil, rich in humus is the most suitable for oil palm cultivation. Oil palm requires a well distributed rainfall of 2500 to 4000 mm per annum and a temperature range of 19-33° C. It is a water-loving crop and it requires adequate irrigation. The crop responds well to drip irrigation and yields are reported to increase by at least 20%.

1.3 Planting: Oil palm is planted in triangular system at a spacing of 9 X 9 X 9 m accommodating 143 plants in a hectare. Planting can be done in any season. However, the best period is June to December. Seedlings of 10-14 months age are best suited for planting.

1.4 Irrigation Oil palm requires adequate irrigation, as it is a fast growing crop with high productivity and biomass production. For yielding palms of above three years age, a minimum of 150 litres per day is required. In older plantations the requirement goes upto 20 litres per day.

The crop responds well to drip or micro sprinkler irrigation particularly when water is limited. If drip is installed four drippers have to be placed for each palm. If each dripper discharges 8 litre per hour, 4-5 hour of irrigation is sufficient to discharge 160 litre per day. Drip irrigation increases the productivity by 15-20 per cent, reduces wastage of water, and requires less power/fuel per irrigation compared to conventional irrigation methods. It is important to note that any physiological stress shifts sex ratio in favour of male flowers and consequently the productivity is reduced.

1.5 Nutrition: Fertilizers are preferably applied in 3-4 split doses.
Application of green leaf manure or compost is advantageous, especially where the soils are poor in organic matter.

1.6 Inter crop: During the initial stages of plantation in oil palm i.e., up to 3rd year, some of the light feeder inter crops such as pulses, cereals, vegetables, grasses etc., can be grown. Inter crop should be grown 1m. away from the basin in 1st year of oil palm plantation. In two-year-old plantations, it should be grown 2 m away, followed by 3 m in the third year plantations.

1.7 Yield : Oil palm starts bearing from 4th year onwards and its economic life varies from 30 to 35 years. The yield of oil palm varies according to age and management. Under average management conditions in a mature plantation (8 to 9 years old), yield of 15-18 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) per hectare is expected. Under good maintenance and management, yield up to 25-30 tonnes of FFBs per hectare is possible.
Oil palm is best planted in June all through December because of availability of rain and harvest is usually between March and May of every year.
Palm oil is usually expensive between September and December – You need to set up a stocking program where you store it when it is cheap and sell back to market when scarcity sets in. This strategy requires space and may incur significant holding, handling and transportation costs.

1.8 Minimum Startup Capital/Cost of Investment
Take an acre of land for example which is about 660 ft by 66 ft as a study, as it requires about 25 seedlings, assuming you are spacing at 30 ft by 30ft that is 8 – 9 meters between 2 plants:
1. So to get seedlings alone, you will require about N10,000 to N15,000;
2. For land preparation if there are no trees to stump, you will need to plough twice which costs about N10,000 for a single plough.
3. Again, those who will plant the seedlings will collect N15,000; after planting, an annual minimum of three to four times of weeding will continue for the next three to five years until it gets to harvesting.

“For you to weed once, it requires about N15,000 because of the size of the land. So, putting all these together, you can imagine what the investment is going to be like for an acre. But it all depends on what you have on you and it will determine the size of land you will be cultivating.”

1.9 Likely Challenges/Solutions
1. Inadequate investment in research – we depended so much on the varieties we inherited, which are not really giving Nigerians enough yield and we never thought about how to improve on them.
2. The challenge of high cost of investment in oil palm cultivation business because of the technology involved and depending on the size of land.
3. The challenge of weeding because the plantation is not weed friendly and if you allow weed to over grow it, the production will fall.
4. Challenge in harvesting comes in, as it is not something you get to the tree, cut and it will come down – you need very serious cutting for the seed to come down and up till now, we are still using the manure traditional method of harvesting.
In country like Malaysia, they have developed their oil palm cultivation to the extent that they have harvesters, tickers, loaders, and everything required, from cultivation to management, and to harvesting. Also, in this part of the world, we don’t usually get enough hands to harvest, so it poses a challenge to those into cultivation. However, no matter the quantity and cost of oil palm you are cultivating, you will still make your money.”
Due to the special nature of the product itself, you need a land space that has the required soil nutrients, whereby the product itself can survive. Another one is that oil palm production requires the investor to have other means of income as he/she waits for two or more years for the trees to start yielding. This is the challenge for most entrepreneurs as they usually cannot wait for a number of years to reap their investments.
Those who cannot wait can move into other businesses in the sector like processing. They source the palm fruits or palm kernels from the farmers or business people and process it into useful products.

2.0 Advice To New Entrants/Nigerians
As new entrants, you should get it right from the start – you need to get your land ready, you need to get good varieties of seeds or seedlings and while planting, give it sufficient spacing so as to get maximum yield. I will also advice them to be patient because it is a long term investment.

In such cultivation, you can always do mix planting – at the early stage of cultivation when the oil palm is still very young, you can interplant with arable crops, like maize, cassava or crops that will have enough maturity so as not to just tie down capital.
Also new entrant are urged not to fail to seek advice from those who have been on it before with a view to guiding them on what to do and how to do it; and to be mindful that they are going to get return on their investment, if they do it well.

For our government, they should invest more in research, with a view to getting farmers the right varieties that will actually give them the maximum yield.

It should also be noted that oil palm cultivators should understand that it is not a buy and sell thing, or a kind of business you can start and make profit from within a day, week or year, but if you are coming in, you need a lot of patience with determination to endure the process. You can be assured that within a short period of time; you will get you returns and be a major player.


source:
https://farmerscornerng.com/en/palm-oil-plantation-and-management/

fghanni:
1. Technical aspects of oil palm :

1.4 Irrigation Oil palm requires adequate irrigation, as it is a fast growing crop with high productivity and biomass production. For yielding palms of above three years age, a minimum of 150 litres per day is required. In older plantations the requirement goes upto 20 litres per day.

The crop responds well to drip or micro sprinkler irrigation particularly when water is limited. If drip is installed four drippers have to be placed for each palm. If each dripper discharges 8 litre per hour, 4-5 hour of irrigation is sufficient to discharge 160 litre per day. Drip irrigation increases the productivity by 15-20 per cent, reduces wastage of water, and requires less power/fuel per irrigation compared to conventional irrigation methods. It is important to note that any physiological stress shifts sex ratio in favour of male flowers and consequently the productivity is reduced.

source:
https://farmerscornerng.com/en/palm-oil-plantation-and-management/

fghanni:
1. Technical aspects of oil palm :

Oil Palm (Elaeis guinensis Jacq.) is a native of Guinea Coast of West Africa. It belongs to family Palmae and tribe Cocoineae. Oil palm is the highest oil producer among perennial oil yielding crops. It produces two distinct oils viz., palm oil (extracted from meso carp of fresh fruits) and palm kernel oil (from kernel). Palm oil has excellent health attributes. It is rich in vitamins A and E and is cholesterol free. Palm oil can be used in formulation of margarine and cooking fat such as vanaspathi. It can be used in manufacture of biscuits, ice creams, soaps, detergents, and shampoos and also as frying fat. Palm kernel oil has variety of industrial uses.

1.1 Varieties: Broadly, there are three varieties viz., Dura, Piscifera and Tenera. Tenera, a hybrid of Dura and Piscifera is characterized by a thin shell and medium to high mesocarp (65-90%) and high oil content (16-20%). It is a commercially cultivated variety.

1.2 Soil and climatic requirements: Deep well-drained medium loam soil, rich in humus is the most suitable for oil palm cultivation. Oil palm requires a well distributed rainfall of 2500 to 4000 mm per annum and a temperature range of 19-33° C. It is a water-loving crop and it requires adequate irrigation. The crop responds well to drip irrigation and yields are reported to increase by at least 20%.

1.3 Planting: Oil palm is planted in triangular system at a spacing of 9 X 9 X 9 m accommodating 143 plants in a hectare. Planting can be done in any season. However, the best period is June to December. Seedlings of 10-14 months age are best suited for planting.

1.4 Irrigation Oil palm requires adequate irrigation, as it is a fast growing crop with high productivity and biomass production. For yielding palms of above three years age, a minimum of 150 litres per day is required. In older plantations the requirement goes upto 20 litres per day.

The crop responds well to drip or micro sprinkler irrigation particularly when water is limited. If drip is installed four drippers have to be placed for each palm. If each dripper discharges 8 litre per hour, 4-5 hour of irrigation is sufficient to discharge 160 litre per day. Drip irrigation increases the productivity by 15-20 per cent, reduces wastage of water, and requires less power/fuel per irrigation compared to conventional irrigation methods. It is important to note that any physiological stress shifts sex ratio in favour of male flowers and consequently the productivity is reduced.

1.5 Nutrition: Fertilizers are preferably applied in 3-4 split doses.
Application of green leaf manure or compost is advantageous, especially where the soils are poor in organic matter.

1.6 Inter crop: During the initial stages of plantation in oil palm i.e., up to 3rd year, some of the light feeder inter crops such as pulses, cereals, vegetables, grasses etc., can be grown. Inter crop should be grown 1m. away from the basin in 1st year of oil palm plantation. In two-year-old plantations, it should be grown 2 m away, followed by 3 m in the third year plantations.

1.7 Yield : Oil palm starts bearing from 4th year onwards and its economic life varies from 30 to 35 years. The yield of oil palm varies according to age and management. Under average management conditions in a mature plantation (8 to 9 years old), yield of 15-18 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFBs) per hectare is expected. Under good maintenance and management, yield up to 25-30 tonnes of FFBs per hectare is possible.
Oil palm is best planted in June all through December because of availability of rain and harvest is usually between March and May of every year.
Palm oil is usually expensive between September and December – You need to set up a stocking program where you store it when it is cheap and sell back to market when scarcity sets in. This strategy requires space and may incur significant holding, handling and transportation costs.

1.8 Minimum Startup Capital/Cost of Investment
Take an acre of land for example which is about 660 ft by 66 ft as a study, as it requires about 25 seedlings, assuming you are spacing at 30 ft by 30ft that is 8 – 9 meters between 2 plants:
1. So to get seedlings alone, you will require about N10,000 to N15,000;
2. For land preparation if there are no trees to stump, you will need to plough twice which costs about N10,000 for a single plough.
3. Again, those who will plant the seedlings will collect N15,000; after planting, an annual minimum of three to four times of weeding will continue for the next three to five years until it gets to harvesting.

“For you to weed once, it requires about N15,000 because of the size of the land. So, putting all these together, you can imagine what the investment is going to be like for an acre. But it all depends on what you have on you and it will determine the size of land you will be cultivating.”

1.9 Likely Challenges/Solutions
1. Inadequate investment in research – we depended so much on the varieties we inherited, which are not really giving Nigerians enough yield and we never thought about how to improve on them.
2. The challenge of high cost of investment in oil palm cultivation business because of the technology involved and depending on the size of land.
3. The challenge of weeding because the plantation is not weed friendly and if you allow weed to over grow it, the production will fall.
4. Challenge in harvesting comes in, as it is not something you get to the tree, cut and it will come down – you need very serious cutting for the seed to come down and up till now, we are still using the manure traditional method of harvesting.
In country like Malaysia, they have developed their oil palm cultivation to the extent that they have harvesters, tickers, loaders, and everything required, from cultivation to management, and to harvesting. Also, in this part of the world, we don’t usually get enough hands to harvest, so it poses a challenge to those into cultivation. However, no matter the quantity and cost of oil palm you are cultivating, you will still make your money.”
Due to the special nature of the product itself, you need a land space that has the required soil nutrients, whereby the product itself can survive. Another one is that oil palm production requires the investor to have other means of income as he/she waits for two or more years for the trees to start yielding. This is the challenge for most entrepreneurs as they usually cannot wait for a number of years to reap their investments.
Those who cannot wait can move into other businesses in the sector like processing. They source the palm fruits or palm kernels from the farmers or business people and process it into useful products.

2.0 Advice To New Entrants/Nigerians
As new entrants, you should get it right from the start – you need to get your land ready, you need to get good varieties of seeds or seedlings and while planting, give it sufficient spacing so as to get maximum yield. I will also advice them to be patient because it is a long term investment.

In such cultivation, you can always do mix planting – at the early stage of cultivation when the oil palm is still very young, you can interplant with arable crops, like maize, cassava or crops that will have enough maturity so as not to just tie down capital.
Also new entrant are urged not to fail to seek advice from those who have been on it before with a view to guiding them on what to do and how to do it; and to be mindful that they are going to get return on their investment, if they do it well.

For our government, they should invest more in research, with a view to getting farmers the right varieties that will actually give them the maximum yield.

It should also be noted that oil palm cultivators should understand that it is not a buy and sell thing, or a kind of business you can start and make profit from within a day, week or year, but if you are coming in, you need a lot of patience with determination to endure the process. You can be assured that within a short period of time; you will get you returns and be a major player.


source:
https://farmerscornerng.com/en/palm-oil-plantation-and-management/