Basal Stem Rot (BSR) caused by Ganoderma boninense is the most serious disease of oil palm in Malaysia. Isolation of the pathogen from diseased tissues, espcecially from infected roots, is difficult due to heavy contamination by soil inhabiting bacteria and fungi. It is important, therefore, that a medium selective for this fungus be developed to facilitate various […]

Palm oil-based printing ink is a recent innovation of a collaborative research project between Coates Brothers (M) Sdn Bhd and the Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM). Begun in the middle of 1990, the project has gone through the usual stages of laboratory formulation and testing, through pilot plant production to final testing of […]

Vision 2020 calls for more efforts towards an industrialised economy in Malaysia. One agreed strategy is to explore more down-stream possibilities for our many natural resources through research and development (R&D). Recent research at the Palm Oil Research Institute of Malaysia (PORIM) has indicated exciting possibilities for a new product from palm oil (PO). This […]

Oil palm plantations are highly dependent on manual labour. It has been estimated that, on the average, about 50 man-days are required per hectare. In recent years the agricultural sector of the industry has experienced labour shortage problems. As a result numerous operations including harvesting, and other agronomic activities in the plantations have been significantly affected, […]

It is currently possible to use vegetable oil fuel to run cars which have been filled with new or suitably modified diesel engines. In this connection, PORIM has experiment on a car fitted with Elsbett vegetable fuel engine and crude palm oil (CPO) has been used exclusively as vegetable oil fuel in the experiment. The […]