Headway in palm oil research

ENSURING BEST YIELD: MPOB releases Elaeis guineensis genome map, which will have major implication on enhancing future output and ensuring sustainability

THE Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has released the oil palm genome map, which is set to have major implications on en-hancing future production and sus-tainability of the palm oil industry.

The oil palm genome, in layman terms, allows scientists to weed out negative elements of a oil palm tree even before it is planted and is in seed form. 

The country's palm oil regulator and watchdog agency said the maps were published in two landmark Malaysian-led scientific research papers on Wednesday.

The papers were published online ahead of the publication of "Nature", an influential scientific journal.

The papers also identified a single gene that is critical for palm oil yield.

The publication of back-to-back studies in a single edition of the respected journal is an unprecedented milestone for Malaysian scientists.

Commenting on the breakthrough, MPOB director-general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May said as the second largest producer of palm oil in the world, Malaysia has a responsibility to make advancements that will improve the sustainability of oil palm agriculture while improving yields for small and large growers alike.

"The mapping of the oil palm genome will pave the way for many more breakthroughs and help meet the increasing global demand for food and biofuels worldwide, while simultaneously helping to preserve the rainforest," she said.

Conducted in collaboration with the US-based Orion Genomics, the research reports on the Elaeis guineensis (E.guineensis) genome sequence tallies nearly 35,000 genes, including the full set of oil biosynthesis genes and other gene regulators, which are highly expressed in the oil-rich palm fruit.

E.guineensis, which originates from Africa, is the commercial oil palm planted in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. 

In addition, the research team has also created a draft sequence of the South American oil palm, Elaeis oleifera, which should lead to further advances in palm oil productivity.

According to joint first authors Dr Rajinder Singh, Dr Meilina Ong Abdullah and Dr Leslie Low of MPOB's advanced biotechnology and breeding centre, this discovery may help balance the competing interests of meeting increasing worldwide demand for edible oil and biofuels on the one hand and of rainforest conservation on the other.

Oil palm genomes are a rich resource for palm breeders, geneticists and evolutionary biologists alike and will facilitate future identification of genes responsible for important yield and quality traits, such as fruit colour, disease resistance and height," said joint corresponding author Dr Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi, head of MPOB's oil palm genome programme and director of the advanced biotechnology & breeding centre.

The investigators relied on MPOB's germplasm collection of more than 100,000 palms, gathered from Africa and South America over five decades, along with carefully designed genetic crosses to identify the gene and its two mutations.

Read more: Headway in palm oil research http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/NOMTRU/Article/#ixzz2dGSVomPg

Review Sales Tax Due to Rising Cost of Production

KUCHING (Aug 14): The Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (SOPPOA) has called on the government to review the sales tax structure for palm oil industry in the state in view of the current soft prices for crude palm oil (CPO) internationally and rising cost of production. 

 

In a statement today, SOPPOA said the proposed revision was expected to have minimal impact on state revenue but instead will be compensated by the crop's higher productivity. 

 

"In adopting these changes to the sales tax structure will also allow many companies to bridge the difficult financial situation they are currently facing and will result in a win-win situation for the state and nation," it said.

 

SOPPOA said the crop was often cited as the golden crop for Malaysia for its contributions to the economy, jobs creation and food for the people.  

 

It said in Sarawak, the oil palm industry contributed over RM425 million in sales tax to the state last year but the current soft CPO prices were affecting the industry, which did not foresee price recovery in the next six months.

 

Of the 1.1 million hectares (ha) of oil palm planted in the state, over 50 per cent are eight years or younger and this high percentage of young growing palms as well as rising production cost and logistical issues, affect the industry as a whole. 

 

When the Sarawak sales tax was implemented in 1998, the direct cost of production was RM2,170 per ha compared with the current cost of RM6,220 per ha, an increase by 187 per cent over the same period.

 

The increase was brought about mostly by inflation, fertilizers, wages and diesel costs.

 

With the current price of CPO dipping below RM2,400 per metric tonne, many plantation companies in Sarawak are paying taxes despite incurring losses. Many are also paying sales tax funding by bank borrowings, thereby increasing their financial burden, cost of production and also lengthening the payback period.

 

"As such, planters are requesting that no sales tax be imposed when the CPO price is below RM2,400 per metric tonne to offset losses incurred due to the current high cost of production," it said, adding that the federal government even recognised that Sarawak had average low yield and young planted areas by imposing the threshold for windfall profit tax at RM 3,000 per metric tonne for the state. 

 

Sarawak, a latecomer, has a total planted area equal to only 21 per cent of total planted area in the country, compared to 50 per cent in Peninsular Malaysia at present.

 

Many of the estates, due to the state's late entry into the industry, produce less as the area of harvest is smaller and young palm trees produce less. 

 

Sarawak's average yield for January-June this year was only 6.6 tonnes per ha compared with 8.2 tonnes per ha in the peninsula and 9.8 tonnes per ha in Sabah.

 

However, investments to develop young palms are high, especially in terms of fertilizer costs. 

 

In terms of CPO production, Sarawak also falls behind that of Sabah's and the peninsula with the average CPO yield in Sarawak at 1.35 tonnes per ha during the same period of 2013 as compared to 1.63 and 2.05 tonnes per ha for Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, respectively.

The Star & Bernama

Palmex Sarawak 2013 20-22 Aug 2013 Miri Indoor Stadium, Sarawak, Malaysia

Palmex Sarawak 2013
20-22 Aug 2013
Miri Indoor Stadium, Sarawak, Malaysia

PALMEX SARAWAK 2013 is the industry event for both upstream and downstream palm oil companiesin the region. This international event is projected to bring together in 2013, more than 5,000 industry professionals to visit the strategic, operational and technology aspects of the Sarawak and Asean’s palm oil industry. The international character of Palmex 2013 presents unparalleled marketing, education and networking opportunities, expand your market presence and penetrate emerging market in Sarawak, Malaysia.

When the price drop, it is hard to maintaince

When the price drop to below RM400, it is very tough to maintaince the 10 hectares of Oil Palm.

MPOB unlocks oil palm genome

Malaysia-led scientists made a breakthrough with the release of the oil palm genome and discovery of a single gene, called Shell, that will raise palm oil yields towards enhancing the future production and sustainability of the palm oil industry. 

Director-general of The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May said the mapping of the oil palm genome would pave the way for many more breakthroughs and helped meet the increasing global demand for food and biofuels while simultaneously preserving the rainforest. 

"As the second largest producer of palm oil in the world, Malaysia has the responsibility to make advancements that will improve the sustainability of oil palm agriculture while improving yields for both small and large growers," she said in a statement today. 

On the Shell gene, she said it was responsible for three known shell forms: Dura (thick), Pisifera (shell-less) and Tenera (thin). 

Tenera palms provide the optimum productivity which results in 30 per cent more oil per land area than Dura palms. 

"With the discovery of the Shell gene, seed producers can now use the Shell gene marker to distinguish the three fruit forms in the nursery long before they are field planted, thus enabling significantly enhanced breeding operations. 

"Currently, it can take six years to identify whether an oil palm plantlet is of the desired shell form," she said. 

MPOB released the oil palm genome map in two landmark, Malaysian-led scientific research papers that will pave way for major implications to meet the increasing global demand. 

The papers, published online on July 24, 2013 ahead of print in Nature, the influential scientific journal, mapped the genome sequence of oil palm and identified Shell critical for palm oil yield. 

The publication of two back-to-back studies in a single edition of this highly respected journal is an unprecedented milestone for Malaysian scientists. 

According to joint corresponding author Dr Ravigadevi Sambanthamurthi, head of the MPOB’s Oil Palm Genome Programme, the Shell marker would also be an important quality control tool in commercial seed production as up to 10 per cent of the plants may be the low-yielding Dura form, due to uncontrollable wind 
and insect pollination. 

Conducted in collaboration with US-based Orion Genomics, the research reported on the Elaeis guineensis genome sequence and tallies nearly 35,000 genes, including the full set of oil biosynthesis genes and other gene regulators, that are highly expressed in the oil-rich palm fruit. 

Elaeis guineensis, which originates in Africa, is the commercial oil palm planted in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. 

Accurate selection for palms with enhanced oil yields will optimise production and help stabilise the acreage devoted to oil palm plantations to provide an opportunity for the conservation of rainforest reserves, the research said.-- Bernama

Read more: MPOB unlocks oil palm genome http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20130725163441/Article/#ixzz2aAQoM7wy

Thai Palm Oil Exports Seen Rising by Oil World as Output Expands By Whitney McFerron July 09, 2013 9:30 AM EDT

Thailand, the world’s third-largest palm oilproducer, may boost exports to a record this year as output increases, Oil World said.

Thailand may export as much as 450,000 metric tons of palm oil, up from 304,000 tons a year earlier, the Hamburg-based researcher said today in an e-mailed report. Shipments totaled 227,000 tons from January through May, up 24 percent from the same time in 2012. While production may “slightly exceed” 1.7 million tons, some analysts’ estimates are as high as 2 million tons, Oil World said. Production five years ago was 1.3 million tons.

“Latest export data confirm a pronounced further uptrend of palm oil production in Thailand, owing to a larger mature area and higher yields,” Oil World said. The European Union “still was the largest destination, but in particular demand from India increased sharply in recent months.”

Palm oil futures are down 1.7 percent this year on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, after declining 23 percent in 2012 on rising output in Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s top producers.

U.S. palm oil imports were a record 145,000 tons in May, up from 59,000 tons in the same month a year earlier, Oil World said. Purchases in the first five months of the year were 575,000 tons, up 46 percent from the same period in 2012. Total net imports of 17 oils and fats in the U.S. were 223,000 tons in May, more than four times higher than last year, according to the report.

15 Months After Field Planting

This is how my palm look like after 15 months of field planting.  It is quite challenging to maintain the palm with the price of FFB of less than RM450 per MT.

The price of inputs has gone up and difficulty of getting workers.