Farmers across Asia are busy planting trees to boost palm oil production, but nurseries are struggling to keep up with demand for sprouts and seedlings, risking a delay in the industry's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The seedlings shortfall could slow plantation, capping production growth and keeping palm oil prices elevated, industry officials said, as the world already grapples with lofty inflation.

JAKARTA: Farmers across Asia are busy planting trees to boost palm oil production but nurseries are struggling to keep up with demand for sprouts and seedlings, risking a delay in the industry's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The seedlings shortfall could slow plantation, capping production growth and keeping palm oil prices elevated, industry officials said, as the world already grapples with lofty inflation. Asia produces more than 90 per cent of the world's cheapest edible oil used in cooking, baking and cosmetics. The production growth of palm oil stalled in recent years, partly due to labour shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, but farmers are now looking to replant or expand plantations amid rising prices. The demand surge comes as supply for germinated sprouts, used to make seedlings, has fallen as oil palm nurseries scaled down production during the pandemic to adjust to weaker demand. Traditional growers Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for more than 80 per ...

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Channelnewsasia

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