07/06/2011 (Bernama) - The oil palm sector's contribution to the Gross National Income (GNI) is poised to hit the RM178 billion mark by 2020.

In disclosing this on Monday, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said this represented a marked increase of RM125 billion compared to the 2009 contribution of RM52.7 billion.

To realise this, he said eight Entry Point Projects (EPPs) had been identified and these include the replanting of old oil palm trees with high yielding oil palm, improving fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yield through improved agronomic practices, increasing workers productivity through improved techniques and increasing the oil extraction rate (OER) at palm oil mills.

Dompok said among the measures to be taken to implement the EPPs were the provision of replanting grants to smallholders, the setting up of Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOC), stationing Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) enforcement officers at palm oil mills and implementing a Code of Practices at mills to improve the OER.

"All these actions are geared toward increasing productivity," he said when opening the National Seminar on Biogas and Palm Oil Mill Effluent Treatment, here.

Also present were State Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan and MPOB chairman, Datuk Seri Utama Shahrir Abdul Samad.

He said the ministry had targeted the national FFB yield per hectare to increase from 18.03 tonnes per hectare per year in 2010 to 26 tonnes per hectare per year by 2020.

"As for the mills, the target is to increase the OER from 20.45 per cent in 2010 to 23 per cent in 2020. Under the EPP, all mills are targeted to trap biogas from palm oil mill effluent by 2020.

"If all these productivity measures are successfully implemented, they are expected to contribute an additional RM33.1 billion to the GNI," he said.

Dompok said virtually all mills had responded to MPOB's survey on palm oil mill effluent (POME) and biogas in November last year and there were now 38 mills with biogas trapping facilities and 34 under construction.

"Another 47 mills are planning to have biogas trapping facilities at various stages until 2020. Within the industry, Felda has made a serious and extensive commitment on biogas trapping," he added.

He said Felda is expected to have a total of 59 biogas plants implemented throughout the country by 2015 and a number of these would be connected to the national grid.

In this respect, Dompok urged other larger plantation companies to emulate Felda.