Planters’ Association renews call for re-evaluation of oil palm cultivation ban

The Planters’ Association of Ceylon (PA) renewed its call once again urging the government to re-evaluate its ban on oil palm cultivation, so that agricultural land can be put into more productive use, which will help fetch 
higher earnings.

While stressing the need to take urgent and immediate measures to reverse the ban on oil palm, the PA called for the development of a comprehensive policy framework for the sustainable expansion of oil palm cultivation, both for Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs) and smallholders.
PA Chairman Senaka Alawattegama, in a statement to the media, noted it is imperative for the government to explore a strategic policy framework for the sustainable expansion of oil palm into the 
smallholder sector. 

He also stressed the need for the government to take positive steps to reverse the gazette, which sets a ban on any new cultivation and forced RPCs to uproot 10 percent of their oil palm extents on an annual basis. 
“We are calling on the government to not only reverse the ban but also publicly acknowledge the value of this crop and actively partner with RPCs in educating the public and smallholders on its potential to reverse their economic hardships,” said Alawattegama.

He pointed out that the solution for the nation’s macroeconomic woes and those faced by citizens in Sri Lanka’s rural heartland, is to be found in the opening up of sustainable oil palm cultivation to the smallholder sector.

Alawattegama went on to emphasise the need to expand oil palm opportunities to rubber smallholders in marginal lands that have been decimated by adverse weather conditions and disease outbreaks. 
“Today, an RPC employee working in an oil palm estate earns a wage above Rs.100,000. We cannot deny our rural communities such an opportunity. The question is not if we should move ahead but how. This call is not just for the transformation of the oil palm sector but for the sustainable revitalisation of rural economies across the nation,” he asserted. 

At present, Sri Lanka consumes 264,000 metric tonnes of palm oil, with research from the Institute of Policy Studies Sri Lanka finding that Sri Lanka currently saves approximately US $ 17 million annually in foreign exchange outflows through domestic oil palm.   
Nearly 74 percent of Sri Lanka’s total edible oil demand is met through costly imports. Local palm oil supplies a meagre 6 percent of this demand, with the rest being through local coconut oil, which varies with annual coconut production. While coconut oil is often considered a substitute, the current coconut production capacity is inadequate to substitute completely for oil palm.

Given the limited land availability for expanding commercial cultivation in Sri Lanka, oil palm would help to bridge Sri Lanka’s edible oil gap. Crucially, domestic oil palm production also provides employment opportunities for over 33,000 individuals and attracts a capital investment of Rs.23 billion.