查看文章

Historical records show that palm oil was initially traded for culinary purposes over 5,000 years ago (Zeven 1967). The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) originated in West Africa, where it played an important role at the village scale for many centuries (Hardon, Rao and Rajanaidu 1985). Nevertheless, the exact centre of origin within Africa is not known (Corley 1976). In Southeast Asia, where it is one of the most important commercial crops (particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia), it has a rather short history. Four oil palm seedlings were brought from Africa via Mauritius and Amsterdam and planted in Bogor Botanical Gardens in Java (Indonesia) in 1848 (Fig. 11.1). The seedlings were subsequently distributed to Deli, Sumatra (Indonesia) in the 1870s (Whitmore 1973). In Malaysia, up to the late nineteenth century, oil palm was grown as ornamentals. In 1911 and 1912, palms of Deli origin were planted along the avenue …