Palm continues to cater to edible oil needs

The News
Munawar Hasan
Sunday, April 13, 2014
From Print Edition




In fact, palm oil will be the only viable edible oil source available by middle of the 21st Century
that produces far more volume by using comparatively far less agriculture land to feed
burgeoning population of the world. The world population is projected to grow from 7.20 billion
in 2013 to nine billion by 2043. As per the assessment of Dr Yusof Basiron, chief executive
officer of MPOC, against a backdrop of lack of arable land and reduced and fluctuating supply of
competing soft oils, palm oils reliability in supply is a unique added advantage.

Talking about the population growth and challenges relating to food security, he said, high
demand for oil in food and industrial sectors is expected in the years to come with an increased
application in the production of food and non-food applications such as oleo chemicals / bio
diesel, especially in countries and regions such as China, India, Pakistan, the Middle East,
European Union and America.

The biggest challenge in ensuing decades will be squeezing land resources for agriculture
purposes, he said, adding, We need to use land wisely due to scarcity of arable land, as world
population is increasing, while arable land resources are decreasing.

The Malaysian example is unique for achieving goals of quality produce with relatively greater
yields by utilising comparatively lesser land resources, he said.

The world population has already been facing challenge of hunger and food insecurity. As per a
recent report, he said, one in every eight people goes to sleep hungry every day. The issues
relating to food insecurity are acute in South Asia where 40 percent of its population falls in the
category of poor having 1.25 dollar per day, which is second highest prevalence of poverty
among all the regions of the world. Of 1.476 billion people living in South Asia, there is 0.596
billion poor people in the region, he said.

If we are not succeeded in meeting the demand for food in the coming decade, hunger and
extremely high prices of commodities cannot be avoided.

In addition to shortages, he said, rising population growth is alone sufficient to exert greater
pressure on commodity prices. Higher palm oil yield is the only solution to land scarcity
problem, he said.

About viability of various edible oils, MPOC CEO said, if increased demand for population in
the middle of the 21st Century is to be fulfilled by soyabean oil with yield factor of 0.5 tons per
hectare, it requires an additional around 11.8 million hectares of land per annum.

If increased demand is to be fulfilled by palm oil with yield factor of four tons per hectare, it
requires just an additional 1.48 million hectares of land per annum, he said.

Sharing some other facts, Dr Basiron said, of the total agricultural land of 4,911 million hectares
in the world, 5.25 percent are planted with oilseeds, while only 0.29 percent of the world
agricultural land is used for palm oil.

The quality and land efficiency of palm oil production is even greater in Malaysia, he said,
adding that the Malaysian palm oil only took 0.09 percent of the global agriculture land.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, which is sixth most populous country in the world, presently
around 70 percent of domestic edible oil requirements are being met through imports, over 95
percent of which is composed of palm oil products.

Malaysian palm oil proved a cost effective solution to meet edible oil requirement of Pakistan, he
said.

Of the total imported palm oil in 2013, the share of Malaysian palm oil stands at around 62
percent. This trend is likely to continue in the years to come, primarily due to cost effectiveness
and sustainable production of palm oil, he added.