My Oil Palm 5 year After Planting

This is how my 6 years old oil palm look like. Production start to increase unfortunately the inputs price also increased.

17 Months After Field Planting

This is how my AAR seedling look like after 17 months of field planting. The problem now is the cost of inputs has increased 100%. 

Malaysia to help palm sector with new biodiesel blend rules

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 — Malaysia is set to impose a requirement for biodiesel to use 7 per cent palm oil, up from 5 per cent now, as a way of whittling down palm oil stocks and cushioning prices in the face of growing competition from other edible oils. Industry and government officials in the world’s second-biggest palm oil producer said the “B7” biodiesel blend could be mandatory from December as talks with interested parties were nearing a conclusion. “It’s targeted that B7 will be implemented in December. Once we switch to B7, there will be one grade – B7, not B5,” an official with the Malaysian Biodiesel Association with direct knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. - See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/money/article/malaysia-to-help-palm-sector-with-new-biodiesel-blend-rules#sthash.S5dENcSS.dpuf

Government wants small-scale oil palm farmers to thrive

SARIKEI: The government is very protective of the oil palm industry as it currently represents the lion’s share of the nation’s agriculture sector, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah.

Launching Koperasi Penanaman Sawit Mampan (KPSM) Sarikei at Bintangor Community Hall near here yesterday, he said about 70 per cent of agriculture land in the country is presently planted with oil palm.

Of these planted areas, 40 per cent are developed on a small scale basis either individually by the landowners themselves or through programmes implemented by agencies such as the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), he said.

“This shows that small-scale farmers form a major component of the industry.

“Hence, the government, through MPOB, had been coming up with programmes to help these farmers to thrive and to contribute towards the country’s gross domestic productions (GDP).”

Uggah said the formation of cooperatives would enable small-scale oil palm farmers to enjoy various benefits, such as getting reasonable prices for their produce through the provision of logistic and proper marketing facilities.

Citing statistics from MPOB, he said the price offered by cooperatives was about 20 per cent higher than middleman’s.

In addition, cooperatives could help members reduce production cost through the supply of cheaper fertilisers, pesticide and weed killer.

Cooperatives could also facilitate the disbursement of government assistance, to teach farmers the proper way of applying fertilisers, educate them about good harvesting methods and good agriculture practices (GAP).

All these were done in line with the government’s recognition of the oil palm industry as a National Key Economic Area (NKEA) that is targeted to contribute RM178 billion to the nation’s GDP by 2020, he said.

Uggah said MPOB had sent 59 extension officers (TUNAS) to nine of its branch offices and two research stations in the state to help out, and this initiative has borne positive results in the form of higher yield.

Some participants had been able to reap an average of 30 tonnes per hectare (ha). In fact, at present, 53 small-scale oil palm farmers with a total of 352 ha of oil palm had attained the 30 tonnes per ha mark, and thus belonged to the ‘MPOB 30 Tonnes Club’.

On incentives, Uggah said the government encouraged farmers to cut down trees that are more than 25 years old and plant high-quality seedlings in its place.

The government allocated RM902 million for the 2011 to 2013 period for this oil palm replanting programme.

Under this programme, farmers were given a subsidy of RM9,000 per ha in the form of quality seedlings, other assistance and RM500 monthly maintenance subsidy for a period of two years.

For new comers, the government also extended a RM9,000 per ha assistance, he said, adding that by last month, a total of 19,392 applicants involving 48,266 ha had been approved to participate in the programme.

On  KPSM, Uggah said 27 units had been set up across the country, comprising 13 in the peninsula, six in Sabah and eight in Sarawak.

Also present were MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May and Palm Oil and Sago Industries Section secretary Aknan Ehtook.

Read more: http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/11/10/uggah-govt-wants-small-scale-oil-palm-farmers-to-thrive/#ixzz2kCMFgRJF

Oil Palm Price Update

KUALA LUMPUR: Crude palm oil (CPO) futures continued its rally to close at the highest level so far this year, lifted by persistent buying interest on output concerns.

Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd Derivative Product Specialist David Ng said the expectation of lower production in October, coupled with stronger demand stemming from China, sparked interests among buyers.

Spot month November 2013 rose RM35 to RM2,620 a tonne, December 2013 was RM48 higher at RM2,605, January 2014 climbed RM51 to RM2,598 and February 2014 improved RM49 to RM2,591.

Volume fell to 33,954 lots from 49,517 lots on Wednesday, while open interest narrowed to 180,673 contracts against 195,693 contracts.

Read more: CPO futures rally continues http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/oct31cpo/Article/#ixzz2jXcRH7Pp