Third entry:Oil palm Plantation

The visit to the Oil Palm was an unforgettable memory as the smell made most of us wanting to vomit. But without this trip to the oil palm, i would never have known that oil can be extracted from a fruit called palm fruit.

The palm fruit takes five to six months to mature from pollination to maturity. Each fruit is made up of the pericarp (outer layer) and the kernel (inner layer). Each fruit weighs about 40-50 kg when ready for harvesting. The fruit grows in large bunches and is reddish.

And i also realized that without the workers there who did not complain about the living conditions, there would not have been cooking oil for us to have a good meal. Due to the unbearable smell, we did not stay long but i really hope if there is another trip to the oil palm, i want to have a glance of the whole process.

We also visited the plantation and saw the process of harvesting. Although it was hot and smelly, i managed to learn more about it...

Done by: Hong Zhi

Characteristics:

Oil palms were introduced to Malaysia in 1910.Since then, oil palm has become a source of income for the government.Due to its tropical climate and large area for harvesting, oil palms has thrived in Malaysia.The agriculture type is plantation and the input is high while the total output is high but the output per unit area is low.Lots of pesticides are used to keep pest out as in a plantation, a common type of plant is planted such as oil palm and thus if a disease occurs in one of the plant, it will quickly spread to the others.Plantations require large amount of labour wihch are usually provided by low waged workers.There is usually a processing factory near the plantation(as shown in picture building with black smoke coming out) so that the plants can be processed quickly and sold.The prupose is commercial farming where crops are ggrown for sale.The amount of land used is large and a large amount of capital is needed into building roads, buying machinery and building factories to process the crops harvested from the plantations.They also invest on pesticides.

Done by: Zheng Jie