Small oil palm farmers face survival crisis in risk to future output

Malaysian palm oil farmer Incham Serdin, with a worker at one of his family farms in Sarawak, Malaysia, May 19, 2020. - Incham Serdin/Handout via REUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR: When Shell engineer Incham Serdin quit his job four years ago to start a small palm plantation in his native Malaysia, prices of the fleshy fruit bunches used to make the world's most-consumed vegetable oil were bubbling near their peak.

But prices have since halved for smallholders like Incham, falling 30% this year alone as the COVID-19 pandemic slashes demand and wipes out profits for many farmers with 100 acres (40 hectares) of land or less.