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How palm oil became the world’s most hated, most used fat source- Sreehasa Muppa

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How palm oil became the world’s most hated, most used fat source- Sreehasa Muppa

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- palm oil is in everything
- called the world’s most hated crop because its causing deforestation in Southeast Asia
- world uses 73 million tons of palm oil because it is cheap
- African oil palm is the plant that makes palm oil
- during the middle passage across the Atlantic palm oil was a valued item that kept captives alive
- traders smeared captives skin with palm oil to make them look presentable before putting them up for auction
- palm oil helps with bruises or strains
- palm oil later because very common so it lost its reputation of being a luxurious good
Europeans buyers applied chemical processes to take away the foul orders and the result of this was a bland substance
- palm oil was first used to dye margarine yellow but then later turned into the main ingredient because it made the margarine firm at room temperature
- colonial rulers created a new palm oil plantation industry in Southeast Asia
- in the 1990s US and EU regulator is moved to ban unhealthy trans fat so manufacturers turned to palm oil as a substitute
- since palm oil is cheap manufacturers found more uses to it
- EU is phasing out palm oil biofuels
- palm oil plantations threatens nearly 200 at risk species
- IUCN and other advocates argue that it is not the answer
- buyers are not willing to pay a premium for sustainability

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Alexis Kelmanskiy- Cosmetics Brands Join Forces To Lift Leverage On Palm Oil Produces

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Alexis Kelmanskiy- Cosmetics Brands Join Forces To Lift Leverage On Palm Oil Produces

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Massive amounts of well-known brands have been under fire recently for using unsustainable palm oil in the products. Production of palm oil drives major deforestation and varied biodiversity forests. also, their issues around the exploitation of migrant workers child labor and sexual harassment. There are a number of brands focused on making the palm oil production more sustainable but production such as the RSPO Who compromise 70% of palm derivatives in the market give individual buyers very little average over their supplier of palm oil. Some brands consider switching to other sources of derivatives such as coconut and soy oil that are not ideal because of their slow-paced production. these brands hope to work on transparency by engaging with their suppliers and spreading best practice and improving their knowledge.

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Palm Oil Ends at New Record High on Growing Concern Over Supply: Anthony Ruggeri & Anna Zheng

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Palm Oil Ends at New Record High on Growing Concern Over Supply: Anthony Ruggeri & Anna Zheng

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-Concerns over supply in major growers Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as a rise in rival soybean oil, pushed palm oil to a new high.

-In Kuala Lumpur, April delivery futures rose 2.6 percent to 5,322 ringgit ($1,272) a ton, marking the fifth week of advances and bringing the weekly gain to 7.4 percent. In Chicago, soybean oil, the palm's closest food and fuel equivalent, climbed for the sixth day.

-According to Paramalingam Supramaniam, director of Selangor-based broker Pelindung Bestari, palm oil supply in Malaysia is projected to remain tight in the first quarter of 2022 due to the country's ongoing manpower crisis.

-He predicted that output will drop 18 percent in the first 20 days of January compared to a month earlier.

-According to him, Palm is also benefiting from a robust rally in competing for vegetable oils. On labor-related concerns and floods in certain key-growing areas, crude palm oil output in the world's second-largest producer plummeted 11.3 percent from a month earlier to 1.45 million tons in December, the greatest dip in 11 months.

-The crude oil production was predicted to recover this year. Indonesia tries to control the increasing price of palm oil.

Indrasri Wisnu Wardhana, the director of foreign trade explained that exporters of palm oil might have to leave some oil for markets to sell or use in Indonesia.

-Indonesia’s export policy encourages importing nations to obtain palm oil from Malaysia, the second-biggest palm oil grower.

-India and China are big buyers that might make the switch to soybean oil.

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The carbon-dense peatlands that get burned and destroyed from deforestation, causing enormous greenhouse gas emissions.

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The UK City Taking A Stand On Palm Oil In The Fight Against Deforestation: Shresta Damera and Ankita Ahlawat

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The UK City Taking A Stand On Palm Oil In The Fight Against Deforestation: Shresta Damera and Ankita Ahlawat

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Chester in northwest England is the world’s first sustainable palm oil city. They have restaurants, small businesses, and arts venues working collectively to stop any deforestation-linked forms of palm oil in their supply chains.

Most of the palm oil used globally  is produced in both Malaysia and Indonesia. However, this oil is not sustainably certified by the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil).

Many large areas in both Indonesia and Malaysia have been deforested for palm oil plantations. Some areas that include carbon-dense peatlands that have been drained and burned, causing massive greenhouse gas emissions.

World leaders have already planned to stop and prevent any more deforestation by greening global supply chains. To help with this, the RSPO is providing more sustainable palm oil to producers and consumers. The UK government is also planning to ban larger companies from using products grown on illegally deforested land.

“Chez Jules” was one of the first major businesses to participate in this campaign. The business set out on a journey to find some of the common products that contained palm oil including baking products such as bread and cake mixes.

Another social enterprise that supplies school dinners in Chester, hoped to create one of the first RSPO-certified schools. This program has helped keep kids more informed about their food choice and the possible health effects of palm oil.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/01/chester-new-approach-palm-oil-problem-aoe#:~:text=Led%20by%20Chester%20in%20north,oil%20from%20their%20supply%20chains.

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Have we reached peak palm oil? - Erin Rizzo

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Have we reached peak palm oil? - Erin Rizzo

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Since the Covid-19 outbreak, palm oil prices have doubled. Before May 20 2022, palm oil contracts sold for less than $600 and is now currently $1,200.

This new price change and rise would normally mean an increase in tropical forest deforestation, but there is currently no sign of major deforestation for the production of palm oil.

The recent rise in price is seen as temporary. This is because the industry players are waiting to plan out their planting decisions to see how this will play out.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to supply shortages and higher palm oil prices. This is because the shipping costs have heightened, there is a lack of shipping containers, and a big labor shortage in Malaysia. Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer.

Weather is also another reason the prices have risen. This is because recent weather disasters and climate change have caused a supply shortage so the prices have risen. This, however, is seen as temporary.

Many companies have started to stop their deforestation for palm oil since it is damaging the tropical forests where the deforestation is happening. This is why deforestation has decreased, but the prices have risen because this is also causing a shortage.

The European Union has established a strict legislation that restricts the use of palm oil for biodiesel.

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/have-we-reached-peak-palm-oil-commentary/

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Locus Fermentation Solutions working hard in the lab to produce the perfect alternative palm oil for lower prices, more efficiency, and less consequences.

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Palm oil is one of the most destructive ingredients you use everyday. These startups are trying to replace it. - Aashna Shrivastava

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Palm oil is one of the most destructive ingredients you use everyday. These startups are trying to replace it. - Aashna Shrivastava

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- Palm oil is seen in absolutely any product you can find around your house. Since palm oil is all over the place, there is such a high demand for it because of the numerous amount of uses it has. Due to this, there is so much deforestation and biodiversity loss in places like Indonesia, which is a huge problem. Synthetic versions of palm oil could however replace it and stop the harm towards the environment.
- A factory in Ohio called Locus Fermentation Solutions is using fermentation to make palm oil-free products such as shampoos and body scrubs. In small vessels, yeast fed with sugar creates a type of surfactant called a sophorolipid which is a product that can be used in shampoo to clean wet hair by pulling away the oil and grease from it and adding foam.
- Typical shampoos exhibit the same functions for cleaning hair by using fossil fuels or palm oils. This uses a lot more energy than what Locus Fermentation Solutions is doing with the shampoos since processing raw oil uses a ton of energy.
- The crops used to make these palm oil-free shampoos and body washes also can be grown on existing farms. This ultimately means that it can avoid more deforestation that would be caused by using palm oil.
- The cost of the product can also be lowered because of the efficiency and productivity of the fermentation platform. The product can also replace two or three conventional ingredients which ultimately causes the total cost for brands to not increase.
- However, this new solution cannot replace other uses of palm oil besides shampoos and body soaps, such as food or makeup. Other startups are working on alternatives for these as well, though.
- C16 Biosciences is a startup using fermentation to create oil in bioreactors which is almost the exact same as palm oil and can be used in many different ways without all the consequences of palm oil. Another startup called Kiverdi is creating an alternative palm oil using capture carbon dioxide.
- Another company called Xylome is testing an alternative called "Yoil" which is produced by yeast and is basically identical to palm oil without all the consequences. 100 pound samples are being sent to different brands for testing.
- Cost is the ultimate key for developing an alternative palm oil that works just as well as normal palm oil without significant consequences. Brands will only purchase ingredients that work just as well as palm oil but are cheaper and without the negative effects. Since removing the negative effects can be very difficult and time-consuming, it is not always easy to lower prices to make profits. This is the huge dilemma with making alternative palm oils in order to benefit the environment.

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Locus Fermentation Solutions working hard in the lab to produce the perfect alternative palm oil for lower prices, more efficiency, and less consequences.

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Palm oil is one of the most destructive ingredients you use everyday. These start ups are trying to replace it - Aashna Shrivastava

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Palm oil is one of the most destructive ingredients you use everyday. These start ups are trying to replace it - Aashna Shrivastava

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- Palm oil is seen in absolutely any product you can find around your house. Since palm oil is all over the place, there is such a high demand for it because of the numerous amount of uses it has. Due to this, there is so much deforestation and biodiversity loss in places like Indonesia, which is a huge problem. Synthetic versions of palm oil could however replace it and stop the harm towards the environment.
- A factory in Ohio called Locus Fermentation Solutions is using fermentation to make palm oil-free products such as shampoos and body scrubs. In small vessels, yeast fed with sugar creates a type of surfactant called a sophorolipid which is a product that can be used in shampoo to clean wet hair by pulling away the oil and grease from it and adding foam.
- Typical shampoos exhibit the same functions for cleaning hair by using fossil fuels or palm oils. This uses a lot more energy than what Locus Fermentation Solutions is doing with the shampoos since processing raw oil uses a ton of energy.
- The crops used to make these palm oil-free shampoos and body washes also can be grown on existing farms. This ultimately means that it can avoid more deforestation that would be caused by using palm oil.
- The cost of the product can also be lowered because of the efficiency and productivity of the fermentation platform. The product can also replace two or three conventional ingredients which ultimately causes the total cost for brands to not increase.
- However, this new solution cannot replace other uses of palm oil besides shampoos and body soaps, such as food or makeup. Other startups are working on alternatives for these as well, though.
- C16 Biosciences is a startup using fermentation to create oil in bioreactors which is almost the exact same as palm oil and can be used in many different ways without all the consequences of palm oil. Another startup called Kiverdi is creating an alternative palm oil using capture carbon dioxide.
- Another company called Xylome is testing an alternative called "Yoil" which is produced by yeast and is basically identical to palm oil without all the consequences. 100 pound samples are being sent to different brands for testing.
- Cost is the ultimate key for developing an alternative palm oil that works just as well as normal palm oil without significant consequences. Brands will only purchase ingredients that work just as well as palm oil but are cheaper and without the negative effects. Since removing the negative effects can be very difficult and time-consuming, it is not always easy to lower prices to make profits. This is the huge dilemma with making alternative palm oils in order to benefit the environment.

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India cuts tax on palm oil making it cheaper to import.

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India Cuts Tax On CPO (crude palm oil) Imports To Help Consumers, Refiners  - Keya Patel

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India Cuts Tax On CPO (crude palm oil) Imports To Help Consumers, Refiners  - Keya Patel

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India cut its tax on palm oil imports from 7.5% to 5%, which is 2.5% less

The world’s biggest edible oil importer tries to stay in local prices and help  refiners and consumers

This will effectively make it cheaper for Indian refiners to import palm oil

the import tax would become 8.25%

In order to encourage more refining, it is said that the government would need to increase even more making the difference 11%

The reduction has been set to expire on March 31st and was implemented on February 13th 2022.

More then 2/3 of Indias oil is imported

Top palm oil producers are Indonesia and Malaysia

Other oils like soy and sunflower, are imported from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia.

“The share of refined palm oil could come down to 20% with the revision of the tax structure,” Sandeep Bajoria, the chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy firm.

Reduced import taxes, imposed stockpile limits, and suspended futures trading in edible oils and oilseeds.  These are all ways that India has tried to keep their place in domestic prices.

Link: https://mpoc.org.my/india-cuts-tax-on-cpo-imports-to-help-consumers-refiners/

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Fifth of Indonesia’s palm oil sites lie in forest estate

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Fifth of Indonesia’s palm oil sites lie in forest estate

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- A law banns this type of activity, but a country forest estate owns almost one fifth of Indonesian palm oil land.
- Indonesia is the worlds biggest producer of palm oil.
- Palm oil has a very high demand because of all the products it’s used in but that is causing there to be a destruction in carbon rich forests.
- Indonesia has 16.38m hectares of palm oil plantations but 19% of it is in this forest estate.
- A study found that at least 600 plantation companies had operations set up in this estate by the end of 2019.
- The study also found that this plantation was in place of previous orangutan and Sumatran tiger habitats.
- This study raises concerns about the sourced palm oil big the Greenpeace organization assures that a lot of the plantations have a form of certification from the RSPO.
- RSPO which is a multi-stakeholder organization has 283,000 hectares of palm oil planted in that estate.
- New audits had to start having evidence of land rights as well as plantation permits.
- The legislation designed to boost investment removed the environmental and labor protections.

By: Nishmitha Thambi and Jiya Soni

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/21/indonesia-palm-oil-sites-forests-greenpeace

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Korean Palm Oil Giant is Connected to Large Deforestation Efforts in the Papua Rainforest- Tejas Dasa and Krish Shah

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Korean Palm Oil Giant is Connected to Large Deforestation Efforts in the Papua Rainforest- Tejas Dasa and Krish Shah

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- The Korindo group has been buying up areas in Asia’s largest remaining rainforests in Papua.
- The company has deforested 60,000 hectares of forest in its government-granted concessions. That is nearly the size of Chicago or Seoul.
- The government found that the operation destroyed 30,000 hectares of conservation forest.
- This has been a trend as many companies have been abusing their rights to clear forests and end up clearing land that belongs to indigenous peoples or land that is very important to the ecosystem.
- Indonesian people have been constantly exploited cheap labor in producing palm oil. The country has become the worlds largest exporter of palm oil making about 19 billion dollars last year.

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The report found "evidence beyond reasonable doubt" that Korindo's palm oil operation destroyed 30,000 hectares of high conservation forest in breach of FSC regulations and that the company was, "on the balance of probability ... supporting the violation of traditional and human rights for its own benefit."

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Korindo: Korean palm oil giant stripped of sustainability status

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The report found "evidence beyond reasonable doubt" that Korindo's palm oil operation destroyed 30,000 hectares of high conservation forest in breach of FSC regulations and that the company was, "on the balance of probability ... supporting the violation of traditional and human rights for its own benefit."

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Laborers in the Democratic Republic of Congo working in palm oil plantations

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Gates Foundation & Prominent US Universities are Investors Backing Troubled DRC Palm Oil Plantations - Jenvi Patel

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Gates Foundation & Prominent US Universities are Investors Backing Troubled DRC Palm Oil Plantations - Jenvi Patel

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Washington University in St. Louis are top investors in a troubled set of oil palm plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

These major American investors are part of the Kumamoto Capital Management (KCM) which is the majority owner of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC).

The Plantations est Huileries du Congo (PHC) owns three major palm oil plantations in northern Democratic Republic of Congo.

During the past year, multiple incidents of brutality and violence towards local villagers and workers at palm oil plantations has drastically increased.

One example of an incident is police and security guards damaging villager’s houses and beating workers. Last year, two villagers were killed.

Despite the KCM’s financing from prominent investors, villagers living near palm oil plantations keep suffering from physical abuse or environmental toxins.

The PHC also underpays its workers and doesn’t provide workers with adequate protection against environmental toxins.

The workers working in palm oil plantations were paid less than $1.90 a day, putting them in extreme poverty. Women workers received even less than that.

Despite the terrible scenario regarding palm oil plantations in Africa, international investors haven’t taken any public action.

The Kumamoto Capital Management says that there is “complete silence for all of them.”

Source: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/gates-foundation-among-investors-backing-troubled-drc-palm-plantation/

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Laborers in the Democratic Republic of Congo working in palm oil plantations

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Gates Foundation & Prominent US Universities are Investors Backing Troubled DRC Palm Oil Plantations - Jenvi Patel

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Gates Foundation & Prominent US Universities are Investors Backing Troubled DRC Palm Oil Plantations - Jenvi Patel

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The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Washington University in St. Louis are top investors in a troubled set of oil palm plantations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

These major American investors are part of the Kumamoto Capital Management (KCM) which is the majority owner of Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC).

The Plantations est Huileries du Congo (PHC) owns three major palm oil plantations in northern Democratic Republic of Congo.

During the past year, multiple incidents of brutality and violence towards local villagers and workers at palm oil plantations has drastically increased.

One example of an incident is police and security guards damaging villager’s houses and beating workers. Last year, two villagers were killed.

Despite the KCM’s financing from prominent investors, villagers living near palm oil plantations keep suffering from physical abuse or environmental toxins.

The PHC also underpays its workers and doesn’t provide workers with adequate protection against environmental toxins.

The workers working in palm oil plantations were paid less than $1.90 a day, putting them in extreme poverty. Women workers received even less than that.

Despite the terrible scenario regarding palm oil plantations in Africa, international investors haven’t taken any public action.

The Kumamoto Capital Management says that there is “complete silence for all of them.”

Source: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/gates-foundation-among-investors-backing-troubled-drc-palm-plantation/

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Polluting with impunity: Palm oil companies flout regulations in Ecuador  - Karina Patel

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Polluting with impunity: Palm oil companies flout regulations in Ecuador  - Karina Patel

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Palm Oil is the fourth largest commodity crop in Ecuador and as of 2020 palm oil plantations take up to 2,600 square kilometers.

Researchers and residents claim that there is dangerous pollution going into soil and waterways from these palm oil plantations and extraction mills.

The government of Ecuador ignored the social and environmental costs of the their plantation expansion as  Ecuador’s government passes a law to strengthen and develop the production, extraction, export, and etc of palm oil. The law was supposed to stop the plantations from being established in zones with community water sources.

The law put in place stated that a company would lose their operating license if they fail to comply and they would be fine from 1,600 to 2,400 dollars.

Over a year had passed, but no companies were actually censured for defying regulations even though infractions were documented.

Another provision of the law states that palm oil growers need to have permission within 12 months from the Ministry of the Environment to continue their operation. However, as of March of 2021 only 300 of 7,000 oil palm growers had registered.

Harmful agrochemicals are sprayed onto palm oil crops and byproducts of palm oil extraction contaminate water sources.

A biologist and profesor at Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Patricio Mena claims that the agrochemicals and extraction byproducts of palm oil can cause ecological problems.

They also claim that palm oil pollution is lethal to fish which can affect human communities that need those fish.

The authorities who were in charge of monitoring environmental pollution and in charge of controls weren’t qualified and didn’t have the necessary equipment.

Bonilla stated that the government of Ecuador had a history of looking over costs of industry. The National Finance Corporation had a line of credit from 2007-2017 where the government ignored palm oil’s social and environmental impacts during the Rafael Correa administration.

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Polluting with impunity: Palm oil companies flout regulations in Ecuador

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This is the second in a two-part series. Read Part One. Palm oil, a popular cooking oil as well as an ingredient in an ocean of products ranging from cookies to cosmetics, is the fourth largest commodity crop in Ecuador. According to Ecuador's Ministry of Agriculture, oil palm plantations covered 2,600 square kilometers (1,004 square miles) in [...]

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A picture of Olivia Chaffin, who is mentioned in this post.

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Girl Scout Cookies are Shockingly Connected to Child Labor on Palm Oil Plantations -Sriram Kaluri

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Girl Scout Cookies are Shockingly Connected to Child Labor on Palm Oil Plantations -Sriram Kaluri

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-Ironically, the concept of Girl Scouts, aimed to liberate young women, has been called into question for utilizing unprivileged children in foreign countries.

-A Scout named Olivia Chaffin recently discussed a shocking revelation about the underlying story behind Girl Scout cookies (that she, at a time, sold herself)!

-Interestingly, many of the top brands today (including Ferrero, one of the two companies that make these cookies) seem to be utilizing underpaid workers and child labor in Southeast Asia.

-Some of these companies are Nestle, Kellogg's, and Pepisco.

-The investigation found a girl named Ima, one of the tens of thousands of children working in Indonesia and Malaysia (the countries that supply 85% of global palm oil).

-Oftentimes, these children are forced through toxic conditions (chemicals, less than minimum wage, and more).

-Taking children with dreams of their own and exploiting their lack of knowledge about corporate schemes is horrible, but it's even worse that their governments don't take action!

-However, this wasn't even the most shocking discovery. Chaffin discovered during one of her delivery trips that the certifications labeled onto the Girl Scout Cookies were a "lie."

-To explain, the parent company had been mixing palm oil "certified sustainable" with unsustainable palm oil (to cut down on production costs)!
-Chaffin and so many other Scouts like her had been unknowingly delivering cookies forged by child labor and environmental detriments!

-At the end of the day, there are many interesting facts and other pieces of information the article shares (such as how around half of supermarket products contain palm oil), but this is its essence.

Source - https://apnews.com/article/palm-oil-forests-indonesia-scouts-83b01f2789e9489569960da63b2741c4

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The oil from a tree called the tamanu tree may provide as an alternative for palm oil.

Tamanu oil has been used for 100s of years to heal wounds.

More use of tamanu oil could help reduce deforestation.

Tamanu trees have many uses such as the fruit of tamanu trees are a fun thing to play with.

Tamanu wood can burn even when it’s wet.

Indonesia’s biodiesel program runs on palm oil as of today.

Palm oil comes from the fruit on palm trees.

The biodiesel program’s goal is make their diesel 50:50 diesel and biodiesel. For this to happen, millions of more palm oil estates will need to be established.

Scientists are looking for alternatives for palm oil.

Tamanu is called nyamplung in Indonesia.

Tamanu oil is not as effiecient as palm oil as it isn’t edible.

Tamanu oil is present it many lotions and balms.

Link: https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/can-the-little-known-tamanu-tree-replace-palm-oil-in-indonesias-biofuel-bid/

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Can the little-known tamanu tree replace palm oil in Indonesia's biofuel bid?

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YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia - Even as a boy, Budi Leksono knew the tamanu tree had many uses. The small, hard fruit of the tree, about the size of a pingpong ball, made for a convenient plaything. Budi used to pick them from the one growing outside his home in Pekalongan - tamanu trees had been planted [...]

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Article: How palm oil became the world’s most hated, most used fat source

- Newspaper ink also has palm oil
- It is called the world’s most hated crop because of it causing deforestation in Southeast Asia
- The world used over 73 million tons of palm oil in 2020
- It was used aboard ships in the transatlantic slave trade to keep the captives alive throughout the journey.
- Slaves were also smeared with palm oil to make the look young and smooth
- By 1790s Britishers added palm oil to soap because of its color and cures for bruises and stains.
- Indonesian authorities called palm oil a “ golden gift to the world “
- Palm oil being inexpensive led to people finding new ways to utilize it.
- The EU is phasing out palm oil biofuels whereas Indonesia is trying to increase the palm component in biodiesel to promote green diesel.
- Indonesia and Malaysia dominate world palm oil production.
- IUCN do not believe that boycotting palm oil is the answer because it is productive.

Link: https://theconversation.com/how-palm-oil-became-the-worlds-most-hated-most-used-fat-source-161165

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- Most widely consumed vegetable oil
- Most efficient source of oil
- Grows in rain forests
- Coconut oil leds to a loss of these forests
- Damaged the habitat of many forest animals such as Orangutans, Tigers, Elephants, and Rhinos
- Avoiding palm oil products could hurt you even more however.

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Husker research shows palm oil production can grow while protecting ecosystems

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Husker research shows palm oil production can grow while protecting ecosystems

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- Indonesia produces around two-thirds of the world’s palm oil supply.
- Palm oil contributes to the economic stability of countries who largely produce it, but it destroys the valuable and bio diverse ecosystems.
- Large plantations own 58% of the palm production farms in Indonesia.
- If the gap between current and attainable yields was covered, production could go up by 68% without having to clear any more lands.
- Key management practices such as improved harvest methods, weed control, pruning, and plant nutrition could enhance the yield. With the help of producers and NGOs, improvements could be substantial.
- The impact this has is both environmental and economic.

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Palm oil, the most important source of vegetable oil in the world, is derived from the fruit of perennial palm trees, which are farmed year-round in mostly tropical areas. The palm fruit is harvested manually every 10 days to two weeks, then transported to a mill for processing, and ultimately exported and made into a dizzying array of products from food to toiletries to biodiesel.

"You probably ate palm oil for breakfast," said Patricio Grassini, associate professor of agronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "There is probably palm oil in your shampoo and for sure palm oil in your makeup."

Dozens of countries produce palm oil, but Indonesia produces approximately two-thirds of the world's supply, and demand for the product is ever-growing.

This is a double-edged sword for Indonesia and other palm-oil producing countries, Grassini said. Palm oil is a major export and contributes to the economic stability of countries that are major producers, as well as to the individual farmers who produce it. But to keep up with demand, rainforests and peatlands - valuable ecosystems that contribute greatly to biodiversity - are often converted to palm production.

A four-year research project led by Grassini and supported by a $4 million grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggests that keeping up with demand may not necessarily mean converting more valuable, fragile ecosystems into agricultural land.

According to research published March 25 in Nature Sustainability, palm oil yields on existing farms and plantations could be greatly increased with improved management practices. Researchers from the Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute, the Indonesian Agency for Agriculture Research and Development, and Wageningen University in the Netherlands were also part of the project.

In Indonesia, about 42% of land used for palm oil production is owned by smallholder farmers, with the rest managed by large plantations, said Juan Pablo Monzon, research assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture at Nebraska and first author of the published paper. "There is great potential to increase productivity of current plantations, especially in the case of smallholders' farms, where current yield is only half of what is attainable."

The research shows that palm farmers have significant opportunity to increase their production, said Grassini, one of the developers of the Global Yield Gap Atlas, a collaboration between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Wageningen University designed to estimate the difference between actual and potential yields for major food crops worldwide including palm oil.

"The potential impact is huge, and if we are able to realize some of that potential, that means a lot in terms of reconciling economic and environmental goals," Grassini said. "If we can produce more, we don't need to expand into new areas. But this would require the effective implementation of current Indonesia government policy and assuring that regulations are enforced so that intensification and productivity gains translate into sparing critical natural ecosystems."

The gap between the current and attainable yields could be bridged by implementing good agronomic practices, Monzon said. As a result, the country could produce 68% more palm oil on existing plantation area located in mineral soils.

Grassini and other researchers identified key management practices that could lead to larger yields. Those practices include improved harvest methods, better weed control, improved pruning and better plant nutrition. Grassini and other researchers now are working with producers, nongovernment organizations, Indonesian government officials and a host of other partners to put these management techniques into practice. Already they have begun to see improvements in yields.

This is exciting from both environmental and economic standpoints, Grassini said. It also stands to have a great impact on the millions of individual farmers who draw their livelihood from small palm farms often comprised of just a few acres.

"Whatever we do to help the farmers produce more palm oil on the land that they have directly impacts their income and directly impacts their families," Grassini said. "It could be the difference between sending kids to school or not."

The first phase of the research - the research that identified the yield gap - was surprising, Grassini said. Indonesia had already gone through a period of agricultural intensification that had resulted in better yields for rice and corn, and he hadn't anticipated quite so much room for improvement when it came to palm oil.

But it's the second phase of the research that really excites him. So many people from so many different backgrounds are all working together to fine-tune management strategies and put them into practice. After just 15 months, yields on test plots are already up, with potential for more growth in the future. Robust education and extension efforts will be key to fully exploit the potential for growth, Grassini said.

"I don't think you will find too many projects where people are working side-by-side on the production side, science side and environmental side," Grassini said. "All are bringing real solutions to the table and together can have a massive impact."

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Husker research shows palm oil production can grow while protecting ecosystems

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A four-year research project led by Patricio Grassini and supported by a $4 million grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs suggests that keeping up with palm oil demand may not necessarily mean converting more valuable, fragile ecosystems into agricultural land.

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The UK city taking a stand on palm oil in the fight against deforestation

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The UK city taking a stand on palm oil in the fight against deforestation

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- Chester became the world’s first sustainable palm oil city
- Most of the world’s palm oil is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia which isn’t certified as sustainable by the RSPO
- At Cop26 in Glasgow, world leaders have pledged to reverse deforestation and degradation by 2030
- The UK Government is planning to ban large companies from using products that are grown on illegally deforested land.
- Edsential becomes the first RSSPO-certified school food provider in England which helps school children understand where their food comes from and what it contains
- Countries becoming Palm oil free isn’t very impactful as countries becoming palm oil sustainable.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/01/chester-new-approach-palm-oil-problem-aoe

By Kaushik Adiraju, Anish Allada

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Nestlé and Kellogg’s linked to shocking palm oil abuse in Papua New Guinea 8/10/2021

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Nestlé and Kellogg’s linked to shocking palm oil abuse in Papua New Guinea 8/10/2021

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-After a two year investigation uncovered deforestation and human rights abuses in Papúa New Guinea at the hands of companies like Nestle, Kellogg’s and Colgate over palm oil
-Papúa new guiña has the world’s third largest rainforest. This rainforset helps to filter the massive amount of carbon dioxide produced by humans. It is still being destroyed even though it has such a drastic effect on the planet.
-This rainforest is very diverse containing species only seen in Papúa New Guinea. These companies plan to grow their plantations taking over more of this rainforest.
-These palm oil plantations are home to many atrocities. Bribery, brutal beatings, child labor and tax evasion were associated with these palm oil plantations
-people who lived in the area witnessed only destruction. many people were injured or killed working on these plantations and some of these people were children.
-This palm oil produced in horrible conditions is sold to Kellogg’s, nestle, Colgate, Danone, and Hershey.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/10/08/nestle-kellogg-s-linked-to-shocking-palm-oil-abuses-in-papua-new-guinea

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-On February 15th, 2022 India raised the price of the prices of goods that get imported such as palm oil and soy oil.
-India cut its import tax on crude palm oil from 5% to 7.5%
-This reduction in the tax is known as the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess.
-this whole process will make it cheaper for Indians to import palm oil.
-they said that after the reduction in AIDC the import tax difference between the crude palm oil and refined palm oil would spread to 8.25%.

https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-cuts-tax-crude-palm-oil-imports-help-consumers-refiners-2022-02-13/

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MUMBAI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - India has cut its tax on crude palm oil (CPO) imports to 5% from 7.5%, the government said in a notification, as the world's biggest edible oil importer tries to rein in local prices of the commodity and help domestic refiners and consumers.

The reduction in the tax, known as the Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC), will widen the gap between the CPO and refined palm oil import duties, effectively making it cheaper for Indian refiners to import CPO, industry officials told Reuters.

The tax cut came into effect on Sunday.

"After the reduction in AIDC, the import tax difference between CPO and refined palm oil would widen to 8.25%," said B.V. Mehta, executive director of Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA).

"This will help Indian refiners, but government needs to increase the difference further to 11% to encourage local refining."

In a separate notification, the government also said it would extend a reduction in a separate, basic customs duty on edible oils until Sept. 30. The tax reduction had been due to expire on March 31.

India imports more than two-thirds of its edible oil needs and has been struggling to contain a rally in local oil prices over the last few months.

The country imports palm oil mainly from top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, while other oils, such as soy and sunflower, come from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia.

Refined palm oil imports accounted for nearly half of India's total palm oil imports in the past few months, said Sandeep Bajoria, chief executive of Sunvin Group, a vegetable oil brokerage and consultancy firm.

"The share of refined palm oil could come down to 20% with the revision in the tax structure," Bajoria said.

Indian refiners have been asking New Delhi to change the import duty structure as the overseas buying of refined palm oil was cheaper than CPO due to higher taxes imposed by producing countries on exports of CPO.

Mindful of an electorate that is highly sensitive to food price inflation, India's government in the past few months tried to rein in domestic prices by reducing import taxes, imposing stockpile limits and suspending futures trading in edible oils and oilseeds. read more

Reporting by Rajendra Jadhav; Editing by Susan Fenton

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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India cuts tax on crude palm oil imports to help consumers, refiners

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India has cut its tax on crude palm oil (CPO) imports to 5% from 7.5%, the government said in a notification, as the world's biggest edible oil importer tries to rein in local prices of the commodity and help domestic refiners and consumers.