KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 Asia Pulse - Kulim (Malaysia) Berhad has teamed upwith TopPlant Laboratories Sdn Bhd (TopPlant) to produce high-yielding oil palm clones by plant tissue culture technology.

Under the agreement signed on Monday, KMB will take a 60 per cent stake inthe joint venture company, known as Kulim TopPlant Sdn Bhd, while TopPlant will hold the balance of 40 per cent.

The authorized share capital of the joint venture is RM10 million (US$2.6million) and the paid up capital is RM5 million, the major plantation firm said in a statement.

KMB will begin the construction of a purpose-built tissue culture production laboratory at Kulim Agrotech Centre at Kota Tinggi Johor at acost of RM6.3 million to be leased to the joint venture company.

KMB said that during the last 10 years, it has achieved yields that are among the highest in the industry.

However for sustainable long term value addition and productivity, a quantum leap in yield is critical. Planting of high-yielding tissue cultured clones is a strategic move to achieve that objective, it said.

KMB said there there are sufficient scientific data to show that tissue cultured high yielding clones increases fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield by30-40 per cent and oil extraction ratio (OER) by 2-3 per cent.

The overall yield could be 9-11 metric tons of palm oil per hectare ascompared to current seedling materials (yielding 6-8 metric tons of palmoil per hectare).

KMB said it has an on-going oil palm breeding programme which has yielded a significant number of very superior high-yielding palms which are among the industry's best.

These palms are immediately available for cloning by the joint venturefirm.

KMB's continual effort in plant breeding would ensure the availability ofnew improved palms to support the joint venture company's future expansion in production.

TopPlant Laboratories, which has been producing tissue cultured plants for 17 years, currently exports its products to the US, Holland and Australia.

To cater for the need of the joint venture company before the completion of KMB's facilities, TopPlant will expand its facilities by 30 per cent.The expansion is expected to be completed in 6 months.

ASIA PULSE