Oil Palm and Our Lives
Oil palm is one of the most beneficial cultivation products that could be found in Malaysia and other palm oil producing countries. Without noticing much, oil palm actually do play important roles in our lives. The palm oil industry produces edible oil from oil palm fruits. The oil is a good choice for cooking as it maintains its properties even under high temperatures during cooking. This enhances the taste of food while the creaminess and smoothness of the oil makes an excellent cooking ingredient.
Other than edible oil, palm oil is also used in daily personal care items such as bathing soaps, detergents and many other cleaning and beauty products.
Deforestation takes place at high rates for the plantation of oil palm trees. In order to create lands for the cultivation of oil palm, many acres of land are cleared daily around the country. At first, this leads to air pollution and animals lose their habitats. However, as the oil palm trees grow larger, the balance of the ecosystem can be returned. Animals take shelter in the plantations while the carbon cycle is balanced by the growing oil palm trees.
Other than that, millions of job opportunities are created by the oil palm industry. In Malaysia, it is estimated that around a total of one million jobs originate from this industry. These jobs include smallholder farmers, fruits pickers, tree planters, large companies, the import and export companies and various other jobs.
