MARKET DEVELOPMENT
RM4.5mil Up For Grabs in Palm Oil Competition
RM4.5mil Up For Grabs in Palm Oil Competition
23/02/2017 (The Star) - Innovative minds from all over the world are invited to compete in the International Competition on Oil Palm Mechanisation (ICOPM).
It carries a grand prize of US$1mil (RM4.46mil). This will be the 100th year special edition of the competition.
This year's competition, which opened yesterday, is held in conjunction with the 100th-year anniversary of the commercialisation of the Malaysian palm oil industry, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong (pic).
“We are doing a series of events to celebrate this and one of these is to find innovations for the industry,” said Mah.
He added that the main purpose of ICOPM is to find innovations for the machines and for field operations in oil palm plantations.
“The invention should be practical and cost-effective.
“If you look now, some are still using manual tools, (so) we want the new tool to be user-friendly and we can increase workers' productivity with it,” he said.
Mah said that finalists would receive grants to develop their prototypes and complete their research.
The finalists must however ensure their prototypes can be used in the oil palm plantations.
Apart from the US$1mil (RM4.46mil) grand prize money, those showing outstanding innovation and creativity can be in the run to win US$130,000 (RM579,440) prize money in three categories.
These categories, he said, are Harvesting Technology; Loose-fruit Collection Technology, and Fresh Fruit Bunch Evacuation Technology.
He said that the organiser of ICOPM – the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) – would set up a panel of experts to judge the entries.
The closing date for entries is May 12. Those wanting more information can visit www.mpob.gov.my.
Mah said the ministry had also presented the performance of the commodity industry for the year 2016 to the Cabinet.
He said commodities were the country’s biggest net export last year at RM91bil.
“The commodity industry is important to the country's economy and we want to increase its productivity,” he said.
Mah added that the commodity industry's export figure in 2016 was at RM122bil, a RM5bil increase from RM117bil in 2015
“Today the Cabinet has directed the ministry to find new countries to sell our commodities. We don't want to depend on just one or two countries,” he said.
It carries a grand prize of US$1mil (RM4.46mil). This will be the 100th year special edition of the competition.
This year's competition, which opened yesterday, is held in conjunction with the 100th-year anniversary of the commercialisation of the Malaysian palm oil industry, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong (pic).
“We are doing a series of events to celebrate this and one of these is to find innovations for the industry,” said Mah.
He added that the main purpose of ICOPM is to find innovations for the machines and for field operations in oil palm plantations.
“The invention should be practical and cost-effective.
“If you look now, some are still using manual tools, (so) we want the new tool to be user-friendly and we can increase workers' productivity with it,” he said.
Mah said that finalists would receive grants to develop their prototypes and complete their research.
The finalists must however ensure their prototypes can be used in the oil palm plantations.
Apart from the US$1mil (RM4.46mil) grand prize money, those showing outstanding innovation and creativity can be in the run to win US$130,000 (RM579,440) prize money in three categories.
These categories, he said, are Harvesting Technology; Loose-fruit Collection Technology, and Fresh Fruit Bunch Evacuation Technology.
He said that the organiser of ICOPM – the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) – would set up a panel of experts to judge the entries.
The closing date for entries is May 12. Those wanting more information can visit www.mpob.gov.my.
Mah said the ministry had also presented the performance of the commodity industry for the year 2016 to the Cabinet.
He said commodities were the country’s biggest net export last year at RM91bil.
“The commodity industry is important to the country's economy and we want to increase its productivity,” he said.
Mah added that the commodity industry's export figure in 2016 was at RM122bil, a RM5bil increase from RM117bil in 2015
“Today the Cabinet has directed the ministry to find new countries to sell our commodities. We don't want to depend on just one or two countries,” he said.