14/03/2024 (Daily Express), Keningau - The Government through the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities (KPK) is actively implementing various programmes with the aim of increasing the income of the oil palm smallholders in the state.

Deputy Minister of Plantations and Commodities, Datuk Chan Foong Hin, said among the Government’s assistance to farmers are the Smallholder Palm Oil Replanting Financing Incentive Scheme (TSPKS), Oil Palm Smallholders Agriculture Input (IPPKS), Crop Integration Scheme (ITa) and Livestock Integration Scheme (ITe).

He said KPK through the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) had prepared the TSPKS 2.0 channeled through Agrobank has set the amount of repayment which is half of the total funds given with a moratorium period of 48 months before the first payment is made in the fifth year.

 “Smallholders need to take advantage of the facilities provided by the Government to increase their income potential through the replanting of old palm trees,” he said during the State Level Financing Incentive Scheme Program for the Replanting of Small Palm Growers (TSPKS 2.0) here on Wednesday.

Chan said, information for the application of TSPKPS 2.0 Financing Incentive Scheme can be obtained from MPOB’s Tunas offices.

The application form for the scheme can be obtained online through the MPOB website or from Agrobank branches, nationwide.

Until January 31, 27 applications for the TSPKS 2.0 scheme were received by Sabah with an area of 125.50 hectares while for the IPPKS scheme, 43 applications have been approved with an area of 197.17 hectares.

“The Government through MPOB has also introduced the ITa incentive scheme in the 11th and 12th Malaysia Plan (11th and 12th MP) aimed at increasing and diversifying the income sources of oil palm independent smallholders (PKP) through the use of land and renewable resources with an optimal short-term crop programme.

“This integration programme involves crops namely banana, corn, watermelon, papaya, pineapple, lemongrass and mushroom. Until January 31, 67.62 hectares of applications have been approved in the state,” he said.

Similarly, he said, the establishment of ITe incentive scheme in the 12th MP have the objective to increase the income of oil palm independent smallholders through livestock.

According to him, 301 integration projects were approved until January 31 consisting of 236 chicken farming projects and 65 duck farming projects for Sabah particularly in Keningau District where a total of 16 projects have been approved.

Chan said, until December 31 last year, the implementation of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification for independent smallholders under the supervision of MPOB saw 162 Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOC) involving 177,355 smallholders with an area of 655,189.62 hectares, being certified.

 “For Sabah, 29 SPOCs have been MSPO-certified involving a total of 21,630 smallholders with an area of 145,399.9 hectares.

“The Government provides incentive funds that include funding for training costs, auditing costs, cost of personal protective equipment and cost of chemical storage shelves to further assist smallholders in implementing MSPO certification,” said Chan.

To ensure the comprehensive implementation of MSPO,he said,  MPOB had established 12 Tunas Offices in Sabah that provide advisory services on oil palm cultivation and technology transfer to smallholders.

There are 31,538 independent smallholders who cultivate oil palm over 203,679.57 hectares in Sabah.

The average area of oil palm plantation for each smallholder is at 6.5 hectares.

He said 69 Sustainable Oil Palm Grower Cooperatives (KPSM) and 69 Weighing Centres (Pusat Timbang) have been established throughout the country as of December 31 last year.

“There are 27 KPSMs located in Sabah with the total membership of 2,769 and 382 are members of KPSM Keningau Sabah Berhad.

“The establishment of KPSM is to unite the smallholders in carrying out economic activities through the good agricultural practices and the sale of palm fruits in groups directly to the factories.

“This initiatives will increase the smallholders’ income through subscription rebates and dividends from cooperative business profits.

“Smallholders also get better price offers for fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and can easily get the latest information related to assistance from the government as well as direct advices from MPOB officials,” he said.

Chan said as of December 31 last year, the total sales of FFB amounted to 450,848 tonnes, covering 69 Weighing Centres throughout Malaysia.

Present was the Director of the MPOB Smallholder Development and Certification Division, Dr. Zaki Aman, Chairman of Keningau Sustainable Oil Palm Growers Cooperative Berhad, Datuk Justin Guka and the smallholders.

https://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news/230552/help-for-oil-palm-smallholders/