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Palm oil cultivation expert visit Krabi pilot scheme
Dr. Thomas Fairhurst, an internationally known expert in oil palm cultivation paid a visit to support the GTZ project on Sustainable Palm Oil Production for Bioenergy. Dr.Thomas and the GTZ project team visited the pilot area in Krabi province on June 9-18, 2009. The group held discussions and interviews with a range of stakeholders, including small farmers, cooperatives, ramps, and mills in order to gain a better understanding of the oil palm sector in Thailand and to define concrete activities in support of the project’s goals. During the field activities, it became clear that the Oil Extraction Rate (OER), which describes the amount of palm oil that is extracted from fresh fruit branches, is critical to the sector’s competitiveness. Dr Thomas revealed that the average OER in Thailand, at 17%, is far below the rate achieved in many other countries. An increase in OER of 3% by applying appropriate harvesting practices could lead to estimated increases in net earnings of approximately 1.5 billion baht per annum for Krabi province alone. For more than 20 years, Thailand has faced this problem, caused mainly by harvesting unripe fruits and using inappropriate planting material. In order to address these problems and increase the fruit yield per rai as well as the OER of smallholder-grown fruits, Dr.Thomas recommended a higher level of cooperation among farmers, private sector stakeholders and the government. Such cooperation will help improve productivity for many smallholders who often lack important knowledge of farm management, and ultimately enhance supply chain efficiency.
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