KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is establishing a RM30 million fund to improve the mechanisation of oil palm fruit harvesting, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said.
“We have to be more committed in finding more efficient ways to harvest oil palm fruits. We cannot go on being so reliant on manual labour,” he said, adding that 70 per cent of Malaysia’s oil palm estate workers are foreigners.
“This year, we are celebrating 100 years of commercial oil palm planting. But we have yet to improve on mechanisation of fruit harvesting,” Mah told reporters after officiating the ‘Palm Oil Economic Review and Outlook Seminar’ organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).
“Out of this RM30 million mechanisation fund, RM5 million would be privately-funded,” the minister added.
Also present were Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry deputy secretary general Zurinah Pawanteh, MPOB chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Hamzah and MPOB director general Dr Ahmad Kushairi Din.
It has been reported that Malaysia’s oil palm industry is facing a shortage of workers, resulting in many planters not being able to fully harvest fruits.