Friday February 11, 2005 - OIL palm planters can increase their yields toup to five tonnes a hectare annually compared to the current four tonnesby implementing better management practices, said Malaysian Palm OilAssociation (MPOA) chief executive M.R. Chandran.

"This (yield) is achievable through better management practices ofexisting plantations, such as through environment management, labour andeconomic components in order to optimise yields," he said.

He was speaking at a media briefing in conjunction with a Roundtable onSustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) conference, which will be held on CareyIsland, Teluk Panglima Garang, Selangor, from Feb 15 to 19.

He said that optimisation was crucial for the future survival ofMalaysia's palm oil industry as it has to compete with other oil producingcrops such as soya bean and sunflowers, and also from other emerging palmoil markets such as Indonesia.

With knowledge of proper management plantation through existing crop, oilpalm planters could reduce their cost of sale (such as maintenance ofmachineries and other logistics support) by 20% from an average of RM800per tonne.

"Malaysia currently produces 14 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO)annually but with better management, by 2015, with a total area of 4.5million hectares, and average yields of 5 tonnes of CPO per hectare, anannual yield of 20 million tonnes per annum can be achieved," he said. -Bernama