Management and Processing of Palm Oil (Elaeis guineensis Jacq): The Crop for Future

Abstract

India is one of the largest producers and consumers of edible oils and fats in the world. It contributes to about 7–8% of the world’s oilseeds and 6–7% of the global vegetable oils and is the fifth largest edible oil economy in the world. Even though India occupies a prominent position in the global oilseed production, its average yield for major oilseeds is 40–60% below the world average and has been growing at a slow pace. India is having rich agroecological diversity and is ideally suited for growing all major oil seed crops. It is reported that India excessively import edible oil such as palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and soybean oil from Argentina because the average yield of many of these oil seed crops is very low, compared to other crops like palm oil. This stressful situation is further aggravated by some traders who indulge in malpractices of adulteration of these oils with cheaper oils and synthetic colors for economic benefit. This chapter discusses the state-of-the-art of crop management and processing of palm oil, which is considered as the future crop.