MIRI: Smallholders will be brought up to speed on the use of technology and quality agricultural practices to increase oil palm yield at this year’s National Oil Palm Smallholder Conference organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).
Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Willie Mongin who officiated at the opening of the bi-annual conference said the development of the country’s agri-commodity sector weighed heavily on efforts to increase productivity and sustainable practices.
“The use of technology in the oil palm plantation sector can have an impact on increasing oil palm yields and strengthening the competitiveness of the oil palm industry,” he pointed out.
The implementation of new technologies and techniques and the planting of quality seeds including palm clones produced through the tissue culture process will be able to increase the production of palm oil, he added..
Willie was confident a comprehensive use of technology in oil palm activities and compliance with agronomic practices by smallholders can ensure an increase in production comparable to the achievements of the plantation sector.
Themed ‘Sustainable Practices, Assurance of Prosperity’, the three-day conference which began here on yesterday (Sept 19) focuses on the roles of nearly 450,000 smallholders involved in cultivating almost 30 per cent of the country’s oil palm plantation area.
The government through the Ministry is committed to ensuring their progress, said Willie. “Worker productivity increased by 38 per cent to 60 per cent with the increased use of machinery for harvesting and unloading palm fruit,” he revealed.
“The use of the Motorised Palm Fruit Harvesting Machine or CANTAS developed by MPOB has increased harvesting productivity by over 100 per cent to 8.7 tons per day compared to 3.6 tons per day with the use of manual methods.”
In order to maximise the use of land owned by smallholders and generate additional income, the government through MPOB provides the Incentive Scheme for the Integration of Crops with Oil Palm (ITa) and the Incentive Scheme for the Integration of Livestock with Oil Palm (ITe) to smallholders.
The value of crop integration assistance is RM3,000 to RM7,000 per hectare based on the type of crop. For the integration of village chickens or meat and egg-laying ducks, the assistance ceiling rate is RM15,000 for each project.
In the context of smallholder development, the Sustainable Oil Palm Growers’ Cooperative (KPSM) was established as a strategic move by the government to guarantee an increase in members’ income such as the sale of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) in groups and the purchase in bulk.
The sale of FFB in groups by KPSM was found to be able to contribute to an increase in the sale price of palm fruits by smallholders.
Until July this year, a total of 69 KPSM have been established throughout the country, namely 24 in the Peninsular, 27 in Sabah and 18 in Sarawak.
A total of 66 KPSM weighing centres have been fully built throughout the country. The government is also committed to helping smallholders obtain the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification for sustainable palm oil production and increased FFB productivity.
Assistance is also provided to smallholders in the form of MSPO Certification fees, training related to MSPO and provision of personal protective equipment (PPE).
As of July this year, the smallholder oil palm plantation area that has obtained the MSPO certificate amounted to 1,368,350 hectares or 84.33 per cent of the total 1,514,753 hectares of smallholder plantation area nationwide.
In conjunction with the conference, MPOB also gave awards to the three best palm oil smallholders and the three best KPSM in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.
Also present were Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) director-general Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir and MPOB chairman Jugah Muyang @Tambat.
A total 500 smallholders from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sabah are taking part in the conference.
