Not every challenge needs a new machine – some require perfecting what already works.
OIL palm machines weren’t built for oil palm operations.
Backhoes, tractors and graders come from other industries, not designed for relentless, year-round operations.
Breakdowns are inevitable, and with slow repairs and spare part shortages, downtime drags on. Unlike uniform greenhouses, the plantations battle harsh weather, rugged terrain and towering trees.
The common DxP Deli and Avros palms grow 60cm yearly, reaching 13 plus m by 25 years. Past 12m, harvesting struggles. Timely replanting is key, yet it’s lagging.
By 2027, 35% of Malaysia’s oil palm land will be overgrown. Meanwhile, only 17% has trees in the optimal four to eight-year range where motorised cutters might work – though performance remains inconsistent.
Terrain complicates things further. Sabah and Sarawak, with 55% of Malaysia’s oil palms, have steep hills and vast peatlands.
The takeaway? No one-size-fits-all fix. But that’s no excuse to stall. If a tool works on flat land, scale it up.
If it’s viable in other landscape, refine and deploy it. Every win moves the industry forward.
Who’s driving oil palm mechanisation?
The industry splits into four camps: optimists (sure a breakthrough is near), pessimists (doubt large-scale success), pragmatists (push for steady progress), and opportunists (chase short-term gains).
Talk is plenty, but leadership, coordination and accountability are lacking. Mechanisation must move from theoretical breakthroughs to practical, field-tested innovations.
Stakeholders – growers, tech-developers, policymakers, corporate leaders – often have conflicting priorities. Many overhype devices as “game-changers,” only to blame growers when adoption lags.
Growers battle labour shortages, tough terrains and ageing trees. They’ve seen countless impractical, fragile or costly machines.
Authorities shape policy but struggle with bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Plantation leaders need solutions that work beyond research papers and boardroom slides.
Without a solid grasp of oil palm biology and field realities, even the most high-tech solutions risk failure.
Harvesting – industry’s Achilles’ heel
Height growth, tricky terrains, workforce dynamics and even thorns and frond butts, aren’t minor details – they determine if mechanisation will work.
Yet, many stakeholders – some who’ve never set foot in an estate – throw around “tech-buzzwords” as if oil palm mechanisation is a tech revolution.
Newsflash: oil palms aren’t iPhones.
Their challenges won’t be fixed with an app update. Since the 1980s, mechanisation has improved non-harvesting tasks like crop evacuation and agro-input applications.
But harvesting remains the bottleneck – it makes up 50% of the workforce in non-mechanised estates, and can rise to 60% to 70% of workforce with higher yields. Yet, harvester shortages are already causing crop losses and unrealised revenue.
No tech solution will solve oil palm’s labour crunch until harvesting is fully mechanised – from cutting bunches to pruning, stacking and collecting loose fruit.
Harvesting technologies: hype vs reality
Many “breakthroughs” skirt core harvesting issues. Real-world viability remains questionable:
> Motorised cutters – Reduce effort but unsuitable for tall trees; mobility issues, battery limits and long-term occupational health risks persist.
> Drones – Useful for mapping and some degree pest control and fertilisation, but often limited by weather and payload constraints.
> Exoskeletons – Reduce strain but are bulky, expensive and impractical in tropical plantations.
> Autonomous robots – A long-term dream, but oil palms’ inherent structure makes robotic harvesting a major challenge.
Mechanisation isn’t about fancy gadgets but scalable, cost-effective solutions. No single technology will solve the harvesting dilemma overnight. But maybe a mix of smarter tools and targeted innovations may chip away at the problem – one practical step at a time.
Low-hanging fruit in harvesting
No machine yet matches the speed, precision and adaptability of a skilled oil palm harvester. The dream of fully mechanised harvesting is alluring, but the real breakthrough may lie in perfecting existing tools.
Top plantation companies aren’t waiting for miracles; they strive to maintain strict 10-to-15-day harvesting cycles. Let that slip and inefficiency snowballs.
Time-motion studies reveal the real issue – harvesters spend less than 30 minutes cutting bunches in eight hours work; the rest is spent walking, finding ripe bunches, positioning heavy poles and navigating terrain.
Boosting productivity isn’t about cutting faster – it’s about making the rest of the workday easier. Lighter and durable harvesting poles improve mobility and reduce fatigue. Oil palms are silica-rich, dulling tools rapidly.
A single tree holds four kg to five kg of silica, while pruned fronds return 110kg to 131 kg per hectare to the soil. Thus, sharper, tougher sickles mean fewer strokes and faster cuts and better sharpening tools keep blades razor-sharp.
If cutting takes just a fraction from a day work, why replace them with machines that struggle with positioning and alignment?
Instead, technologies should empower workers – drones and rovers to locate ripe bunches pre-harvest, artificial intelligence to map optimal routes and digitalisation in tracking to minimise wasted time and effort.
Until futuristic solutions arrive, enhancing today’s tools is the way forward. If we’re serious about efficiency, stronger, longer-lasting metals should top the priority list to be pursued.
Materials like carbon-fiber can create poles that extend further without being unwieldy. Laminated and bonded sickles can be both sharp and durable.
Some estates including those in South America already harvest beyond 12 meters, extending productivity on older palms for three more years – a huge financial boost and save funds for replanting.
These aren’t minor tweaks; they’re silent productivity boosters hiding in plain sight. And with the right research and development boost, further improvements could drive down the costs of tools and efficiency up from wider adoption.
The backbone of this system? Human harvesters. Pay them extra well, keep them motivated, and structure training to optimise their skills. Dedicated full-time harvesters should focus solely on harvesting.
Oil palm is tough. Are we tougher?
Oil palm is a God’s gift of abundance, but it demands effort, skill and discipline. Not every challenge needs a new machine – some require perfecting what already works. Until we crack the harvesting code, human labour remains the backbone.
The Holy Grail may be elusive, but real progress with what’s available is within reach. The industry stands at a crossroads. Bold decisions, clear strategies and relentless focus are needed.
True transformation requires long-term funding, serious research and development and leadership that prioritises results over hype. If we don’t tackle this head-on, the industry’s biggest threat won’t be productivity – it’ll be survival. Mechanise or perish.
Joseph Tek Choon Yee is the former chief executive of the Malaysian Palm Oil Association. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
