24/4/07 (Business Times)  - KUMPULAN Guthrie Bhd, via its Guthrie Foundation, has established a Guthrie Scholar Programme for post-doctoral fellowships in oil palm research.

The Guthrie Scholar Programme was launched at Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia 2007 by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The research programme is aimed at advancing the knowledge on oil palm and thus, improving the competitive edge of the country as the world's leading oil palm innovator, the company said in a statement.

"Being a leading global CPO producer, Guthrie is very excited to explore all possibilities leading towards the diversification of palm oil uses and supporting advanced fundamental research in oil palm," it added.

Two areas of research have been identified to be offered to further research: Study on Energy Farm concept and Study on Palm Puree from Palm Fruits.

These indicated areas of research will be undertaken with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and Univerisiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) respectively.

"It is Guthrie's hope that the successful outcome of this endeavour will make the Malaysian palm oil industry more competitive and also contribute to the revenue of plantation companies such as our group and the environment," the statement said.

Meanwhile, at the MSAM 2007, Najib also launched Guthrie's new Bi-clonal DxP (Dura and Pisifera) planting materials.

Developed by Guthrie Biotech Laboratory Sdn Bhd in Port Dickson, Negri Sembilan, the planting materials will increase potential yield through the use of top-performing duras and pisiferas in the form of clones, when compared to normal DxP that comes from a combination of many parental palms.

"Production of bi-clonal DxP is less capital intensive when compared to producing pure clones and as such, it can be produced more economically," the company said.