Permaju partners MCB for Malaysia's first smart cocoa plantation plan

SEREMBAN: Permaju Industries Bhd (PIB) has partnered with the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) to jointly develop and manage a 100-hectare plantation, the largest single origin smart cocoa plantation in this country.

PIB executive director Tang Boon Koon said PIB has allocated a total of RM15 million over the next seven years to kickstart its plantation division while adhering strictly with global environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) criteria for its operations.

He said PIB will be partnering with Agrocloud Sdn Bhd to develop customised plantation decision support system (DSS) platform named Cocoa Plantation Management System (CPMS) for its smart cocoa plantation.

"CPMS is a holistic management platform integrating various technologies to deliver plantation operators with a streamlined tool comprising all aspects of agronomic advisory, governance, and traceability.

"We are also the first public listed company involved in an upstream smart cocoa plantation," he said in a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for smart cocoa farming development at Permaju Bukit Gangis Plantation, Setul here today.

Also present was Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and the Austrian ambassador to Malaysia Andreas Launer.

Tang said the implementation of CPMS technology combined with technical knowledge transfer from MCB will make this plantation the first fully integrated smart cocoa plantation in the country and will serve as a blueprint for PIB's future expansion.

He added that Agrocloud is supported by its exclusive Austrian technology partner, Pessl Instruments in Agri Internet of Things (IoT) and Agri advisory services.

Meanwhile, Zuraida said the Malaysian cocoa industry contributed a total of RM1.64 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.

She said the push in the agricommodity sector is expected to be a key contributor to Malaysia's economy in the future.

The project, according to Zuraida, will increase cocoa beans production, particularly to meet the aspiration of the country as a cocoa beans producer with unique taste.

"Cocoa cultivation within six to seven years would be able to produce cocoa beans and so with the 100 hectares cocoa estate, it is expected to produce 150 tonnes of cocoa,” she said.

It was reported that the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) projected cocoa exports in 2022 to increase to RM14 billion from RM7 billion recorded last year, driven by the huge global market potential. - Bernama