The Transformation from Manual to Mechanical Method for Palm Oil Production
Researches have shown that the processing of palm oil started by manual operation using locally made tools such as locally made pots, mortar, and pestle made with wooden material. The labor- intensive mode of production relied heavily on the unskilled workforce for the collection of palm fruits from the palm trees from a limited subsistencebased farming. This is followed by processing, the bunch must be de-husked using a knife or axe to cut off the fruits from its bunch before using a locally made filter to separate it from the shaft. Typically, the majority of people store the fruit for a few days for fermentation to take place before steaming. The purpose of storing the fruits for a few days is to enable the extraction of adequate oil when seeds become fermented.
The fruit that is mashed is then placed into a wooden basin to pick and detach the kernel from the endocarp and, at the same time, press the mashed fruit to extract the oil which drains to one end.
In present times, the manual method of palm oil processing has been transformed into a mechanically operated mill using modern processing equipment. The de-husked palm fruits are mechanically conveyed for processing at an installed plant. The entire process of the modern palm oil mills has made it more comfortable and efficient as a result of machines that have taken over. Because of this mechanization efforts, small scale or subsistence producers of palm oil now prefer to sell their palm fruit to established producers who utilize a mechanized production system, and interestingly, this is where Bragav comes in because of the existence of abundant opportunitiesof wealth creation.
