Oil Palm: Nursery, Plantation Care and Small-Scale Processing

Who it is for. Beginners with no formal certificate, including school leavers, farmers' children, women's groups and persons with disabilities. National Proficiency I is the first level of Ghana's TVET framework.

Why oil palm

• A palm bears bunches of 10 to 40 kg, is productive for about 25 years, and gives its best crops from about year 6 to year 15.
• Ghana eats more palm oil than it makes: about 450,000 tonnes used against about 300,000 tonnes produced, and the government wants to close the gap by 2032. The state plans to share 1.5 million oil palm seedlings between 2025 and 2028 and to support smallholders; who qualifies and how much is not verified, so ask the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA).
• A large grower in the Western and Central regions, BOPP, bought 33,343 tonnes of fruit bunches from smallholders and outgrowers in 2025. There are buyers.
• Many small mills do poorly. Studies of small mills in Ghana report only 11 to 13 percent of the bunch weight recovered as oil, when 20 percent or more is possible. Better skills mean more oil from the same fruit.

How the module works

Each unit has learning outcomes, performance criteria, the range and the evidence your assessor needs. You are judged Competent or Not Yet Competent. Every unit has a practical task, an exercise or check, homework, and three "Check yourself" questions.

Prices and numbers in this book

Most prices (seedlings, bags, presses, oil per litre) were not found. Where a number is invented to show how a calculation works, it says example. Homework asks you to collect real prices from three sellers near you.

Competency standard

Range. The training nursery, field and processing area. Evidence. Hazard hunt record; oral questions; observation of tool use.

The main hazards

Climbing tall palms to prune or harvest is dangerous; the IITA training guide says to use a pole knife and to replant when 15 percent of palms are 12 m or taller. Smoke from burning tyres and other poor fuel is described as a health risk in studies of small palm oil processing in Ghana.

Protective clothing (PPE)

Prices were not found. Phone two shops and record the prices (see homework). People using pesticides need gloves, boots, a mask, an apron and glasses, and training.

Tools and how to keep them safe

Sharpen cutting tools with a file, push away from your body, and let the tool rest in the same place each time so no one steps on it.

First steps in an accident

1. Stop the work and make the place safe (put the knife down, turn off the stove, move people away).
2. Cut or bleeding: press a clean cloth firmly on the wound and raise the limb; go to a clinic if it is deep or will not stop.
3. Burn or scald: cool the burn under cool, clean running water for at least 10 minutes; do not burst blisters; do not put oil or paste on it; go to a clinic for a large or deep burn, or a burn on the face, hands or feet.
4. Snake bite: keep the person calm and still, take them to the nearest clinic or hospital at once, and do not cut the bite, suck it or tie anything tight. If you can do it safely, note what the snake looked like.
5. Fall or head injury: do not move the person unless they are in danger; call for help.

These are general first-aid steps. They were not taken from a source in this module and are not verified: your trainer should check them against the Ghana Red Cross or a nurse and keep emergency phone numbers on the wall.

Check yourself

1. Name two dangers when harvesting a tall palm.
2. Why must you not tie a tight band or cut a snake bite?
3. What is the first thing to do for a burn?

Competency standard

Range. Local plots and seed sources. Evidence. Land checklist; buying checklist; oral questions.

What an oil palm is

• The tree grows 20 to 25 new leaves (fronds) a year. If the growing point at the top dies, the whole palm dies.
• Most feeding roots are shallow, so do not compact or dig up the soil round the palm.
• Each fruit is 6 to 20 g. It has a skin, an oily pulp (this gives palm oil), a hard shell, and a kernel inside (this gives palm kernel oil).
• A palm lives about 25 years and can reach about 15 m.

The three types

A good tenera gives about 23 to 24 percent of the bunch weight as oil. IITA estimates that a smallholder needs at least 3 hectares (about 429 palms) to earn a profitable return. Check: 3 × 143 = 429.

Where to get good seed

• The CSIR Oil Palm Research Institute (OPRI) at Kusi near Kade advertises high-yielding tenera seedlings for sale to the public. Ghana Sumatra Ltd (GSL), the CSIR company on the same site, sells germinated improved seed.
• No current price for a seedling or sprouted seed was found. Phone OPRI or GSL.
• Group buying works: in 2008 a district assembly bought over 71,000 germinated seedlings from OPRI and gave them to farmers on credit. Ask your assembly or TCDA about supported seedlings.

Buying checklist

Fusarium wilt can spread through planting material and through soil or cover crop taken from sick farms. Planting tolerant material from a trusted source is the main protection.

Choosing land

1. Choose flat or gently sloping land, with slope less than 25 degrees and deep soil.
2. Stay away from swamps, stony ground, steep hills and laterite (hard red gravel) areas.
3. Choose land near a road so bunches can be carried out.
4. Plan roads, drains and blocks first.
5. Plant rows north to south; on slopes above 10 percent, put rows across the slope.

From starting to prepare land to first planting takes about 12 to 14 months including time to order germinated seed.

Check yourself

1. Which type of oil palm is advised for small farmers?
2. Name two places that are NOT good for oil palm land.
3. Why must you ask for a receipt when you buy seedlings?

Competency standard

Range. One small training nursery of at least 50 bags. Evidence. Nursery record; seedlings; observation.

Two-stage nursery in one picture

The cost of the two-stage method is a little shock when seedlings are moved; the gain is that you can remove poor seedlings early and so fill fewer big bags.

Site, materials and shelter

Site rules: no flooding or waterlogging; clean water all year; good topsoil; not too much natural shade; fenced against thieves and animals; away from oil palm and banana plantations, because the black weevil breeds there.

Materials for a 50-bag training nursery:

Step by step: pre-nursery

1. Build a shelter from palm fronds on stakes to give shade. Put the bags in a flat, weeded area.
2. Prepare the soil. Use fertile, medium-texture topsoil. For heavy clay, mix in about 40 percent coarse sand. Do not use wet or contaminated soil.
3. Fill the bags with soil to about 1 cm below the brim. Water the soil if it is dry. Make sure the bags have drainage holes.
4. Make a planting hole in the middle, using a stick about 1.5 cm thick and about 10 cm long.
5. Place the germinated seed with the pale shoot (plumule) pointing up and the darker root (radicle) pointing down.
6. Cover the seed so it is not deeper than about 1 cm. Seeds sown upside down, too deep or too shallow grow badly. Never mix seeds with chemicals.
7. Water after sowing. Start at the beginning of the rainy season (April to May was the IITA advice). In a small nursery, a watering can gives 0.5 to 2 litres per seedling per day, more in hot dry weather.
8. Shade: keep the shelter over the bags. From the end of month 3, thin the shade gradually by removing 1 of every 3 fronds.
9. Weed by hand each month and keep the area around the bags clean (grass hides the insect that carries blast disease).
10. Cull at 3 to 4 months (see below).

Step by step: transfer to the main nursery

1. When seedlings have 3 to 4 leaves (3 to 4 months), choose the day: cloudy or in the evening is best.
2. Fill the big bags to about 2 cm below the brim with the same kind of topsoil mix. Water them.
3. Mark the bag spacing on the ground in a triangle pattern with sticks. The IITA exercise used 70 cm, and the bulletin 90 cm; use what your trainer or supplier advises.
4. Use the Richard planter to make a hole in the big bag.
5. Take a pre-nursery bag, cut the bottom, slide off the small bag carefully so the soil ball stays whole.
6. Set the seedling straight in the hole. Firm the soil. Water.
7. Keep partial shade for a short time, then remove it slowly.
8. Keep the leaf stalks (spears) straight and handle the seedling by the soil ball, never by the spear leaf.

Feeding in the nursery

The IITA guide suggests an inexpensive mix of 50 percent urea, 25 percent muriate of potash and 25 percent kieserite, with about 5 g per seedling once a month in the pre-nursery for 3 months (about one mineral-water bottle cap) and about 10 g per plant per month in the main nursery. Apply in the evening, weed first, place it in a ring halfway between the stem and the bag edge, and water lightly so leaves do not scorch. This comes from a 2008 guide. Ask your MoFA officer or OPRI to confirm the fertiliser and amount for your soil.

Culling: removing poor seedlings

Cull at the pre-nursery stage and every three months in the main nursery. Remove seedlings that are narrow, crinkled, twisted, rolled, stunted, with a dry spear leaf, upright and sterile-looking, or flat-topped with leaflets too close together or too far apart. A nursery manual from Costa Rica plans for 15 to 20 percent culling. This is why you grow some extra seedlings.

Pests in the nursery

• Black weevil: inspect weekly; destroy attacked plants; avoid wounding seedlings.
• Blast disease: the spear leaf rots and pulls away with a bad smell. It is spread by a small insect that lives in grass, so keep the nursery clean and weeded.
• If a spray is needed, use only an EPA-registered product, follow the label and ask your extension officer.

Common mistakes and fixes

Check yourself

1. Which way up does the germinated seed go in the bag?
2. How long is a seedling usually in the pre-nursery?
3. Name two seedlings you should cull.

Competency standard

Range. A small training plot. Evidence. Layout; planted seedlings; field record.

Spacing

Plant in an equilateral triangle: 9 m between neighbours in every direction. This puts rows 7.8 m apart and 9 m apart along the row, which is 143 palms per hectare.

Check: each palm needs 9 × 7.794 = 70.15 square metres. 10,000 ÷ 70.15 = 142.6, so about 143 palms.

Too close and palms fight for light and water; too wide and the soil is bare and may erode. Trials at OPRI Kusi used triangular spacings of 8.7, 9.9 and 10.5 m. Rows run north to south, and across the slope where the slope is above 10 percent.

Pegging a triangle layout

1. Lay a straight base line with a rope and mark pegs every 9 m.
2. Take two ropes, each 9 m long. Hold one end of each on two neighbouring pegs.
3. Walk the free ends to meet, pull both ropes tight, and put a peg where they meet. This is the top of the triangle.
4. Repeat along the next row, using pegs from the row before.

Holing and planting

1. Dig a hole a little bigger than the seedling's bag. (The IITA guide gives no fixed hole size; follow your supplier's advice.)
2. Place the bagged seedling in the hole to check depth: the soil surface in the bag should be level with the ground.
3. Lift the seedling out. Tear open the bag carefully and remove it without breaking the soil ball.
4. Place the root ball in the hole, fill gaps with the soil you dug out, and firm lightly.
5. Water if the ground is dry.
6. Protect the seedling from goats and cutting rats with wire mesh, a bamboo fence or old tyres.

Weeding, mulch and cover crop

• Weeds can reduce yield by 6 to 20 percent.
• Young palms: weed with a cutlass 3 to 4 times a year and clear a circle round each palm 5 to 6 times a year.
• Plant a legume cover crop such as Pueraria or Mucuna bracteata as soon as the clearing debris is stacked. Take cover crop seed only from clean, healthy farms because Fusarium wilt can travel with it.
• Spread empty fruit bunches as mulch in the first two years, if you can get them from a mill.
• Do not burn heaps of dead wood or leave empty bunches in piles: the rhinoceros beetle breeds there.
• If you use a herbicide, use only an EPA-registered product, wear PPE, and follow the label. Ask your extension officer.

Growing food between young palms

IITA advises maize and groundnut in the first 3 to 4 years and warns against cassava, which uses up nitrogen. A trial at OPRI Kusi found maize, cassava and plantain between palms had no bad effect on palm growth and yield. The two sources disagree. Follow your extension officer, and keep a clear ring round each palm.

Pruning

• Prune once a year, between July and October, when there are few bunches.
• Palms under 5 years: remove only ferns and other plants growing on the trunk; keep the fronds.
• Older palms: remove dead fronds and those below the fronds that support the oldest bunches.
• Do not cut leaf stalks flush with the trunk; the wound lets weevils in.
• Use a machete on palms under 9 years and a knife on a pole for taller palms; do not climb tall palms.
• Stack cut fronds in rows between palms; do not take them off the farm.

Fertiliser awareness

• Mineral fertiliser is usually applied twice a year. With two rainy seasons, IITA suggests April and September to October.
• Put young-palm fertiliser in the weeded circle.
• Leaf signs: pale yellow leaves can mean low nitrogen; orange spotting or yellowing in the middle of the crown can mean low potassium; olive-green to reddish patches on older fronds in the sun can mean low magnesium.
• Amounts depend on the soil. This manual does not give rates. Ask the MoFA officer or OPRI, and check whether TCDA is supplying subsidised fertiliser.

Pests and diseases to know

Check your field at least every two months and keep a log: date, field, what you did, inputs, labour.

Replanting

When more than 15 percent of palms are 12 m or taller and cannot be harvested, it is time to replant.

Check yourself

1. How far apart are palms in the triangle layout?
2. Name two jobs you do in the first years to protect young palms.
3. Why should you not cut a frond flush with the trunk?

Competency standard

Range. Mature palms where harvesting is possible. Evidence. Observation; harvest record; oral questions.

Why speed and care matter

• Ripe fruit that is not bruised has less than 0.3 percent free fatty acid (FFA, the part of the oil that makes it go bad). Bruised fruit can reach about 60 percent FFA within an hour.
• In a Ghana study, 54 percent of small processors stored fruit for 1 to 3 weeks before boiling, which raises FFA.
• So: harvest ripe, avoid bruising, carry to the mill the same day.

Is it ripe?

• Fruit changes colour from black to orange as it ripens. When it is ripe, loose fruits fall off by themselves.
• Sources give different numbers for how many loose fruit mean "ripe" (from 1 to 15 depending on the guide). Use this rule: harvest a bunch only if there is at least one loose fruit on the ground under it, and ask your buyer or mill what rule they use.
• A reddish bunch with no loose fruit may still be unripe. Leave it for the next round.

Harvest rounds

Harvest about every 10 days (three rounds a month). Cut from the same palms in the same order each round, collect all loose fruit, and keep records.

Tools by palm age

Cut the stalk short so the bunch is neat; sources give under 2 cm or under 5 cm, so follow your buyer's grading.

A harvest team

A common team has three roles: the cutter, the person who collects and marks bunches, and the person who gathers loose fruit. The number of bunches a team can do falls as the palms grow taller.

Step by step: harvest day

1. Brief the team. Agree on who cuts, who collects, who carries; agree on a warning shout.
2. Put on PPE. Hard hat, boots, gloves, goggles.
3. Check the area. No one stands under the palm being cut. Check for snakes and ants. Look overhead for hanging fronds.
4. Pick the ripe bunches. Look for loose fruit on the ground.
5. Cut the frond that supports the bunch (if it blocks), then the bunch.
6. Let the bunch fall clear of people.
7. Collect all loose fruit. It is rich in oil.
8. Cut the stalk short and put bunches at the pathway.
9. Carry by wheelbarrow, sacks or a truck; do not drop the bunches or roll them along rough ground.
10. Record the number of bunches and the weight, if you have a scale.

Transport

• Take the bunches to the mill the same day.
• Do not heap them for days to "soften" the fruit.
• If you sell to a mill or buyer, agree on the pick-up time and place before harvest.
• Weigh at the buyer's scale with a witness; write down the weight and the receipt.

Check yourself

1. Name two signs that a bunch is ripe.
2. Why must bunches go to the mill the same day?
3. What tool is used for palms taller than about 8 years?

Competency standard

Range. One small batch (50 to 100 kg of fruit) at a training mill or with hired machines. Evidence. Processing record; oil sample; observation.

The process in one line

Reception, then stripping, sterilising, digesting, pressing, clarifying, drying and storing.

Tools and materials

Step by step

1. Reception. Use ripe, fresh, unbruised bunches (see Unit 5). Weigh the fruit and write it in your record.
2. Strip the fruit. Cut the spikelets from the bunch with an axe or machete and pick fruit off by hand. Small processors thresh before cooking. Keep the empty bunch for fuel or mulch.
3. Sterilise (cook). Put the fruit in a drum with clean water and heat. Cooking stops enzymes that spoil the oil, loosens the fruit and softens it for pressing; over-cooking hurts oil quality and darkens kernels. No source gave cooking minutes, so time your own batch in the logbook and ask your trainer or an experienced processor.
4. Digest. While the fruit is still hot, pound it in a mortar or use a digester so the pulp comes off the nut. This is the hardest step in small mills. A hand wheel digester designed for women was described as taking a 30 kg load in 12 to 15 minutes.
5. Press. Squeeze the mash in a hand press to get the oil-and-water mix. Presses leave oil behind in the fibre: hand presses lose 18 to 35 percent of the oil, a better screw press about 10.7 percent.
6. Wash (wet method). Add hot water as you digest or as you strain, so the oil rises. FAO notes adding about three parts of hot water to the press output, filtering out the fibre, then boiling 1 to 2 hours, settling and decanting.
7. Clarify. Let the mix settle in a drum. Oil floats on top. Skim it off carefully.
8. Dry. Re-heat the clarified oil gently in a clean pot and skim until no more water bubbles out. FAO gives a target moisture of 0.15 to 0.25 percent for the finished oil.
9. Store. Cool the oil, pour it through a clean cloth into clean, dry, covered containers, and keep them at room temperature away from sun.
10. Clean up. Wash tools straight away. Do not pour waste water on streams or near a well.

Quality: what a buyer checks

• Free fatty acid (FFA): a Ghana article on the Solidaridad training says FFA should be below 5 percent, with low rancidity and no contaminants. Other Ghana studies quote different limits. The Ghana Standards Authority palm oil standard was not found: ask the GSA.
• Moisture: dry oil keeps longer.
• Colour and smell: clean red colour and fresh smell. Never add colourings. The FDA says some producers add things to make oil redder, and EU buyers want proof that there are no Sudan dyes.
• Iron contamination from rusty tools speeds rancidity.
• Hygiene topics in the FDA and Solidaridad training include clean sterilising and digesting, safe water, waste handling, worker hygiene and cleaning.

Why extraction matters

Small Ghana mills report about 11 to 13 percent oil from the bunch weight. A good process can reach 20 percent or more. The loss comes from bruised and old fruit, undercooked fruit, poor digesting and weak pressing.

Kernels and other by-products

• Palm kernels: nuts are picked from the fibre, cracked, and the kernels separated. Dry them to about 7 percent moisture before storage; broken kernels spoil fast. Kernels can be sold or pressed for kernel oil.
• Palm kernel cake: what is left after kernel pressing is used as animal feed; reviews suggest limits (for example around 20 percent in poultry rations in a Ghana review) and say it is high in fibre. Ask a livestock officer.
• Fibre and shell: fuel for the stove; do not use too much shell in a boiler.
• Empty bunches: fuel, or mulch for the farm.
• Ash: can be used as potash fertiliser.
• Second-press oil (about 3 to 4 percent of the fruit weight) has more free fatty acid and is usually used for soap, not for the kitchen. Soap recipes are not covered here.
• Waste water (POME): do not discharge it near streams or wells. Artisanal mills in Ghana often spill it on land; a safe local method for small mills was not verified.

Check yourself

1. Put these in order: press, strip, sterilise, digest, clarify.
2. Why must you never add colouring to palm oil?
3. Name two uses for empty bunches or fibre.

Competency standard

Range. The trainee's own plan. Evidence. One-page plan; costing sheet.

Location settings that give good returns

Business ideas and ingenuity

Seasons and money

A study in Kwaebibirem found small processors made money in the lean months (September to December) but lost about 38 percent of every cedi of sales in the peak season of April and May, mainly because of market access, lack of credit and skills. Plan for the seasons.

Market yourself

• Give your oil a clean label, a brand name, the date made and your phone number (ask FDA about label rules).
• Offer a small sample bottle to shops, chop bars and caterers.
• Be honest: red because of the fruit, not dye.
• Show buyers photos of your clean process.
• Join or form an association: the Artisanal Palm Oil Millers and Outgrowers Association of Ghana pushed for registration and support.
• Group together to buy seedlings, share a press or sell fruit in larger quantities. Find out what support exists through TCDA.

Accessibility

Women run many informal mills in Ghana but own few, and the work is hard and smoky. A hand digester for women has been designed.

These suggestions are the author's judgement; they are not from a study. Tasks that are often workable for persons with disabilities: nursery work at a table or raised bed, sorting and grading fruit, weighing and recording, labelling and packing oil, quality checks, bookkeeping and sales. Pole harvesting, climbing, heavy digesting and boiling or pressing are harder; they need adjusted equipment, a trained partner and safe layout. Useful adjustments: seated work benches, tools with long or built-up handles, large-print records, talking scales, a partner at the stove, clear walkways and shaded rest points.

Check yourself

1. Name two businesses a person can start in oil palm.
2. Why is the lean season important for small mills?
3. Why do you never add colour to palm oil?

1. Name three hazards of working with oil palm.
2. Why do we use a pole and not climb tall palms?
3. Which type of oil palm is advised for small farmers?
4. Name two things to check when you buy seedlings.
5. In a pre-nursery, which way up does the seed go?
6. What is culling and why do we do it?
7. How many palms per hectare at 9 m triangular spacing?
8. Why do you weed round young palms?
9. What is a sign that a bunch is ripe?
10. Why take bunches to the mill the same day?
11. Put in order: press, sterilise, strip, clarify, digest.
12. What does a processor do if a customer wants redder oil?

Best next reads: the IITA farmer training guide on sustainable oil palm; the FAO booklet on small-scale palm oil processing in Africa; and the Hub's Workplace Safety, Composting and Money Skills manuals.

What this module does not cover: fertiliser and chemical rates, replanting plans, extraction improvement, mill operation checklists and FDA/EPA registration steps (see Levels 2 and 3).

Every source used in this manual is listed, with links, in the Teacher Copy.