Malaysia's Sarawak Oil Palms focus on yield improvements amid land cap

Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad, a Malaysian palm oil manufacturer, is focused on maximising the yields of existing plantations. The state struggles with lower productivity than other regions in Malaysia.

Sarawak's 1,62 million hectares of oil palm plantations (4 million acres), which account for 29% Malaysia's total palm acreage, produced only 21,6% of Malaysia's palm oil production, with yields falling behind the neighbouring Sabah Peninsular Malaysia. It is the second largest palm oil producer in the world.

In an interview conducted on Wednesday, the CEO of Sarawak Oil Palms, Eric Kiu, said that there are no new land areas for expansion. The state also faces climate and soil challenges which impact on productivity.

Malaysian authorities have limited oil palm plantations to 5.6 million acres, and are focusing on better agricultural practices in order to increase yields.

"We cannot plant more so we must maximize what we already have."

"Our soil is not as good in general as the soil of Sabah." Certain parts of Sabah have volcanic soil that produces better yields. Kiu added, "We just have to find a way to deal with this problem and improve it."

Kiu says that its production will grow by 5% this year compared to a year ago.

Sarawak Oil Palms totaled production of 1.25 million metric tonnes last year.

The company reported that it had taken effective steps to improve production, through better management. This included cost control, and replanting.

Kiu stated that "we replant between 4000 and 6000 hectares per year with the aim of completing full replanting cycle within 15 years."

(source: Reuters)