Teresa Kok Suh Sim
KUALA LUMPUR: Bamboo, pineapples and coconuts should be grown as alternative crops for supplementary income but this should not be taken to mean oil palm should be replaced as a commodity entirely by smallholders as it has been their sole source of revenue, says Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok Suh Sim.
While clarifying a news report yesterday headlined ‘Forget Oil Palm, Plant Bamboo’, she said her earlier suggestion to cultivate bamboo was to counter the negative perception in the West towards Malaysia’s mass cultivaton of oil palm.
Kok was specifically referring to certain areas in Pahang where, for example, bamboo was grown in abundance.
“The content of the report is acceptable, but not the headline,” she said in a statement, referring to her press conference on Saturday in Bentong, Pahang, where she was asked to comment on the government’s intention to limit oil palm hectarage.
Explaining further on the government’s move to limit land under oil palm cultivation, the minister said it was an effort to combat the anti-palm oil sentiment in Europe which was now affecting the export of palm oil to global markets, in particular European countries.
The ministry has taken steps and was continuing with efforts to counter the adverse effects of the campaign.
“I also informed the media yesterday (Saturday) that palm oil prices in Malaysia had dropped drastically last year and this greatly affected smallholders’ income” she said, adding that her ministry has been directed by the prime minister to help smallholders diversify their crops so that they would not be too reliant on just one for their income and livelihood.
The minister also explained that the selection of any other crop would depend on the suitability of the area but she emphasised that it was very important for the country to study the viability of cultivating alternative crops.
“There are areas which are more suitable to plant coconut trees while some are more apt for pineapple or durian trees.
“With this explanation, I hope the confusion will be quashed,” she added. — Bernama