8/4/2004 - THE Government is targeting a fresh fruit bunch (FFB) yieldof 35 tonnes per ha a year for the palm oil industry.It also wants to increase the oil extraction rate (OER) to 25 per cent.

Currently, the average FFB yield is 19 tonnes per ha a year, while the OERhovers around 20 per cent.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Parliamentary Secretary Ng Lip Yongsaid this can be done by improving productivity, capitalising onMalaysia's edge in palm oil research and development (R and D) andlowering production costs through automation.

Malaysia is the world's biggest producer of palm oil, accounting over halfof the world's output. It produced 13.3 million tonnes of palm oil lastyear, of which 12.2 million tonnes were exported to about 140 countries,earning an export revenue of RM27 billion.

Ng said currently, the OER is low due to indiscriminate plucking of unripefruit bunches.

"This is especially prevalent when palm oil prices are good," he said.

As a result, the Malaysia Palm Oil Association (MPOA) is working withfactories to reject young fruit bunches, he add.

Palm oil mills had been warned by the MPOA that they would breach theiroperating licence if they took in under-ripe fruit bunches.

He said other problems facing the industry today include the lack of land,high labour costs and shortage of plantation managers.