Oil palms are cultivated in the regions where they grow well and where there are oil mills. Palm oil production has boomed over the last decades driven by increasing use as frying oil, as an ingredient in processed food and non-edible products (detergents and cosmetics), and more recently in biodiesel production.

To enhance the performance and growth, the oil palm needs a region.

1. Where it is hot all the year round

The oil palm grows well where it is hot all the year round: between 25 and 28 degrees C.
If the temperature drops, the oil palm produces fewer leaves and is more often attacked by diseases. It therefore yields less.
A hot temperature enables the oil palm to make many leaves and to produce many clusters of fruit.

2. A lot of sunshine

where there is a lot of sunshine, there will be strong photosynthesis, provided the oil palm is in soil which gives it water and mineral salts.
The leaves grow large, the fruit ripens well, and there is more oil in the fruits.

3. Plentiful rain

If it does not rain much, or if it does not rain for several months, the leaves do not grow well.
If there are few new leaves, there are few flowers and few clusters of fruit then there are fewer yields.

4. The oil palm needs a flat soil

If the soil is not flat, transport is difficult and costs a lot.
Erosion is severe; the water carries away the earth.

5. The oil palm needs a deep soil

Where to Cultivate Oil Palms for Maximum Profit

The roots of the oil palm cannot develop il they meet a hard layer.
They cannot take up water and mineral salts that are deep down.
If the oil palm does not have enough water, yields are low.

6. The oil palm needs a permeable soil

The oil palm does not grow well if water remains around its roots for too long.

7. The oil palm needs a rich soil

In order to produce many large clusters of fruit, the oil palm needs a lot of mineral salts.
If the soil is poor, mineral salts can be added by applying fertilizers.

8. Where there are oil mills

With traditional methods, a lot of oil is left in the pulp and the kernels.
The machines of the oil mills extract all the oil contained in the pulp and the kernels.

Selected oil palms produce many clusters of fruit.
To get all the oil out of these clusters yourself, you would have to spend a lot of time.
Before planting selected oil palms, make sure you can sell the fruit clusters to a mill.

9. Where business companies or extension services can give the grower advice

It takes much money and work to make an oil palm plantation.
The grower must use modern methods in order to pay for his expenses and earn money. He will need advice on:

how to choose the site for his plantation
how densely to plant it
how to look after the plantation
how to apply fertilizers
how to protect the oil palms against disease

Modern Oil Palm Cultivation

A modern oil palm plantation needs a grower who has learned how to cultivate oil palms. Growing selected oil palms is not just a matter of picking the fruit; it is a modern crop.

An oil palm begins to produce 3 or 4 years after it has been planted. During that time the grower must spend money and work hard, without harvesting any fruit or earning any money.

To make a modern oil palm plantation takes money. Most often you will have to pay workmen for clearing the site of the plantation and removing tree stumps. Then you must buy seedlings and fertilizers.

To grow oil palms takes a lot of work. Before planting your oil palms, you have to clear the forest and remove the tree stumps.

Life of the Oil Palm

The oil palm may have a very long life.

When the young oil palm has been planted in the palm grove, it produces male flowers.

The oil palm has no branches.

The Fruits of the Oil Palm Yield Oil

The clusters consist of spikelets.

dura palms have kernels with a thick shell;

pisifera palms have kernels with no shell;

tenera palms have kernels with a thin shell.

When oil palms bear many and large fruit clusters, they yield a lot of oil.

Why Cultivate Oil Palms?

for the growers who sell the fruit,

for the workers who work in the mills,

for the government which can sell the oil to foreign countries.

The growers can also earn money by raising beef cattle.

Where to Cultivate Oil Palms for Maximum Profit