No plan to increase oil palm acreage — Datu Nasrun

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The oil palm acreage in the country will not be increased, instead only replanting would be carried out on existing areas.

Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur said if there were an increase in the acreage of oil palm, it would only involve a small area.

“We will use the seedlings of high-yielding oil palm that can produce more palm oil so that we do not have to expand the areas under oil palm.

“We just need to improve the yield,” he told reporters at Parliament lobby here yesterday.

On the French National Assembly’s move to reject a motion to increase palm oil import tax, he said it was good for Malaysia as the proposed tax would also have a repercussion on other palm oil importing countries.

“It is a good news for us. Otherwise, other European countries like Germany and Italy might also raise their (palm oil) import tax,” he said.

Malaysia has denounced the motion, citing it as discriminatory, unfair and violated the World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. — Bernama