The plantation and commodities minister says Malaysia’s average replanting rate is 1.8%, against the industry standard of 4%-5%.
NEW DELHI: A better replanting rate of older oil palm areas could increase Malaysia’s annual palm oil output by 2.5 million tonnes, plantation and commodities minister Johari Ghani says.
Johari had raised concerns about the low rate of replanting by independent smallholders, who number about 450,000 and have 1.5 million hectares under cultivation.
Our replanting has dropped significantly. Based on industry standards, we should replant 4%-5%, but our national average is only about 1.8%,
he said at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday.
He said increasing the replanting rate to industry standards would add more than 2.5 million tonnes to total palm oil production.
As Malaysia follows sustainable palm oil standards, it will not open up new areas for plantations but will instead focus on higher yield in the current harvested area of 5.7 million hectares, Johari added.
Malaysia’s forest cover, which currently stands at 54%, cannot drop below 50% as part of the country’s climate commitments.
Johari said Malaysia was working on a number of initiatives such as a greater focus on research and development, more replanting, and the consolidation of smallholdings to grow output.
Malaysia produced 18.6 million tonnes of palm oil in 2023 compared with about 20 million tonnes a decade ago.
Meanwhile, Malaysia also discussed ways with India to increase cooperation in the palm oil sector.
Johari and Indian agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan met on Thursday to explore opportunities in the agriculture field, including collaboration on an Indian initiative known as
the national mission on edible oils – oil palm
.
Under the scheme, launched in 2021, India aims to expand its oil palm cultivation area as part of its efforts to reduce dependence on imported edible oil.
In this endeavour, Malaysia can provide expertise on improving crop yields, converting underutilised land into productive oil palm plantations, and nurturing the growth of oil palm cultivation,
Johari told an earlier industry conference. Bernama