This photo is left over from one of my last trips into the village. A husband and wife were beating the ground with these Palm Fruit Husks, knocking out these little red fruits. They are about the size of a cherry tomato, but these little fruits are the money makers of West Kalimantan.
The trees, to an outsider look like any old palm tree. It would be hard for the uninitiated to make a distinction between the various types. But the Indonesians here all know. These trees put out a large, heavy palm fruit that can be the size of a man's torso. Then, these little red gems are knocked out and sold to production companies. They squeeze the oil out, then, crush the seeds on the inside and squeeze more pam oil out.
The remaining husks, I have been told (and I have seen) are cast into large lots on the side of the road to rot and grow special fungi that only seem to like growing on palm husks. The special fungus is then harvested and eaten.
Thousands of acres of Rubber plantation and rainforest are cut down annually to make room for these Palm Sawit plants. It is a hugely lucrative business.