Tuesday, May 28, 2013

NKEA SMALLHOLDER RUBBER AND OIL PALM PLANTING

The eradication of rural poverty is a priority goal of the Government.  To raise rural incomes above the poverty line, the Government is relying on the development of smallholder rubber and oil palm planting as a major strategy. 

To achieve the income objective, each smallholder will need to manage at least four hectares of either rubber or oil palm crop.  In this connection, the Federal government has agreed to provide the necessary funding under the National Key Economic Area (NKEA) initiative.


Planting oil palm on peatland. The Star

PLANTING oil palm on peatland has been a heavily debatable topic among oil palm planters and Western NGOs for quite some time but this issue is set to excalate to new levels this year.

Oil palm planters in Indonesia and Malaysia, primarily in Sarawak, are now challenged by a new criterion set by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) under its principles and criteria that prohibit its members (plantation companies/growers) to set up new oil palm plantations on peatland in order to obtain the RSPO certification.

A mechanism, the GHG calculator, has been put in place by the RSPO to gauge the amount of carbon emissions emitted from the “peatland” estates of the specific plantation company designed for the involved planters to “repay their carbon debt”.

Meanwhile, the world's largest crude palm oil (CPO) producer, Indonesia, is expected to extend its two-year moratorium (which expires on May 20) to halt the commercial use of a total 65.2 million ha of its primary forests and peatland in an attempt to curtail deforestation and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Given the two scenarios, how will oil palm planters and even smallholders heavily involved with cultivation on peat soil fare under such depressing circumstances?

For Sarawak-based oil palm planters, many claim that they have been fighting a lonely battle on this issue without the full support of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association and government agencies.

They maintain that imposing a moratorium on planting oil palm on peat soil was economically and socially unacceptable especially to the rural community.

So far, 400,000ha of peat soil in the state had been planted with oil palm and these small holdings and plantations provide employment for 40,000 people.

In fact, oil palm cultivation in Sarawak currently accounts for over 1.2 million ha of arable land and has proven to be productive in optimising use of designated agriculture areas.

One could not simply wipe out plantations with over 25 years of oil palm cultivation in peat areas in Sarawak as these estates had proven to be as productive as those planted on mineral soil, said Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association.

Furthermore, Sarawak planters have the Tropical Peat Research Laboratory Unit to thank for successfully turning the once unproductive virgin peatland into valuable palm oil plantation (resource) for the state.

The unit spearheaded by its director Dr Lulie Melling had dispelled the myth that palm oil yield was low when cultivated on peat soil. In fact, oil palm plantation on peatland can yield 25 tonnes of CPO per ha given proper management when compared with the yield from mineral soil of about 18 tonnes per ha.

Presently, some 400,000ha of peatland in the state has been planted with the golden cash crop.

Lulie had said it was hypocritical of Western NGOs to criticise Sarawak's utilisation of peatland for oil palm when the UK had already deforested 80% of its forests and the Netherland's about 175,000ha of peat soil had shrunk to only 5,000 ha.

Deputy news editor Hanim Adnan is most puzzled by the different stand taken by diferent states in Malaysia over the issue on the cultivation of oil palm on peatland.

MPOB e-registration

e-registration is a website for MPOB licensees to register their daily palm oil trade contracts with MPOB from anywhere at anytime 24 hours a day. 

e-registration is user-friendly and provides valuable real-time daily and monthly palm oil price information for the benefit of the industry.

For further information on MPOB e-registration, please call 03-78022927/2929/2930 or email us at din@mpob.gov.my orjariah@mpob.gov.my orloo@mpob.gov.my.

Friday, May 24, 2013

Winner of Best Oil Palm Smallholder Award uses MPOB F1

February 5th, 2011                         
by  Azran Jaffar    
 
This article has been translated and condensed from the original news article written in Bahasa Malaysia  foundhere in www.bharian.com.my .

 

Abdul Wahab Ismail began to clear his land of eight acres (about 3.2 hectares) in year 2000 to plant oil palm after taking the advice of the General Manager of PPK Bentong, Pahang.  He was 60 years old then.

 

After two years of planting, the efforts of Abdul Wahab began to show some results.  However, the yield of the oil palm trees was not as high as expected.  Abdul Wahab related that he had a lack of knowledge in oil palm management especially in the area of oil palm nutrition.  He merely followed his friends’ advice in making fertilizer purchase decisions.  There was once he even went all the way to Dungun, Terengganu, to buy the fertilizer recommended by his friend.

 

In year 2005, he met with a TUNAS Officer from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), Engku Norsupian Ardi Engku Nordin, who advised him on the best practices of oil palm management in field management and oil palm nutrition.

 

Upon receiving the advice of Engku Norsupian Ardi to use the fertilizer developed by MPOB, Abdul Wahab began to use MPOB F1 compound fertilizer in his field.  He applied the compound fertilizer around the palm circles at the frequency of three times a year.  The dosage for each round of application was at the rate of 2.5 kg of MPOB F1 compound fertilizer per palm.

 

“When he came to visit my field, the palm fronds were yellowing due to irregular field maintenance.  After following his advice, the health of the palm trees began to improve.  Thereafter the palm trees produced more yield which gave me a significant increase in income,” Abdul Wahab said.

 

In 2005, his field produced 24 tons of fresh fruit bunch per hectare year.  It increased to 25 tons in 2006, 27 tons in 2007, 33 tons in 2008 and up to 37 tons in 2009.

 

Abdul Wahab recently received the Best Oil Palm Smallholder Award (Peninsular Malaysia) at the Oil Palm Industry Award 2009/2010, based on his outstanding achievement.

 

Besides his oil palm field,  Abdul Wahab who is now 70 years old, manages a 22-acre plot of rubber trees, a 6-acre fruit trees orchard and a general goods store together with his family and some workers.  

 

He is now enjoying the fruit of his labour and hopes to pass down his knowledge to his children.  He also acknowledges the help of the TUNAS officer from MPOB who has helped him to achieve this success.

 


Monday, May 13, 2013

Palm oil hit 1-week high

SINGAPORE: Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a one-week high on Wednesday, pulling away from near five-month lows plumbed earlier in the week, as investors eyed a potential fall in stocks in the world’s second-largest producer of the edible oil.

Malaysia’s April palm oil stocks likely fell 6.1 per cent to 2.04 million tonnes, with domestic consumption and exports outstripping a rise in output, a Reuters survey of five plantation companies showed.

Industry regulator the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) will release official data stocks and output on Friday.

"The market is a bit bullish on the coming MPOB stocks data.
On the physical side, there is some tightness in terms of cargoes for nearby months and people have come to notice this tightness," said a Singapore-based trader with a global commodities house.



The benchmark July contract on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange rose 1.3 per cent to close at RM2,290 per tonne, slightly below the intraday high at RM2,294, a level last seen on April 30.

Total traded volumes were thin at 23,202 lots of 25 tonnes each, compared to an average of 35,000 lots.

Technicals were bullish with Malaysian palm oil expected to test resistance at RM2,295 per tonne, a break above which will lead to a further gain to RM2,335, said Reuters market analyst Wang Tao.

Traders will also be looking for an improvement in Malaysia’s palm oil exports data for May 1-10 due on Friday, after cargo surveyors reported slowing exports in April.

Shares of Wilmar International Ltd rose as much as three per cent in early trade on Wednesday after the Singapore palm oil firm posted a 23 per cent rise in first-quarter net profit, largely due to a recovery in its oilseeds and grains segment.

In other markets, oil steadied above US$104 a barrel after a rise in crude imports by the world’s No.2 consumer, China, though concerns about global demand kept a lid on prices.

In vegetable oil markets, US soyoil for July delivery gained 0.2 per cent in late Asian trade. The most-active September soybean oil contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange edged up 0.3 per cent.-- Reuters

Read more: Palm oil hit 1-week high http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20130508135904/Article/index_html#ixzz2TDa26Tzy

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Harga turun kepada RM377 setan

Harga kelapa sawit setan sebanyak RM377 menyebabkan kurangnya keyakinan untuk membelanjakan wang bagi penyelenggaraan ladang.







Friday, May 3, 2013

13 months after field planting

The most difficult task is maintaining the palm and weeding. The palm inputs getting more expensive. The price of compound fertiliser goes up to RM110 per 50 kg.







Thursday, May 2, 2013

Palm Oil Retreats as Drop in Crude Reduces Appeal of Biofuels

Palm oil fell to the lowest level in more than a week as crude oil declined, reducing the appeal of vegetable oils as feedstock for biofuels.

The contract for July delivery fell as much as 1.2 percent to 2,258 ringgit ($740) a metric ton on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, the lowest price for most-active futures since April 23, and ended the morning session at 2,268 ringgit. Futures declined 3.9 percent in April.

West Texas Intermediate crude traded near the lowest level in more than a week after government data showed U.S. stockpiles climbed to the highest in 82 years. A record 5.6 million tons of palm oil was used for fuel in 2012, according to Oil World, a Hamburg-based research company.

“Crude oil weakened quite substantially and that will affect biodiesel demand for palm oil,” said Alan Lim Seong Chun, an analyst at Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd. Futures also declined after soybean and soybean oil prices fell, he said.

“Because these two products are usually used as substitutes, cheaper soybean oil may not bode well for price outlook for crude palm oil,” Lim said.

Soybeans for July delivery were little changed at $13.7325 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, after declining 1.9 percent yesterday. Soybean oil was at 48.79 cents a pound from 48.85 cents yesterday. Soybean oil’s premium over palm was at $333.26 a ton today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Refined palm oil for September delivery retreated as much as 2.1 percent to 5,826 yuan ($947) a ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the lowest price for the most-active contract since October 2009. Soybean oil fell 1.5 percent to 7,194 yuan a ton, poised for the lowest close since February 2010.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ranjeetha Pakiam in Kuala Lumpur at rpakiam@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net



Source : Bloomberg

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