Thatta extraction plant starts palm oil production

THATTA: A palm oil extraction plant being run by the Sindh's Environment, Climate Change & Coastal Development Department started production on Wednesday.

"The Sindh government has successfully carried out the first-ever pilot project of growing palm oil trees in the province," said Sindh's Adviser for Environment and Coastal Development Barrister Murtaza Wahab during his visit to the palm oil extraction plant and the palm tree fields in Thatta district.

Wahab termed the completion of the pilot project a milestone for local palm oil production, informing that oil palm trees had been planted on 50 acres of government land under a pilot project. "All the trees have now grown up for oil extraction."

The provincial adviser said that the palm oil extraction plant will produce two tonnes of oil per day. "Pakistan annually spends $4 billion foreign exchange on the import of palm oil," he noted.

He said the local production of palm oil will help the country substantially save its precious foreign currency reserves, adding that after successful completion of the palm oil pilot project, the Sindh government has decided to further expand the project and in this regard has allocated more land for plantation.