Oil palm farmers in Myeik Township, Taninthayi Region, are looking for investors to invest in unrefined and refined palm oil plants in the area, as they have to sell palm fruit bunches to factories such South Dagon Crude Palm Oil Mill in Bokpyin Township currently with expensive transport costs.
“If we have unrefined and refined palm oil plants in Myeik district, oil palm farmers will earn more profit as they can send palm fruit bunches to factories that produce crude palm oil with minimum loss and cost. And they can also focus more on boosting the yearly yield of the fruit,” said an oil palm farmer in Myeik Township.
A total of 39 companies and nearly 40 individuals in the Taninthayi Region have invested in oil palm plantation and most of them sell their produce to crude palm oil plants in Bokpyin and Kawthoung districts with the prices of nearly K330,000 per tonne of palm fruit bunches. The farmers face losses as well as expensive transport costs on their way to sell their produce.
Taninthayi Region naturally provides farmers with a fertile ecosystem for oil palm plantations, attracting local and overseas investors to invest in the plantation. Oil palm has been grown in the Region for more than 30 years, bringing the current total plantation in the region to some 400,000 acres.
In the Taninthayi Region, six plants produce crude palm oil — one each in Dawei and Myeik districts, and two each in Bokpyin and Kawthoung districts, according to the Department of Agriculture.
Taninthayi Region is proven to be the most fertile region in the country to grow oil palm and the farmers wish to have refinery plants that produce edible palm oil in their region. — Myint Oo (Myeik)/TH
