Zuraida said besides giving good yield to planters, using organic fertiliser can also help enhance food security. — Bernama photo
KUCHING (June 14): The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) has urged oil palm growers, regardless of plantation size, to switch from chemical fertiliser to optimum usage of organic fertiliser.
Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said this is in light of escalating chemical fertiliser prices, which can be up to 60 per cent of production costs.
She said besides giving good yield to planters, using organic fertiliser can also help enhance food security as safe food production can protect Malaysian consumers from the hazards of diseases caused by food.
She pointed out this is also in line with the call of the Food and Agriculture Organisation, an agency under the United Nations, to implement Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
“MPIC also encourages palm oil planters to optimise the use of land by implementing intermittent cultivation, which can help improve the quality of the ecosystem and soil fertility, and in turn, increase the production of palm oil.
“Oil palm cultivation is currently facing an increase in operating costs of between 10 per cent and 15 per cent due to surges in the cost of fertiliser, labour, and fuel. Understanding that rising palm oil fertiliser prices are an inevitable global phenomenon stemming from inflationary pressures and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the use of local methods to address shortages and exorbitant fertiliser prices is more effective,” she said in a statement.
Zuraida said industry players and smallholders need to think of aggressive measures to overcome these challenges and ensure their returns from palm oil are not affected.
She said among the innovative methods is the production of bio-fertilisers using palm kernel shells (PKS) – usually burned or planted – through a pyrolysis process to produce PKS biochar, which is then treated with other biomass such as chicken manure to produce bio-fertiliser, that can be used as fertiliser for oil palm.
She said the ministry recently opened up applications for the Oil Palm Integrated Farming Scheme (ITa) and the Agro Bank-MPOB (Malaysian Palm Oil Board) Easy Financing Scheme.
“Under ITa, oil palm planters who plant pineapples are eligible for incentives of RM7,000 per hectare, while those who grow bananas, watermelon, corn, and papayas receive RM3,000 per hectare.
“This intercropping incentive aims to encourage farm owners to diversify their sources of income through cash crops and optimise the use of their land while enabling them to recover the excess production costs that they incur from rising fertiliser prices,” she said.