KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 15): The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is ramping up its research and development (R&D) initiatives to create enhanced oil palm varieties. These new variants aim to increase the nation’s palm oil productivity and output without requiring additional plantation land. This move supports Malaysia’s pledge from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to preserve 50% of its land under forest and tree cover, reflecting its commitment to biodiversity and tropical rainforest conservation.
MPOB and oil palm
On Sunday, the MPOB announced that Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani recently visited their research station in Kluang. During his visit on September 14, he toured various research plots, including those for Nigerian-based germplasm, a commercial pollination resource center, and the PS 1.1 virescens variant planting plots.
Johari also had the opportunity to plant a Clonal Palm Series 3 (CPS 3) seedling, a high-performance oil palm variant introduced by MPOB in 2020. This advanced variant features an impressive 89.7% mesocarp-to-fruit ratio, significantly boosting palm oil yields compared to traditional palm varieties.
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