Palm Oil In Pakistan

Palm Oil In Pakistan

It is possible to save billions of dollars in foreign exchange from the cultivation of palm oil in the coastal areas of Pakistan

Despite being an agricultural country, Pakistan is forced to buy cooking oil worth 4.5 billion dollars from abroad every year, while the coastal areas are very suitable for palm oil cultivation.

The country's agricultural sector has the potential to produce edible oil on its own, but despite this, the project has been stalled for years.

At the Sindh Coastal Development Authority's stall in the 'Blue Economy Exhibition' held in Karachi under the Pakistan Navy, people were amazed at the palm bunches on display. These palm bunches are obtained from local trees.

It should be noted that Pakistan buys large quantities of palm oil for cooking from Malaysia and Indonesia.

In 1996, Benazir Bhutto's government procured 1,000 oil palm trees from Malaysia and planted them experimentally in Thatta, but then the project was forgotten. found

 According to experts, in Malaysia, where this plant was brought, the weight of this bunch is 30 kg, while in Pakistan, it weighs up to 50 kg.

In 2008, the federal government issued a tender for the purchase of a machine to extract palm oil from the fruit on the trees, but then the matter was suspended. In 2020, the Sindh government ordered a small machine and started extracting oil experimentally.

 Palm oil has over 70 uses, including cooking, medicine, and cosmetics.

The Sindh government's announcement to give 3,000 acres of land for palm oil cultivation could not be implemented even in two years.

According to experts, Pakistan's millions of acres of coastal land are perfect for palm oil cultivation, but even after 27 years, palm oil production in Pakistan is still in the experimental stage, while in India, the project started in 2000 and Now palm oil is being cultivated on an area of ​​8 lakh acres.

It is said that the local characters associated with the importation of 4.5 billion dollars of edible oil every year are the major obstacles in the way of increasing the production of palm oil in the country.

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