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
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