PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – To address the palm oil supply deficit, the Vietnamese government is focusing on developing palm oil plantations. Although palm oil has been cultivated in the country since 1978, it was initially limited to experimental plantations. Despite existing policies promoting palm oil as a potential commercial crop, its cultivation remains in the trial phase.
Palm oil has been part of government policy for the past five decades, beginning in 1962 when President Ho Chi Minh directed the Ministry of Agriculture (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) to research and develop the crop.
In 1967, Vietnam imported Dura palm oil seeds from China, which were planted in three trial plantations in Thanh Hoa, Hung Yen, and Nghe An provinces. In March 1971, palm oil began to be cultivated for research purposes in Huong Son District, Ha Tinh Province.
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As Palmoilmagazine.com quoted from Vo Thai Dan from Faculty of Agronomy, Nong Lam University (NLU), City of Ho Chi Minh, on 17 to 19 November 1980, Ministry of Agriculture conducted conference that focused on palm oil in Ha Tinh Province and came to a conclusion that palm oil could be cultivated from Ha Tinh Province to the southern Vietnam.
The conference result was reported to the Prime Minister in 1981, and agreed to start cultivating big scale – palm oil plantations. After that in 1986, the government ordered a project called “The study about palm oil adaptation that grew in southern Vietnam” to the Vegetable Oil Research Institution of Vietnam to develop scientific bases to plan and develop palm oil plantations in the country.
Apart of every available restriction, palm oil cultivation to develop bio-oil is being considered as the option for the Government of Vietnam. On 20 November 2007, the Prime Minister approved a project called “Vegetable Oil Fuel Development in tahun 2015, the vision for 2025”. The project showed that ethanol and vegetable fat from kinds of oil including palm oil, should reach 1,8 million tons to fulfill 5% fuel needs in the country. (P2)
