MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Ministry Offers US$1 Million For Best Innovative Mechanisation Proposal In Oil Palm Industry
Ministry Offers US$1 Million For Best Innovative Mechanisation Proposal In Oil Palm Industry
10/06/2015 (Bernama) - The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities, via Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), is dangling a cash prize of US$1 million for the most innovative mechanisation proposal for the oil palm industry.
Its minister, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, said the International Competition on Oil Palm Mechanisation (ICOPM), organised by MBOP, upped the cash prize to US$1 million in its second edition (ICOPM II) from RM1 million last year to draw more participants from the private sector, universities and research institutions worldwide.
He said the competition was part of the ministry's monitoring efforts to increase mechanisation level, especially in the area of harvesting that depended on foreign labour.
"We need to elevate the mechanisation level to break away from our dependency on manual labour, particularly foreign labour.
"It is heartening to see many palm oil plantations adopting and using the numerous inventions of MPOB such as the Cantas, Grabber, Beluga and Rhyno in their operations as part of the solution to address labour-related issues," he said at the launch of MPOB Transfer of Technology Seminar 2015 here today.
The ICOPM II, which kicked off today until Nov 30, is divided into five categories -- harvesting technology, loose fruit collection technology, fresh fruit bunches evacuation technology, crop care technology and integrated technology.
Its minister, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, said the International Competition on Oil Palm Mechanisation (ICOPM), organised by MBOP, upped the cash prize to US$1 million in its second edition (ICOPM II) from RM1 million last year to draw more participants from the private sector, universities and research institutions worldwide.
He said the competition was part of the ministry's monitoring efforts to increase mechanisation level, especially in the area of harvesting that depended on foreign labour.
"We need to elevate the mechanisation level to break away from our dependency on manual labour, particularly foreign labour.
"It is heartening to see many palm oil plantations adopting and using the numerous inventions of MPOB such as the Cantas, Grabber, Beluga and Rhyno in their operations as part of the solution to address labour-related issues," he said at the launch of MPOB Transfer of Technology Seminar 2015 here today.
The ICOPM II, which kicked off today until Nov 30, is divided into five categories -- harvesting technology, loose fruit collection technology, fresh fruit bunches evacuation technology, crop care technology and integrated technology.