Some Best Practices in

Thailands Oil Palm Industry

Univanich Palm Oil PCL, Krabi,

Krabi, Thailand
9Sept11

Best Oil Palm Growing Regions

100

Best
growing
areas are
within100
of the
equator
100

Oil Palms are now spreading to dryer areas up to 150 from the Equator
using drought tolerant hybrid seeds

Planted area of oil palms in Thailand

(Hectares)

700,000

671,700 hectares
(4.20 million rai)

600,000
500,000
400,000
300,000
200,000

1973 First factory

at Univanich

100,000
1969 First plantings
at Univanich

0
1968
Source : DOA 2010

1973

1978

1983

1988

1993

1998

2003

2008

Five factors driving growth in Thailands supply & demand

1- Oil Palm Breeding is improving drought tolerance
2- Agronomic Research is increasing crop yields
3- Small farmers are driving expansion of the planted area
4- Domestic biodiesel policy and new export markets
are creating new demand growth
5- Energy policies are creating new investment
opportunities for the industry

Univanich Palm Oil PCL

Locations in Krabi Province

Topi
Factory
Topi Factory

AOLUK

Siam
Siam Factory
Factory

Lamthap Factory

Univanich Business Structure

Seedlings for
replanting

Oil Palm Research Centre

(OPRC)

Own Plantations

Seed Exports

4 Estates
6,200 ha

customers in
10 countries

Seedlings for
new planting

Outside Growers
,
small growers
approx 4,000
approx 40,000 ha

17% Raw material

150,000
tonnesFFB

3 Crushing mills
(135 tonnes fruit per hour)
CPO

PKO

PKC

tonnesFFB

Electricity Sales

Carbon Credits
Target 100,000 CERs
90,000 CERs annually

83% Raw material

718,000

146,000
tonnes

21,500
tonnes

24,000
tonnes

30% to 80% exported

Biogas capacity
of 5.7 Megawatts

Univanich export facilities at Laemphong Port, Krabi

Developing new overseas markets for Thai palm oil

Exporting CPO/PKO to Asia and Europe

Oil Palm Research Centre

(OPRC)

Established in 1983
Thailands leading centre for oil palm research

Univanich OPRC has focus on sustainability ;

Economic sustainability

Environmental sustainability

Social sustainability

OPRC Activities ;
-

Oil Palm Breeding and Seed Production

Fertiliser Trials

Irrigation Research

Planting Density Trials

Methods of Replanting Trials

Oil Palm Tissue Culture

DNA Marker Research (with Kasetsart University)

Methane Biogas Capture

Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

Farmer training. Oil palm extension.

Univanich Breeding Programme

Objective : To produce World Class Tenera hybrids

especially suited to dry growing conditions

Selections based on :

- High Oil Yields

- Drought Tolerance
- Low height increments

Univanich Collection of Genetic Material

Unilever & SIPEF
Joint Research Scheme (JRS)

Binga (Congo)
Yangambi and other origins

Harrison & Crosfield

Dami (Papua New Guinea)

Deli Duras and AVROS

Guthrie Plantations

Combined
Breeding
Programme
(CBP)
1988 - 1991

Chemara (Malaysia)
Deli Duras, 1970

Unilever Plantations Group

Lobe (Cameroon)
Ekona and others

Unifield PCL

Tissue Culture Laboratories (UK)

Clones of selected Duras,
Teneras and Pisiferas, 1991

Univanich
Oil Palm Research Centre
Thailand

Unilever Plantations Group

Yaligimba (Congo)
Deli Duras, ex-Dami
and others, 1997

Progeny testing of new hybrid crosses

Field testing of more than 900 progeny crosses

Producing a new generation of palms

Deli x Yangambi hybrid palm 24 months after planting

A new generation of palms

Selected for high yields in Thailands dry climate

Seed Exports from Thailand

Univanich Oil Palms now growing in
India
Myanmar
Cambodia
Vietnam
Philippines
Indonesia
Nigeria
Ethiopia
Colombia
Brazil

Quality Certification

Current production 10 million seeds

Also supplying local farmers with quality seedlings

Supplying local farmers more than 1,000,

000,000 certified seedlings each year
ISO 9001 certification of seed production and nurseries

Thailands new generation of hybrid palms

are achieving production records around Asia

Univanich Deli x Yangambi hybrid growing in Philippines

Economic sustainability (continued)

Tissue Culture : the next innovation

in oil palm breeding

Tissue Culture
Producing Thailands first oil palm clones

Developing a new generation of high

yielding clonal palms

Cloning and field testing

of elite palms from the
Univanich breeding
programme

Economic sustainability (continued)

Irrigation research: to overcome the effects

of Thailands dry seasons

Thailand suffers an annual dry season

Monthly Soil Water Deficit (mm) at Univanich
Jan Feb Mar Apr May
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010

25 94
112 146
0
0
73 109
41 24
123 140
43 76

94
22
5
3
3
1
98

26
31
36
0
2
2
37

0
0
0
0
0
0
22

Jun
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

0
0
0
0
0
0
0

15
0
0
0
4
7
0

Total
260
311
49
185
74
273
276

Southern Thailand usually has four or five months of soil water deficit

Thailands monthly CPO Production

Thousand Tonnes

2010 - 2011

Severe dry seasons in Thailand create large differences

between low production and high production months

Oil Palm Irrigation Research

Automated irrigation trials to test (a) palms water requirements

and (b) best methods of application

Three Univanich Irrigation Trials 1990 - 2006

Trial
1

Objectives

Drip Irrigation Trial

1990 1999

To compare

Methods of Irrigation

1996 1999
- Drippers
- Sprinklers
- Microsprayers
- Contour furrows

To compare 4 methods

Drip Irrigation Trial

(Phase II)

2000 2006

To compare

Period

150 litres/palm.day
300 litres/palm.day

225 litres/palm.day
450 litres/palm.day

Summary of Irrigation Trial Yields

(old generation oil palms planted in 1985)
1985)

Tonnes FFB/ha/year
Irrigation amount
(litres/palm.day)

Normal Fertiliser

Double Fertiliser

17.6

18.2

225

24.3

24.1

450

25.0

28.1

Irrigation will increase yields by approximately 10 tonnes fruit per hectare

Oil palms respond to 450 litres/palm/day provided fertiliser is also increased

Yield Profiles of new generation hybrid palms

FFB Yields of Univanich Hybrids
(Deli x Yangambi
mixed commercial
crosses planted in 1999 )
(Deli x Yangambi
mixed commercial
FFB mt/ha
45

crosses)
Irrigated
IrrigatedBlocks
Blocks
40

40
35

30

30
25
Non-irrigated
Non-irrigated
Blocks
Blocks

20

20

15

10

10
5
0
Year of harvesting

M onths from P lanting 25 - 36

2
37 - 48

3
49 - 60

61- 72

73 - 84

85 - 96

7
97 - 108

Irrigation will add about 10 mt FFB per hectare

New generation hybrids with irrigation produce up to 40 mt FFB per hectare

2011 Irrigation & Fertigation Trial

Water Supply

To compare fertilizer applied by manual and fertigation methods

21.5 hectares

8 treatments and 6 replicates

4 fertilizer rates with two application methods

8 drippers / palm

450 litres / palm / day

Trial period 2011 - 2017

Environmental sustainability

Developing sustainable
replanting techniques

Developing new techniques for replanting old palms

Routine replanting of 3% to 4% of Univanich area each year

Terracing in hill estates

Developing environmentally sustainable planting practices to

conserve moisture and protect the soil

New underplanting techniques on flat land

Phased felling of the old palms in avenues

Underplanting techniques

Underplanting spreads the economic cost of replanting

and optimises benefit of biomass nutrients from the old stand of palms

Economic sustainability

Underplanting trials at
Univanich have also indicated
the potential for Integrated
Cattle & Oil Palm
: to diversify farmer income

Economic sustainability

Two--tier planting trials

Two

Underplanting trials at Univanich have also indicated the potential

for twotwo-tier planting of different ages of palms
- increasing yields and reducing the economic impact of replanting

Two--tier planting trials

Two
( 97 hectares planted in 1993 & 2007)

18 year old palms with avenues of 4 year old palms

- increasing yields and reducing the economic impact of replanting

Economic sustainability

Planting density
and thinning trials

Normal planting density in Thailand

143 palms /hectare (9.0 m triangle)

Higher planting density of

160 palms/hectare (8.5 m triangle)

Higher planting density gives higher

early yields in first 8 years from planting

At 9 years, reduce to 120 palms/ha by

removing 25% of palms

Univanich trials of this treatment gave

15% higher crop yield over first 16 years
of production (+36 t FFB / ha) compared
to conventional 143 palms/ha density

160 palms/hectare (8.5 m triangle)

with systematic thinning to 120 palms /hectare

X 25% of palms removed at age 9 years

Even higher planting density of

180palms/hectare
180
palms/hectare (8.0 m triangle)
gives similar results

X 33% of palms removed at age 9 years

Environmental sustainability

Biomass byby-products as
substitute for chemical fertilisers

Nutrient equivalent of biomass replacing

chemical fertilisers (kg equivalent)
N
(SOA)

P
(GRP)

K
Mg
(MOP) (Kieserite)

17.5kg

2.9kg

18.3kg

4.7kg

Trunks/hectare =
Trunks

1,616kg

92kg

707kg

281kg

52.1kg

5.6kg

15.9kg

11.2kg

EFB 1 ton

at replanting

Fronds 1 ton
annual pruning

Returning EFB biomass to the field

Reducing the need for chemical fertilizers

Mulching young palms with chipped palm trunks at replanting

Conserving moisture, recycling nutrients to the next generation

Frond stacking and EFB mulching under mature palms

Improving soil structure and moisture retention

Reducing soil and nutrient erosion

Environmental sustainability (continued)

Methane capture and

renewable energy from
factory waste water

Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is traditionally treated in deep

anaerobic ponds which emit large quantities of methane
biogas to the atmosphere

A source of potent greenhouse gas emissions

Three Univanich CDM Methane Capture Projects

Siam
Project
Year commissioned

Total Capital Investment

Lamthap
Project

2007

US$ 6.8

2008

million

Topi
Project
2009

Construction of
Biogas Reactors

First Project
2006/2007 - Univanich Siam Project

Second Project
2007- Univanich Lamthap Project

Completed CIGARS
(Covered In-Ground
Anaerobic Reactors)

First Project - Siam

Commissioned December 2007

Second Project - Lamthap

Commissioned June 2008

Third Project - Topi

Commissioned August 2009
Capturing the methane
emitted from factory
waste water

Biological Scrubbers using

bacteria to clean the gas

Horizontal Scrubber

Two designs of bio-scrubbers both reduce

Hydrogen Sulphide from above 2,500 ppm
to below 100 ppm

Vertical Scrubbers

Utilising the Methane Biogas

Surplus biogas is burnt

in flares to also qualify
for Carbon Credits
(CERs)
Gas engine generators fueled by biogas supply
electricity to the national grid

Increasing economic and environmental sustainability

Three biogas engine generators at the 60t Topi palm oil mill

Biogas power houses are now attached to each Univanich factory

Supplying renewable electricity to Thailands national grid

12 months Electricity Sales from POME Biogas

(January December 2010
2010))

Siam
Project
Electricity generated
(MW hrs)
Sales value to grid (Baht)

Sales value own use (Baht)

6,397

Lamthap
Project
7,991

Topi
Project
16,028

TOTAL

30,416

16.3 mil

23.3 mil

37.2 mil
76.9 mil
(US$ 2.5 mil)

8.5 mil

5.1 mil

27.5 mil
41.2 mil
(US$ 1.4 mil)

12 months Carbon Credits from Captured Methane

(January December 2010
2010))

Siam
Project

Estimated annual CERs

Lamthap
Project

Topi
Project

TOTAL

20,500

25,000

42,000

87,500

4,346 *

4,346

(Certified Emission Reductions)

CERs received (to date)

(since start of projects)

* The first POME biogas CERs to be issued to the

Palm Oil Industry in Asia

Conclusions about Methane Capture Projects

1. The CIGAR or modified covered lagoon technology is achieving our

digestion and capture targets
- the right choice of technology

2. The gas engines are mostly achieving generation targets

- Supplying the electricity needs of more than 2,000 households
around Krabi Province

3. CER revenue targets have not yet been achieved

- the most difficult feature of all three projects

4. Our environmental and sustainability objectives have been achieved

- a large reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
- a renewable energy source has replaced fossil fuels
- waste water treatment has improved with reduced odours
around the factories
- factory efficiencies have improved with reduced processing costs
- new skilled jobs have been created in three rural communities

Social sustainability

- Sharing technology and creating

new employment opportunities in
rural areas

Social Sustainability

Creating good jobs and

good housing for
Univanich plantation
workers and their families

Social Sustainability
Plantation workers are
encouraged to own their
Iron-buffalo machines.
Many become transport
entrepreneurs

Social Sustainability
5S Programs in
Univanich
Crushing Mills

1. Seiri
2. Seiton
3. Seiso
4. Seiketsu
5. Shitsuke

Improving the working environment

for factory workers also improves
factory efficiencies

: Sort
: Set in order
: Shine
: Standardise
: Sustain

Social Sustainability
Farmer Field Days at Univanich

Sponsored in co-operation with GIZ

Farmer Field Days

More than 1,000 farmers attending a Univanich field day

Sharing the technology

Sharing results of research trials with local farmers

Training programs for

farmers at Univanich OPRC

Increasing
efficiencies and
improving
sustainability
Sponsored in co-operation with GIZ

Oil palms are transforming the lives of small farmers and their families

Happy farmers

The miracle crop of our times

Univanich Palm Oil PLC

9 SEPT2011

www.univanich.com