Module 12 Oil Palm and Rubber

1

a. Origin of oil palm in Malaysia.

Oil Palm (from the African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis) originated from West African countries.
Palm was introduced to Java by the Dutch in 1848 and Malaysia (then the British colony of Malaya) in 1910 by Scotsman William Sime and English banker Henry Darby.

In 1911 palms was planted as ornamental plants and were planted at Rantau Panjang, Kuala .Selangor. Seeds from here later were planted at Tannamaran estate in 1917 by Henry Fauconnier. It was 50 years later that commercial production began.
The first plantations were mostly established and operated by British plantation owners, such as Sime Darby.


b. Oil palm industry in Malaysia

From the 1960s a major oil palm plantation scheme was introduced by the government with the main aim of eradicating poverty. Settlers were each allocated 10 acres of land (about 4 hectares) under the FELDA and FELCRA scheme planted oil palm, and given 20 years to pay off the debt for the land.
The large plantation companies remained listed in London until the Malaysian government engineered their "Malaysianisation" throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Malaysian giant plantation companies include United Plantation, Sime Darby and Guthrie. Malaysia is the largest producer of palm oil in the world, producing about 15 million tonnes of palm oil a year. It now accounts for approximately 47% of global palm oil production and 54% of world exports.

c. Major usage of palm oil

i. Household cooking
ii. Industrial frying
iii. Margarine
iv. Shortening
v. Vegetable ghee
vi. Ice cream
vii. Confectionary
viii. Non-dairy creamers
ix. Soap and detergents
x. Oleo chemical
xi. Bio diesel

d. Nutritional effects of palm oil
Oil palm of its deep red colour is because of beta carotene a rich source of vitamin A. It also contains tocopherols, vitamin E, co-enzyme Q10 (ubiquinone), and powerful anti- oxidant. Furthermore it is cholesterol free.
Scientific evidence showing that palm oil increased the levels of good cholesterol and reduced the levels of bad cholesterol in the blood, and that palm is a better solid fat to use in products where trans fats would otherwise be chosen.


2.

a. History of rubber in Malaysia.

Rubber also scientifically as Hevea brasilliensis originated from Brazil. It was found to be to waterproof cloth. ‘ Macintosh’ coats were created in 1823. In 1839 Charles Goodyear stabilized rubber by adding sulphur while heating which is known as vulcanization. Malaysia rubber begins when Sir Henry Wickham collected and shipped 70,000 seeds to London Kew gardens. Later it was brought in to Malaysia via Ceylon, now Sri Lanka in 1877.Henry Nicholas Ridley later promoted it and encouraged everyone to plant it. He is known as Rubber Ridley. The oldest tree still survives in Kuala Kangsar which is planted in late 1870s.


b. Process of natural rubber.

The tapper will start working in rubber estates at about 5 a.m. every day. Latex flows better before the day heats up. A strip of bark is carefully cut away about 5mm and the milky latex flows into a cup that is hung on the tree. When the last tree is tapped after about 3 hours time, the tapper will return back to the first tree he tapped to collect the latex accordingly until the last tree he tap.
The liquid is sieved and then transported to factory. Over here the latex is mixed with formic acid to harden it. Excess water is removed. They are either cut and go through a twin roller to make into sheets of rubber. The rubber sheets are placed in a smoke house to dry off the moisture in the rubber. After drying the rubber will be sent away for further manufacturing purpose to be made in daily use product.



c. Major usage of rubber.
The natural rubber is used for making products such as:


Glue
Tyres
Toys
Shoes
Condoms
Gloves
Catheters
Balloons
Some medical tubing
Elastic thread and rubber band