MELAKA: The Sustainable Oil Palm Growers Cooperatives (KPSM) under the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) are urged to play a proactive role so that abandoned palm plantations can be developed through replanting projects in an effort to increase the nation's palm oil production.
Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said there are around 1.7 million hectares of oil palm plantations that are over 19 years old in the country and if not dealt with immediately it will have a significant impact on the country's palm oil production and export.
"It is understood that the country's palm oil production over the past 10 years has decreased from 19.6 million tonnes to 18.5 million tonnes and one of the reasons is that we are not replanting according to the set standard which is to do at least four or five per cent replanting but only 1.8 per cent per year.
"Because this situation has left Malaysia behind, hence we want the cooperatives created under MPOB to play a role by meeting and discussing with smallholders who are no longer interested in replanting so that they can handle the replanting and the government will provide assistance for this effort," he told the media after officiating at the 2024 National Oil Palm Smallholder Conference in Banda Hilir here today.
The conference was also attended by MPOB chairman Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha and MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir.
He added that applications for a total of 5,900 hectares of oil palm replanting have been received so far and his ministry is targeting around 9,000 hectares of abandoned plantations so that replanting can be done by next year.
"We will also apply through the Ministry of Finance to replant the 9,000 hectares in order to ensure that our palm oil production does not decrease considering that it is the country's main export with a value of over RM100 billion.
He said the ministry will also ensure the replanting through a sustainable process that needs to be practised by a total of 442,000 smallholders who cultivate around 1.5 million hectares of the country's oil palm area in an effort to penetrate new markets such as Africa, the Middle East and India.