Plant based oil options in Thailand Isaan farm?

[MisterBKK]

I was hoping to grow olives so I could make olive oil. Looks like that is not really viable where my farm is in Thailand. So, looking at other options...

 

I know about coconut oil, but is there a better plant based oil that I could produce myself in Thailand?

 

I am thinking sunflowers, soybean, or safflower... any experience growing these in Thailand? Anyone making their own oil? I would love to learn and get started on something like this.

 

Thanks.

 

[farmerjo]

I've been looking at oilpresses for the last 3 weeks.(small scale 10-15 kg/hour)

I have 4000kgs of sunn hemp in the shed and more to harvest shortly.

It's only about 12% oil content from what i've read but will be interesting to see what the crude protein waste comes out like if compatable as animal feed.

I also have black sesame seed in the shed which produces good oil content.

Hope to be up and running with oilpress by end of the month. 

 

[bunnydrops]

A while back a friend of mine had a good market for oil seed that was called in Thai ถั่ดาวอินคา Inca bean.

[kickstart]

7 hours ago, MisterBKK said:

I was hoping to grow olives so I could make olive oil. Looks like that is not really viable where my farm is in Thailand. So, looking at other options...

 

I know about coconut oil, but is there a better plant based oil that I could produce myself in Thailand?

 

I am thinking sunflowers, soybean, or safflower... any experience growing these in Thailand? Anyone making their own oil? I would love to learn and get started on something like this.

 

Thanks.

 

Sunflowers, You are in Bangkok ,but if you come to Lopburi province , 2 1/2 from you, mainly in Amphur Pattananikom ,they are Sunflowers growing now ,they are a dry season crop ,do not like a lot of water ,easy to grow ,a lot about this year .

Soya beans are grown ,guy end of my Soi  grows them ,being a legume crop they will need fungal side ,aphids and cattapilers like them .

 

FJ ,  You see the CP of Sunn Hemp 41% when crushed I would say it would be about 30-35% protein ,but Sunn Hemp seed is not very palatable ,and can be toxic to cattle ,but if mixed with other feed stuffs should be OK .

With the high oil containt it as a high energy   cattle feed .

If I remember right, our Michael Hare has  posted something about Sunn Hemp seed  as a cattle feed.

 

Sun hemp seeds | Dairy Knowledge Portal

www.dairyknowledge.in › ... › Protein sources

 

 

[MisterBKK]

5 hours ago, farmerjo said:

I've been looking at oilpresses for the last 3 weeks

 

Can you send a couple links of presses you are looking at?

 

Thanks.

 

[farmerjo]

https://www.nilsanindia.com/product/mini-commercial-oil-press-machine-ns-1200/

 

https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/2350-watt-commercial-oil-press-machine-21708249433.html

 

Something like these that has temperature control as well.

Although they are online and i'm looking for something similar in Thailand.

Think a few spare parts will be required over time.

Anybody seen in shops in thailand?

Otherwise i did see a palm date oilpress being used at the Khon Kaen fair a couple of years a go that may give a lead if there this year.

[farmerjo]

10 hours ago, kickstart said:

FJ ,  You see the CP of Sunn Hemp 41% when crushed I would say it would be about 30-35% protein ,but Sunn Hemp seed is not very palatable ,and can be toxic to cattle ,but if mixed with other feed stuffs should be OK .

With the high oil containt it as a high energy   cattle feed .

If I remember right, our Michael Hare has  posted something about Sunn Hemp seed  as a cattle feed.

Hi KS,was hoping if using a temperature controlled machine it would help remove those toxins in the seed and as you say use as an supplement similar to rice hum.

There's a couple of people in the village breeding rats i hear so that would be a good start to trial it.

The oil i would use in the old tractor to use it up.

The seed i currently have is of good quality but as is doesn't make export standard because it has some ipomea seeds in it which are hard to remove apparently.(i did it 3 times over a gravity table then 3 times through a winnower so not spending any more time on it)

I can still use the press for sesame seed once the stock of sunn hemp is finished and it would give the Mrs something to do when bored.  

 

[Michael Hare]

I have never said sunn hemp seeds can be used for animal feeds. The plant yes, but not the seeds. A pity about ipomea seeds contaminating the sunn hemp seeds. You have to hoe out the ipomea plants before the sunn hemp plants get too tall. Ipomea seeds can be cleaned out with various seed cleaners but is a difficult job and a lot of good sunn hemp seeds are lost. 

[farmerjo]

Michael,does your university have a oilpress machine.

The closest i've come up with in Thailand is a cold press coconut oil machine from Champ in the Macro complex here.  

   

[ourmanflint]

Nobody has mentioned Groundnuts yet have they? Would have thought Isaan was a good location for growing them successfully. 

[Michael Hare]

12 hours ago, farmerjo said:

Michael,does your university have a oilpress machine.

The closest i've come up with in Thailand is a cold press coconut oil machine from Champ in the Macro complex here.  

   

Farmerjo, I am no longer at the university. We moved out one year ago to our purpose-built seed store complex near our house in Ubon city. The Faculty of Agriculture does have a oilpress machine because they have been producing oil from sesame seeds for many years. They then put the oil in capsules for sale. I doubt that they would allow outsiders to use the machine though.

[CLW]

Regarding the question in the OP, I know that Thai farmers growing/producing oil from coconut and sesame commercially. Others such as sunflower, soybean and peanut I think it is just locally and maybe not for oil.

 

Regarding oil press machine, our company purchased this one in order to press/extract hemp seed oil in the future. We tried with a sample of hemp seeds, sesame and palm fruit pericarp, works like a charm. But the palm oil processing is quite difficult and involves a lot of time and labor. Not worth it.

 

https://oelwerk.com/en/oil-presses/oelwerk-oil-presses/333/ow-100-s-inox-oil-press

[farmerjo]

To the OP,i ended up finding a Thai made machine.

Looks a little more industrial and only a coldpress but will get me started.

Arrives on Tuesday.

 

 

[drtreelove]

On 1/4/2021 at 7:30 AM, ourmanflint said:

Nobody has mentioned Groundnuts yet have they? Would have thought Isaan was a good location for growing them successfully. 

The climate would be okay I believe, but I'm not sure about the soil.  It depends on the site and the soil management. Groundnuts need sandy soil, or well amended, loose soil in good tilth. The reason is that peanuts develop just below the soil grade and to harvest them, the plant is pulled up, peanuts, roots and all; the nuts are picked from the pulled up plant. If the soil is too heavy, of course it's harder to pull up the plant without losing a percentage of the nuts. 

 

I have not worked with peanuts in modern mechanized harvest.  In the organic farm that I worked at in India, the soil in the groundnut fields was a sandy loam that had many seasons of incorporating the crop residues by tractor discing, post harvest peanut plants, as the well as the millet and sorgum rotations, along with dairy manure. So the soil was rich and had amazing tilth, the peanut production was abundant, and the harvest was a breeze. 

[kickstart]

3 hours ago, drtreelove said:

have not worked with peanuts in modern mechanized harvest.  In the organic farm that I worked at in India, the soil in the groundnut fields was a sandy loam that had many seasons of incorporating the crop residues by tractor discing, post harvest peanut plants, as the well as the millet and sorgum rotations, along with dairy manure. So the soil was rich and had amazing tilth, the peanut production was abundant, and the harvest was a breeze. 

Peanuts are a popular crop where  I am in Lopburi ,like you said the soil is a red sandy loam they do all right ,harvest is all done by hand gangs of workers pulling the plants and bagging the peanuts ,

One guy near me grew some after his rice crop ,soil was a bit heavy for peanuts ,he still got a fair crop ,and it did his land some good as well .

My area being a big dairy cow area the crop residue ,the plants are collected and feed to the cows ,which they enjoy ,especially after a diet of rice straw .

An easy crop to grow ,only thing they do not like a lot of rain , being a legume can suffer from fungal disease.