Berita Arkib

ISLAMABAD (10/13/2001) - Pakistan Oil Development Board (PODB) hasinitiated a plan to enhance edible oil production by promoting cultivationof canola to meet domestic requirement of 1.9 million tonnes every year.About 0.5 million tonne is produced by the local growers while theremaining 1.2 million tonnes is imported to bridge the gap between theproduce and consumption.According to official sources the PODB has developed new varieties ofcanola with indigenous resources. These varieties include synthetic aswell as hybrid varieties. Local canola varieties have performed betterthan the imported varieties cultivated at various locations in the countryunder difference agro-ecological conditions and these local varieties arefully acclimatised to local environment.Local canola seed production has resulted in self-sufficiency in canolaseed requirements and now there is no need to import canola seed by publicor private sectors. Local canola seed production has reduced the cost ofthe seed providing a relief to the growers.Local seed of synthetic types costs Rs 50 as compared to the internationalprice of Rs 180 to 250 per kg. Local hybrid seed of canola costs Rs 150.There is a vast potential to increase production of canola oil and mainthrust is being laid for replacement of mustard acreage by canolacultivation.Mustard crop is being cultivated on about 700,000 acres annuallyreplacement of which will enhance canola acreage to about 1.0 millionacres thus enhancing the canola production to 200,000 tons valued at Rs7.5 billion per annum.Canola crop can be grown throughout the country and it requires minimumthree irrigation at the time of its sowing, flowering and seed formation.Shattering in canola can be controlled by harvesting when 35 percent podsget mature. Canola produce has an attractive market and its disposal doesnot pose any problem unlike previous years.Breeders have worked to improve the rapeseed and mustard crops and "doublezero" or more precisely "double low" canola varieties have been developed.Canola is mustard but the above two compounds are within safe limits ofpalatability making it a premium product for human health. The levels oferucic acid in canola are less than 5 percent and that of glucosinolatesas less than 30 micro mole/gram.These improved mustard varieties were given the name of "Canola" fromCanadian Oil as the original work on canola development was undertaken inCanada. Now these "double low" varieties are familiar with the name ofcanola all over the world.Oil quality of canola is superior and comparable to that of world's bestoils. Oil are fats with two types of fatty acids; saturated andunsaturated, the latter being easily absorbable by the human body.Contrarily, the saturated fats accumulate in human body and causedifferent diseases expect in case of hard exercises where these getcatabolised.According to international research by doctors and researchers, Canola oilhas unique property of reducing the blood cholesterol levels thusminimising the risk of coronary heart diseases.In Pakistan, canola cultivation started in 1985-86 on experimental basiswith imported varieties. Commercial cultivation of canola started inPakistan in 1995 when it was planted on 100,000 acres compared to 8,000acres of 1994. Now canola has become a popular oilseed crop inPakistan.-APP

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) today signedtwo renewable energy purchase agreements (REPA) with Bumibiopower Sdn Bhdand Jana Landfill Sdn Bhd under the small renewable energy programme(SREP).Under the agrement, TNB agreed to purchase electricity from Bumibiopowerat 16.7 sen per kWh (kilowatt hour) for 21 years, and from Jana Landfillat 16.5 sen per kWh for 15 years.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Entrepreneurs in the oil palm industryshould explore the exciting potential for oil palm-based animal feed, saidMohd Yunus Ismail, feedmill co-ordinator at the Malaysian AgricultureResearch and Development Institute (MARDI).

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Oil palm biomass-based furniture can gofar but their full potential will only be realised in about five years asa result of constraints now being faced by the industry, a seminar was oldtoday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- The Primary Industries Minister DatukSeri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said that he would meet the shipping insurancecompanies to talk on the war-risk premium which it has affected the marketfor palm oil.

16 October 2001 (business Times)

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Palm oil industry players should takeadvantage of the German experience, technology and financial assistance toexpand their business, said Primary Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr LimKeng Yaik here today.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, the biggest palm oil producerin the world, fears the increase in its crude palm oil stock will bedetrimental to the industry, said the primary industry minister Datuk SeriDr Lim Keng Yaik.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) saidthat the commercialisation of palm oil biomass is very slow although ithas presented the products from research activities to entrepreneurs toexploit them.

16 October 2001 (Business Times)

BANGALORE, Oct. 5. (Business Line) - THE current disagreement between ITCand Conagra over the oil milling facility in Mantralayam reflects thestate of the edible oil industry today, thanks to Government policies.The 300-tonne-per-day capacity mill has now become economically unviablebecause of these policies and neither Agro Tech Foods Ltd (ATFL),Conagra's subsidiary which had taken the facility on lease from ITC, northe original owner of the factory really wants it.The disagreement arises from the fact that Conagra now wants to take it ona fresh lease on different terms than that agreed to in 1997, or buy itoutright for Rs 14 crore, though ITC itself had paid Rs 112 crore for it.ITC, which first set up the facility, had hoped to repeat the success ofits tobacco experiment with sunflower. ITC is credited with introducingcontract manufacturing of tobacco and encouraging cultivation through itsother unit, ILTD (ITC Leaf Tobacco Division).However, the sunflower oil facility has succumbed to forces that has theentire milling industry in the country in doldrums. The Mantralayamfactory highlights what the Government policies have done to theindigenous oils and oilseeds industry.When it was set up, the company bought the sunflower grown by farmers inthe surrounding Rayalseema and north Karnataka regions. But crushingedible oil became unviable after the Government brought edible oil underOGL.Since then a series of protests finally resulted in increasing the importduty from 15 per cent to the current 75 per cent, though in stages. Everytime the duty was increased, Malaysia - from where most of the palm oilwas being imported - reacted by dropping prices, according to SolventExtractors' Association (SEA) sources.While sunflower oil was not being imported till two years ago, all edibleoils suffered from cheap imports as they were being mixed with theimported oils, according to industry sources.Two years ago, ATFL stopped milling and found it more economical to importsunflower oil and package it here, say sources. This decision meant asignificant reduction in the demand for sunflower seeds. ATFL was themajor buyer of seeds from farmers in the region.With the demand down, the area under sunflower dropped in north Karnatakafrom 8.81 lakh hectares in 1996-97, to 5.74 lakh hectares in 2000-01.In the Rayalseema district, where around six lakh hectares were undersunflower, there has been an estimated 50 per cent drop in cultivatedarea. Prices fell from Rs 1,050-1,350 per quintal in 1996-97 to Rs 800-950in 2000-01.Incidentally, the move has also affected Advanta India (formerly ITCZeneca), which sold moisture stress-tolerant hybrids in the drought-proneRayalseema and north Karnataka areas. The company had 80 per cent of themarket-share in sunflower seeds in the area and, according to sources,sales of sunflower seeds came down by 50 per cent, as there were notakers.To drive home the point of the effect of imports, industry sources pointout that the immediate connection between the import duty prices and theprices of oilseeds is apparent. The latest increase in import duty to 75per cent saw sunflower seed prices firm up at Rs 16 per kg and remainstable, after a long time.SEA sources believe that a policy more favourable to the Indian industrycan rejuvenate the sector and help it bounce back in three years.

06 October 2001 (NSTP)