Agriculture Ministry to help agriculturists selling oil palms

Mr. Rungruang Issarangkura Na Ayutthaya (รุ่งเรือง อิศรางกูร ณ อยุธยา), the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, had a conference on oil palm production with the representatives of the Ministry of Energy. He said no ethanol producers are interested to buy oil palms from farmers so that they can convert the produce into an alternative energy.

Mr. Rungruang has assigned the Department of Agriculture to study how many agriculturists are growing oil palms in each province. After the study, the Energy Ministry will hold a negotiation with the ethanol producers. Meanwhile, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) will give a financial support.

The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives also expressed his confidence that farmers will continue to grow energy plants if processing factories will buy their crops.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 20 November 2006

Oil palm for ethanol producers? I've never heard of this. Ethanol producers mostly want sugars perhaps polysacharides (I don't know) and maybe even cellulose if they have some advanced conversion system....but oil palms produce oil which as far as I know has never been considered as feedstock for ethanol production.....its for bio diesel which has nothing to do with ethanol production.

Looks like the Mininstry of Agriculture is suffering from some confused leaders here.....or maybe I'm just confused about this....or its the Twilight Zone.

Chownah

I heard it rumoured that old oil palm trees( at re-plant time), would/could be used for the manufacturing of cardboard paper.

That wouldn't be bad, considering many of the larger oil palm plantations in Thailand are at their age for re-planting.

These days, if the farmers could sell their old trees, the replanting cost would be

greatly reduced.