Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (March 4): Palm oil associations have lauded the government’s move to increase cess payment to fund investment in mechanisation and automation.

In a joint statement, nine associations stated that the establishment of the Mechanisation and Automation Research Consortium of Oil Palm (MARCOP) will be in line with the government’s thrust and priority focused on Industry 4.0 and mechanisation-cum-automation.

“MARCOP’s priority focus will be on harvesting of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from oil palm trees. The fact remains that the century-old oil palm plantation industry has yet to develop a practical, durable and cost-effective automated mechanised harvesting tool, especially for tall palm trees."

With the advent of Industry 4.0 and AI-related technologies, including recent developments of drones, lasers and exoskeleton technologies, the drive towards attaining such cost-effective harvesting systems can potentially be achieved sooner — and this is extremely vital amid the continued shortage of workers, especially harvesters, said the associations.

“The acute labour shortage has been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic situation, resulting in huge crop losses, and consequently losses in revenue for growers and the coffers of the federal and state governments. It is a significant opportunity loss amid favourable CPO (crude palm oil) prices of today,” they said.

The new entity will function as a neutral body to addressing oil palm mechanisation, particularly in harvesting technology, said the organisations.

They added the industry and other relevant stakeholders had acknowledged that strategic partnerships in mechanisation should be the key research and development (R&D) focus and the top priority going forward to address the plantation sector’s high manpower dependency.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), the Malaysian Estate Owners’ Association (MEOA), the National Association of Smallholders (NASH), the Palm Oil Millers Association (POMA), the Sarawak Oil Palm Plantation Owners Association (SOPPOA), the Palm Oil Refiners Association of Malaysia (PORAM),  the Malaysian Oleochemical Manufacturers Group (MOMG), the Malayan Agricultural Producers Association (MAPA) and the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) had signed the statement.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali said in a statement yesterday that the additional cess of RM2 per tonne imposed on CPO and crude palm kernel oil came into force on March 1, and will be used to support the establishment of a new consortium platform to boost mechanisation and automation of the industry, the government said today.

Following the increase, the cess levied on each tonne of palm oil products now stands at RM16.

Khairuddin reiterated that the proceeds of up to RM30 million from the additional cess will be complemented by an RM30 million matching grant as announced by the government in Budget 2021.

The minister signed a federal gazette on Feb 15 detailing the latest increase via an amendment to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (Cess) Order 2019 after consulting the finance minister

The cess, stipulated under the Malaysian Palm Oil Board Act 1998, is a fee levied by the government to support the industry.

Edited ByLam Jian Wyn
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