Efficient harvesting of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) is vital to ensure the FFB are harvested within the recommended harvesting round of 10 to 12 days interval. Manual harvesting (using a sickle or chisel) can only produce about an average of 1 t FFB man-1 day-1 (Azman et al., 2015). Estates are now looking for more […]

MPOB has introduced an oil palm motorised cutter known as ‘Cantas Evo’ that works effectively for palms with harvesting height of less than 7 m. Cantas which is powered by a small petrol engine has been proven to increase harvesting output compared to manual harvesting. Over the past two years, a new generation motorised cutter […]

Fusarium spp. cause diseases in a wide range of host plants. At least 81 of 101 economically important crop plants diseases are caused by Fusarium. Several Fusarium pathogens cause essentially similar symptoms on different crops such as cortical decay of roots, root rot, wilting, yellowing, rosette and premature death on infected plants (Beckman and Roberts, […]

Coconut cadang-cadang viroid (CCCVd) is the smallest pathogen with a size range of 246-401 nt. The viroid is encapsulated, circular and single strand RNA (ribonucleic acid) depending on the host protein for replication (Flores et al., 2005). The lethal coconut cadang-cadang disease caused by CCCVd in Philippines infects the coconut palms and caused a total […]

Phytophthora palmivora has been identified as the responsible pathogen of bud rot disease of oil palm in Colombia which also known as Pudricion del cogollo (PC) (Colombia) and Amarelecimento fatal (AF) (Brazil) (Turner and Gillbanks, 2003). The disease wiped out thousand hectares of oil palm plantations in South America in 5 years (Torres et al., […]