Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)
The red palm weevil (RPW), Rhynchophorus ferrugineus is an economically important pest of palms in many parts of the world. The weevil was first reported in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia in the early 2007, where it is now causing severe damage to coconut palms. However, in 2016, the RPW has been reported in […]
Planting oil palm on steepland can cause severe soil degradation as erosion carries away fertile topsoil and nutrients, especially at the early stage of field development. Hence, good agronomic practices are essential to sustain the soil properties associated with oil palm productivity. This article is a review of soil conservation practices that can minimise soil […]
The labour situation in the plantation sector in Malaysia is heading towards a twin convergence of increasing minimum wages and low labour productivity. Going forward, the industry will face difficulties in attracting and retaining workers, if the above challenges are not addressed quickly to improve operational efficiency and productivity, as well as skills dilution. Currently, […]
Variations in the incidence of Ganoderma basal stem rot disease in oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) on different soils had been observed in the field. Notably, acid sulphate coastal soils were observed to have higher Ganoderma incidence compared with inland soils. Therefore, the objective of this experiment was to study the effects of four different soils […]
Oil palm – being the economic backbone of Malaysia – provides not just palm oil as the main commodity but also many other forms of by-products, namely oil palm trunks, fronds, palm kernel shell, mesocarp fiber, empty fruit bunches and palm oil mill effluent (POME), all of which can be transformed into valueadded products for […]
Classifying tropical peat is crucial for the oil palm industry, especially studying the effects of different peat types on the agricultural sector in Malaysia. The different defined criteria used for grouping peat lead to different classification systems for temperate and tropical peats. In Malaysia, a better understanding of the differences in the classification systems for […]
A rapid assessment survey of the amphibians and reptiles found at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Research Station in Kluang, Johor, was carried out from 7-10 June 2013. Visual encounter surveys (VES) were used to identify the species of amphibians and reptiles encountered along the six sampling trails. A total of 12 amphibian species […]
Water scarcity and climate change are serious issues facing our planet. This study evaluates the impacts caused by water consumption of oil palm, from seedling until the production of crude palm oil, based on a full tlife cycle assessment. The consumptive water use evaluation for direct water was based on the local water stress index […]
Oil palm bud rot is a disease that destroys the young tissues of palms, and Phytophthora palmivora has been identified as the causal pathogen. The disease is devastating the South American oil palm industry. The pathogen is also known to be responsible for a number of serious diseases in cocoa, durian, jackfruit and coconut. A […]
In order to deal with environmental sustainability issues such as global climate change, food and energy crisis as well as environmental pollution, biochar had been widely used as a tool to combat these problems. It might act as soil carbon sink to restore soil organic carbon (SOC) larger than its inherent capacity, thus reducing the […]