8/8/06 (MIRI)  - Oil palm smallholders in Sarawak are advised to be on alert for the emergence of a new disease - Basal Stem Rot (BSR) - caused by a fungus called genoderma.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and Malaysia Agriculture Research Development Institute (Mardi) are in the forefront against prevention of the disease. No cure is in sight for the infected trees.

Malaysia Minister of Plantation Enterprises and Commodities, Datuk Peter Chin, said smallholders in the southern region near the Malaysia-Indonesia border and a sizeable amount in the northern area have been affected.

The disease is suspected to have been caused by a mixed variety of palms from Indonesia - susceptible to infection - growing in peat soil that is conducive to the genoderma.