Cap on oil palm estates proposed


Green move: Kok speaking at the Palm and Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. She said the move to limit the area for oil palm plantations ‘was made in order to dismiss accusations that oil palm plantations are the reason for deforestation.’ — Bloomberg

KUALA LUMPUR: The Primary Industries Ministry will be presenting a proposal to the Cabinet this month to cap the maximum area for oil palm plantations at about 6.5 million hectares (ha), up from the 5.85 million ha as at end-2018.

Minister Teresa Kok said this was expected to be achieved by 2023 based on the average annual expansion of plantations from 2013 to 2018.

“This move was made in order to dismiss accusations that oil palm plantations are the reason for deforestation.

“But, in order to achieve this, we have to work with various state governments,” she said when officiating the 30th annual Palm and Lauric Oils Conference and Exhibition, Price Outlook 2019 Conference and Exhibition (POC 2019), here yesterday.

Kok said palm oil players should also improve the research and development of seedlings, as well as boosting the productivity and yields of existing oil palm trees.

Kok said the ministry would also propose to the Cabinet to compel information on the areas under oil palm plantations to be made public.

“We need to be transparent. We hope the cabinet will approve the proposal,” she said.

Meanwhile, Kok said the government’s effort this year to expand the B10 and B7 bio-diesel programmes to the transport and industrial sectors was expected to raise palm oil consumption by 761,000 tonnes annually.

“This will help reduce the huge stockpile and lift the commodity prices,” she added. — Bernama

Article type: metered
User Type: anonymous web
User Status:
Campaign ID: 1
Cxense type: free
User access status: 0
Subscribe now to our Premium Plan for an ad-free and unlimited reading experience!

Cap , oil palm , estates , ministry , hectares , plantations ,

   

Next In Business News

Cryptoverse: Bitcoin passes the bank stress test
Khazanah Nasional hopes for wider options to decide on MAG
AICB, GEFI to jointly to host Ethical Finance Asean 2023 Summit
CMM launches CVC programme to spur investments in MSMEs
Malaysian banks are well positioned to face potential asset quality deterioration - RAM Ratings
Oil lower as banking turmoil holds down sentiment
Scientex enters JV in foray into Indonesian property project
Bursa gains as bank stocks retrace losses
Khazanah Nasional records RM1.6bil profit in FY22
Singapore second most expensive business location in Asia - ECA International

Others Also Read