BATU PAHAT: The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification is not just a certificate, but rather a 'shield' for the country's palm oil industry as well as guaranteeing the future of smallholders.
Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad said MSPO certification is proof that Malaysian palm oil is cultivated with good, organised and environmentally responsible practices.
"Today, the global market is getting more and more demanding. Foreign buyers want to know where our palm oil comes from. They want to know if our palm oil is produced sustainably. They want to know if we take good care of the environment.
"That's why MSPO is important. It helps protect the future of smallholders and ensures that Malaysian palm oil continues to be accepted in the world market," she said at the MSPO Strengthening Programme for Palm Oil Smallholders at the Parit Sulong Regional Farmers Association hall here today.
Noraini said that as of June 15, the implementation of MSPO for private smallholders under the supervision of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) had successfully certified 162 Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOCs).
She said the total certification involved 197,933 smallholders over more than 731,000 hectares nationwide.
In Johor, a total of 43 SPOCs had been certified involving 55,194 smallholders over 128,720.26 hectares, while in the Batu Pahat district alone, a total of 15,641 smallholders had received the certification covering 29,122.54 hectares.
"Today, more and more smallholders understand that MSPO is not a burden. MSPO is an opportunity,” she said.
She assured that the government did not want smallholders to be burdened with certification costs and agreed to fully bear the costs for the private smallholders category, including audit fees and related training.
On efforts to increase productivity, she said the government had provided various initiatives including the Oil Palm Smallholder Replanting Financing Incentive Scheme 2.0 (TSPKS 2.0).
She said that for the state of Johor, a total of 1,061 applications had been approved involving 2,655.94 hectares, while for the Batu Pahat district, a total of 126 applications had been approved involving 364.30 hectares.
She also encouraged smallholders to switch to the use of technology such as palm fruit cutting machines (Cantas) which could increase harvest productivity from 1.8 tonnes to 3.2 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches per worker per day. - Bernama
