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By Channa Kasturisinghe

In a bid to promote oil palm cultivation in the country, the Sri Lanka-Malaysia Business Council has taken the initiative to make the public aware of the advantages of the crop and the technical and practical aspects of oil palm cultivation.

The Council intends to create interest among its members in order to diversify into the multi purpose crop by sharing an experience of oil palm cultivation in Malaysia where more than 11 million tons of palm oil is produced annually.

General Manager of Watawala Plantations Ltd, S. Sri Kumar told a recent seminar organised by the Council that it was vital to eradicate myths about oil palm cultivation spread by certain groups with vested interests.

"There is no truth in the rumours that oil palm cultivation affects the ground water level or water flow in the surrounding areas. Such fears were also raised in Malaysia and Indonesia, but there has been no indication of any adverse impact consequent to large-scale planting of oil palm in these countries," Mr. Sri Kumar said.

He said Sri Lanka could benefit by diversifying into oil palm cultivation as the country's climatic conditions are healthy for the crop.

Today, we produce only 4,500 tons of palm oil annually and about 90 percent of the country's requirements are imported. We could save the large amount of money we spend on importing palm oil by increasing the area cultivated here.

On the other hand consuming palm oil does not cause any health problem. In fact, today it is called the `Golden Oil' and people drink it as a healthy drink. It is a dietary energy source and free of cholesterol and trans-unsaturated fatty acids which cause heart disease," Mr. Siri Kumara said.

He said a number of food and non-food items could be produced using palm oil due to its unique composition of physical properties.

"The oil palm fruit can be processed to produce cooking oil, industrial frying fat, margarine, shortenings, vegetable ghee, confectionery fats, ice-cream and non-airy creamers.

Soap, palm based oleochemicals, fatty acids, alpha-sulphonated Methyl Esters, diesel substitutes and fatty alcohol are among non food items produced using palm oil. Epoxidised palm oil is used in manufacturing boots and polyurethane foam while glycerol made from palm oil is used in producing various pharmaceutical items.

The application of an empty bunch as fertiliser in oil palm cultivation is an added advantage as it helps to reduce the cost of production. The palm begins to bear fruits in 32 months and it continues to be economical and productive for the next 20 to 30 years," Mr. Sri Kumar said.

Mr. Sri Kumar had served for eight years as a senior Manager and General Manager of Sime Darby oil palm plantation in Malaysia. He won the prestigious Malaysian Award presented by the Chief Minister of Sabha in 1980 for the most improved and best-maintained plantation. 

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