Oil palm

The oil palm, also known as Elaeis guineensis, is an indigenous African tree of the palm family that is cultivated as a source of oil.

Where does the oil palm grow?

Oil palm is mostly cultivated in West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. Edo State, Nigeria, is a suitable area for growing oil palm because it falls within 10° of the Equator, hence the location of Okomu Oil Palm Company PLC in this region of the country.

Oil palm cultivation

The oil palm seeds developed and sold by specialist seeds companies, such as Camseeds – a Socfin Group Subsidiary – are planted in a nursery. The young oil palms grow there for a period of about 10 – 12 months before they are transplanted into the field. After 30 months of growth, fruit harvesting starts and continues for more than 22 years. By this time, the oil palm has reached a height of about 12-15 meters, with decreasing yields in addition to being too tall to be harvested economically.

Fruit harvesting is done throughout the year. Oil palm harvesting is very labor-intensive as it still involves little mechanization, and thus represents a huge source of direct employment for the local population. The harvested fruits are transported to the palm oil mill with the aim of ensuring that they are all processed within 24-48 hours of harvesting.

Palm oil extraction

When the Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) arrived at the palm oil mill, they are sterilized under steam, facilitating the detachment of the fruits, preventing the oil from acidifying, and preconditioning the fruit pericarp and palm kernel nuts for subsequent processing. Then, the bunches are placed in a rotating drum (stripper) to separate the fruits from the bunches. Before pressing, a mechanical and thermal mixing process prepares the fruits. The last step, the clarification, separates the crude oil from the rest of the juice by decanting to obtain pure Crude Palm Oil (CPO).

A circular production method

Palm oil production is a circular production method where each step of the cycle is optimized. Hence, the residual fibers and shells from the production process fuel the biomass boilers. The steam produced by these boilers enters a turbine that generates electricity for the palm oil mills. The rest of the steam is redistributed and provides the heat needed for the entire process. Palm oil mills are thus energy self-sufficient as they produce renewable energy.

The organic residues from the processing of the bunches, such as empty fruit bunches, are returned to the field and used as organic fertilizers.

At the end 2024, the total FFB delivered to the palm oil mills of Okomu was 310 020 tons, of which 288 910 tons came from Okomu’s plantations and 21 110 tons came from third parties (smallholders).