MARKET DEVELOPMENT
MPOB keeps eyes trained on five priority R&D areas
MPOB keeps eyes trained on five priority R&D areas
13.05.2022 (www.nst.com.my) - KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is focusing on five priority research and development areas to address the issues and current need of the oil palm industry.
MPOB chairman Tuan Jugah Anak Muyang @ Tambat said the areas were yield performance, sustainable development, mechanisation and automation, food safety and nutrition as well as value addition.
"All of these areas are also in line with the five core thrusts of the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030 (DAKN 2030) to accelerate the growth of the palm oil sector," he said at the three-day Programme Advisory Committee (PAC) 2022 meeting.
MPOB director-general Datuk Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir said the PAC 2022 meeting had deliberated on improved planting materials with good field management as the way forward to ensure higher yield.
Ahmad Parveez said the industry needef dwarf palms and Ganoderma resistant materials to address the national average yield which had remained stagnant.
"Advanced biotechnological, breeding and cloning tools will enable the development of superior planting materials which will improve disease resistance, higher oil quality traits, resilient to climate change and most importantly, improve yield.
"There is a need to adopt the best agronomic practices to further improve efficiency and productivity," he said.
On mechanisation and automation, Ahmad Parveez said MPOB would continue with the R&D in projects related to improving tools such as Cantas because harvesting operation was currently the most critical field operations to be mechanised.
"The Mechanisation and Automation Research Consortium of Oil Palm (MARCOP) will focus on finding turn-key technology on oil palm mechanisation either from local or international firms," he said.
On food safety and nutrition, Ahmad Parveez said among the issues that were deliberated upon were the R&D solutions and recommendations to mitigate the 3-monochloro- propanediol esters (3-MCPDE) and glycidyl esters (GE) issues.
He said MPOB had carried out studies and trials and collaborated with technology providers to address the processed contaminants related to 3-MCPDE and GE in palm oil.
"Issues concerning value addition were also deliberated during the PAC 2022 meeting.
"These include the abundant oil palm biomass, palm oil and their derivatives which provide a multitude of feedstocks for the intensification of value creation activities.
"PAC members also think that Klang Valley should be promoted as the 'Silicon Valley' for the inventing and manufacturing of high value added products from oil palm/palm oil to fulfill the needs of domestic and international customers," he added.
The PAC meeting is one of the platforms whereby ideas, innovations and solutions are nurtured to enhance MPOB's R&D endeavours and serve the needs of the oil palm industry.
The PAC, which comprises eminent scientists and experts in the oil palm industry from within and outside Malaysia, prioritises and improves the achievement of oil palm research.