7/22/2004 BUSINESS TIMES - GOLDEN Hope Plantations Bhd recently launched anew oil palm planting material that may further boost the company's palmoil production.

It said the new GH 500 Series planting material has a potential freshfruit bunch (FFB) yield of more than 40 tonnes per hectare a year with anoil content of 31 per cent. The new material is produced by crossingselected elite Deli Dura mother palms with second generation BM119Pisifera father palms.

It will contribute significantly towards realising the national productiontarget of 35 tonnes FFB per hectare per year and 25 per cent oilextraction rate, Golden Hope said in a statement.

The company initiated oil palm tissue culture in 1979 through a jointventure with Pamol Plantations. In 1986, abnormalities in inflorescencesand bunches were detected and the joint- venture project was terminated in1989. Golden Hope, which strongly believes biotechnology is the technologyfor the future, resumed work on biotechnology in 1993. A new biotechnologylaboratory with an annual production capacity of 100,000 ramets is beingconstructed and is scheduled to begin operations in June next year.