UPSC Prelims 2021 Q52: Palm Oil Origin and Uses — Explained
With reference to 'palm oil', consider the following statements:
1. The palm oil tree is native to Southeast Asia.
2. The palm oil is a raw material for some industries producing lipstick and perfumes.
3. The palm oil can be used to produce biodiesel.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Statement-wise explanation
- 1: incorrect — The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is native to the tropical forest belt of West and Central Africa. Its genetic diversity is greatest around south-eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon. Southeast Asia grows most of the world's palm oil today, with Indonesia and Malaysia far ahead of other producers, but the tree was brought there. The usual starting point given for the Southeast Asian crop is four seedlings planted at the Bogor Botanic Gardens in Java in 1848. Growing the most is not the same as being native.
- 2: correct — Palm oil and palm kernel oil are major raw materials for the oleochemical industry. That industry makes soaps, detergents, cosmetics, lipsticks, shampoos and perfume bases. Palm oil is semi-solid at room temperature, stays stable and melts smoothly, which is why lipstick and cream makers use it. FAO lists soap, detergent and cosmetic industries among the main non-food users of palm oil.
- 3: correct — Palm oil is a common feedstock for biodiesel. The oil reacts with methanol in a process called transesterification and gives fatty acid methyl esters, which is biodiesel. Indonesia and Malaysia run large palm-based biodiesel blending programmes, and FAO describes the oil palm as the most productive oil crop for biodiesel. Crude palm oil is now treated as a biofuel source as well as a food oil.
How to eliminate
Statements 2 and 3 use soft wording: 'a raw material for some industries' and 'can be used'. Such wording is rarely false. Lipstick and perfume makers can use palm oil, and almost any vegetable oil can be turned into biodiesel. If you accept both, only the options with 2 and 3 are left. That leaves 'all three' or '2 and 3 only', so the whole question turns on Statement 1. Statement 1 is the trap. It mixes up where a crop is mostly grown with where it comes from. A clue sits in the scientific name Elaeis guineensis, which refers to the old Guinea coast of West Africa. Natural rubber works the same way: it is native to the Amazon but grown mostly in Southeast Asia. Fact to remember: oil palm is native to West Africa and was brought to Southeast Asia in 1848.
Know more
Oil palm: native to Africa, grown mainly in Asia
The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is a tropical plantation crop. It needs high rainfall spread through the year, temperatures of about 24–32°C and deep, well-drained soil. That matches the equatorial climate of the Malay Peninsula and Indonesia, where the tree did better than in its African home. One fruit bunch gives two oils:
| Oil | Source | Main uses |
|---|---|---|
| Palm oil (crude palm oil, CPO) | Fleshy outer pulp (mesocarp) | Cooking oil, vanaspati, biscuits, biodiesel |
| Palm kernel oil | Seed (kernel) | Soaps, detergents, cosmetics, lipstick, shampoos |
Per hectare, oil palm gives more oil than any other oil crop. Its spread is tied to tropical deforestation and threats to orangutan habitat, which is why the IUCN has studied palm oil and biodiversity.
India and palm oil
- India relies on imports for most of its edible oil, and palm oil is the largest single imported edible oil. Most of it comes from Indonesia and Malaysia.
- Indian oil palm is grown mostly in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Mizoram. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer.
- National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP): approved by the Union Cabinet on 18 August 2021 as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. Outlay: Rs 11,040 crore, of which Rs 8,844 crore is the Centre's share. Target: 6.5 lakh ha of new oil palm area by 2025-26, reaching 10 lakh ha in all. CPO output is expected to reach 11.20 lakh tonnes by 2025-26. The scheme focuses on the North-East and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and it includes viability gap payments to farmers when fruit prices fall.
- NMEO-Oilseeds: approved on 3 October 2024 for the seven years 2024-25 to 2030-31. It is a different scheme, so don't mix the two up.
Pattern to remember: many plantation crops are grown mostly far from where they originated.
| Crop | Native to | Main producers today |
|---|---|---|
| Oil palm | West Africa | Indonesia, Malaysia |
| Rubber | Amazon basin | Thailand, Indonesia |
| Coffee | Ethiopia | Brazil, Vietnam |
| Cocoa | Amazon basin | Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana |
In the news
The Prime Minister announced a national oil palm mission in his Independence Day speech on 15 August 2021. The Union Cabinet approved the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm three days later, on 18 August 2021, less than two months before the 10 October 2021 Prelims. High edible-oil prices and India's dependence on palm oil imports kept the crop in the news that year.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Palm oil: Defines palm oil as oil pressed from the oil palm's fruit. The question asks where this tree originated and what its oil is used for.
- Oil palm mission: The oil palm mission put palm oil in the news in 2021, the year this question was set.
- Plantation agriculture: Oil palm is a plantation crop, which helps explain where it is grown commercially as opposed to where it first grew wild.