16/12/2011 (The Star) -  Felda Global Group's research and development arm, Felda Agriculture Services Sdn Bhd has made a major breakthrough with the creation of the world's first marker for identifying oil palm susceptible to the ganoderma disease.

The ganoderma fungal invasion is one of the most serious biological threats and a concern to the oil palm industry. It causes the basal stem rot in oil palm trees, threathening the life-span of the plant and significantly affecting both fruit quality and yield.

Felda president Datuk Sabri Ahmad said, generally, 30% to 70% of oil palm trees were lost due to the disease, causing major impact on planting resources and revenue.

With a total oil palm area of 4.85 million hectares, the disease threatens the sustainability of the industry in Malaysia and could affect national revenue from palm oil which is estimated at RM70bil a year, he added.

Sabri told a press conference at Felda Biotechnology Centre here that the ganoderma molecular marker system was the initial step towards preventing the onset of the disease.

“We are using a 6ha at our research station in Ulu Belitong to screen oil palm genetic material for tolerance to ganoderma,” he added.

Felda expects the marker to screen pedigrees and this would allow it to produce ganoderma-resistant materials.

“The approach can see the production of ganoderma-tolerant seeds and clones within the next three to five years,” Sabri said.

For the past three years, Felda Global had spent about RM4mil on ganoderma disease research.

“The disease used to attack old palm oil trees, though in recent years, it had been attacking young palm oil trees and shortens its life-span.

“Oil palm trees usually can live up to 25 years, but the disease could shorten the life span to six or seven years,” said Sabri.

He said Felda would continue its intensive research to decipher the actual mode of infection.

“This includes constructive and strategic collaborations with local and international research institutes to further expedite results. As the world's largest palm oil organisation, we have a responsibility to contribute to the sustainability of the oil palm industry,” he added.

On another development, Sabri said the listing of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd was slated for April next year.

He also dismissed market talk that Felda Global was looking to sell its US-based company, Twin Rivers Technologies (TRT).

“It's not true as TRT has teamed up with Bunge North America recently and will be seeing a combination of commercial activities related to the crushing and refining operations of Bunge's plants in Hamilton and Ontario as well as TRT'S plant in Quebec,” he added.