30/06/2010 (Daily Express), Tawau - Oil palm ramets produced through the tissue culture process by TSH Biotech Sdn Bhd can double palm oil production from five metric tonnes per hectare currently to 10 metric tonnes as targeted by the government.

Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin said TSH Biotech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of TSH Resources Bhd, was producing the oil palm ramets to help the government in raising the income of smallholders in the oil palm sector.

"The oil palm smallholders also benefit from the success of TSH Biotech.

This is an example of the continuing cooperation between government agencies and the private sector," he told reporters after visiting Wakuba Biotech, a lab facility owned by TSH Biotech, at Wakuba here Tuesday.

He said TSH Biotech had been working closely with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) for the past five years to produce the new oil palm ramets and the company was now the biggest ramet producer in Sabah and Sarawak.

According to Hamzah, the cloned shoots from TSH Biotech's lab can bear fruit in 18 months, a shorter period compared to normal oil palm seedlings.

He said the trees were also shorter compared to normal oil palm trees and could be productive from 28 to 30 years.

Hamzah said another speciality of the oil palm trees that resulted from high technology was that they could help the country to reduce the intake of foreign workers, especially during the harvesting period.

He said with the trees able to produce more than 50 per cent more palm oil, Malaysia also did not need to open new areas for oil palm cultivation.

For this year, TSH Biotech has targeted to produce 500,000 oil palm ramets through the tissue culture process and this will be increased annually up to 1.5 million ramets in 2015.

Since starting operations in 2005, the company has invested RM25 million in the production of the ramets using high technology.

Many planters have been using the ramets and TSH Resources, an oil palm plantation company, will purchase the fruits from them at a price that is 10 per cent higher than the market price, Hamzah said.

"Based on studies, those using the ramets with incentives from TSH Biotech were able to increase their income by RM5,000 annually," he said.

Hamzah called on planters, including smallholders, to register with TSH Biotech so that the company could identify their requirements.

Currently, TSH Biotech is providing job opportunities to about 200 residents, employed as technicians and researchers.-