BANGI, 8 Jan 2024 – Minister of Plantation and Commodities Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani today paid a visit to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) headquarters here.

Upon arrival, he was greeted by Director General of MPOB Datuk Dr Ahmad Parveez Hj. Ghulam Kadir. He was accompanied by Datuk Chan Foong Hin, Deputy Minister of Plantation and Commodities and Dato’ Hj. Mad Zaidi Mohd Karli, Secretary General of the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities (KPK) and senior officials from the ministry.

He was briefed on the role of MPOB and the progress of research and development that covers all aspects of oil palm.

MPOB’s research produces oil palm planting materials such as PS1.1 and the Clonal Palm Series namely CPS 1, CPS 2 and CPS 3 which are offered to the industry for commercial cultivation for high yield oil palm production.

PS1.1 which has shrub characteristic can produce high oil which is eight tonnes per hectare per year, the ratio of oil to bunch exceeds 30 per cent and is useful for harvesting and automation due to its shrub characteristic. Meanwhile, CPS 1, among others, can produce fresh fruit bunches exceeding 30 tonnes per hectare per year and oil yield between 8 to 10 tonnes per hectare per year. CPS 2 which has a short rachis length is suitable for high density planting up to 200 trees per hectare while CPS 3 can produce high oil yield which is 11.3 tonnes per hectare per year.

Datuk Seri Johari said the plantation sector needs to work with MPOB by taking the opportunity to highlight research findings such as the use of quality planting materials produced through advances in biotechnology and tissue culture techniques.

According to him, MPOB should be a benchmark for the world in all research related to palm oil from the upstream sector to the downstream sector. 2 “The oil palm industry makes an important contribution to the national economy which generates more than RM130 billion in national income,” he said during the briefing session.

To date, MPOB has successfully developed 714 technologies covering all sectors in the oil palm industry including formulations of palm-based food and non-food products. A total of 233 technologies or 32.7 per cent of these technologies have been commercialised and adopted by local industries and entrepreneurs.

MPOB technologies that are ready for commercialisation include the production of quality planting materials, palm clonal breeds, palm fertiliser formulations, disease and pest control techniques, farm mechanisation, manufacturing and processing technologies, green technology, food product and animal feed formulations and palm based oleochemical products.

MPOB’s research is carried out to meet the needs of the industry and address domestic and international challenges. MPOB successfully carried out oil palm genome research with the aim of conserving the oil palm industry through the use of quality plant materials and pure oil palm seed breed detection tools for plantation cultivation.

Along with the development of sequencing technology, MPOB continued full-scale sequencing in 2009 and the translation and interpretation of the oil palm genome by MPOB was successfully published in the prestigious scientific journal, “Nature” in 2013. The publication of this oil palm genome has become the world’s main reference that encourages discovery exploration others by scientists who work towards sustainability as well as improving economic and social levels.

MPOB’s research achievements in all aspects of oil palm are published in a publication entitled Advances in Oil Palm Research (Second Edition). MPOB’s latest publication comprehensively presents the oil palm industry’s research progress from 2011 until 2020.

MPOB, established on 1 May 2020, a government agency under the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities responsible for the development of the oil palm industry in Malaysia. Its main role is to promote and develop national objectives, policies and priorities for the well-being of the Malaysian oil palm industry.

MPOB focuses on research and development along the entire value chain of oil palm industry in order to take it to greater heights. MPOB is also responsible for overseeing matters related to licensing, regulations and enforcement to ensure that all activities related to the country’s oil palm industry run smoothly.

MPOB is committed to ensuring the development of the oil palm industry by creating 3 synergies between economic prosperity, sustainable development and value addition to ensure future growth is carried out within a sustainable framework.

Under the leadership of Datuk Seri Johari, MPOB is determined to drive the progress of the oil palm industry to generate economic prosperity for the country and become a major player in the global vegetable oil sector.