(MPOB Transfer of Technology)
The challenge that the oil palm industry will face in the 21st century is the ability to maintain profitability in the face of labour shortage and limited land resources. MPOB has identified genetic engineering as a promising technology to overcome the above limitations. Establishment of a reliable transformation and regeneration system is essential for genetic … Read more
The basal stem rot (BSR) caused by species of Ganoderma, a basidiomycete fungus, remains the major disease of oil palm in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, serious incidence of BSR is no longer restricted to Peninsular Malaysia, but also in Sabah and Sarawak (Ariffin and Idris, 2002). Diagnosis of Ganoderma infection in oil palm is based … Read more
Bactris gasipaes, also known as pejibaye or peach palm is widely grown in Central and South America. MPOB has obtained seeds from Hawaii, Costa Rica and the Department of Agriculture, Sabah. The palms are established in MPOB Research Station, Kluang. The Department of Agriculture, Sabah, is also maintaining a small collection of Bactris palms. Bactris … Read more
The past 10 years have seen an explosion in the amount of sequence information available in the public databases. This growth has had a profound effect on the way scientists direct their research. Similarly, the next few years will also see huge increases in the amount of information on genes and proteins expressed in organisms. … Read more
In vitro propagation of oil palm involves the exploitation of rapid multiplication and regeneration potential of plant cells in the laboratory to generate large numbers of clonal planting materials. This process has many stages and involves selection of explant, media composition, environmental conditions and personnel. These may introduce variables into the system and require an … Read more
Improvement programmes had been focussing on the selection for bunch yields and oil yield components. Improvements in oil extraction through breeding and selection have been largely due to the increments in mesocarp to fruit (M/F). In addition, selection for large fruits could be advantageous, as the best type would give the largest absolute quantity of … Read more
Oil yield is derived from a composite of characters and is dependent on a number of components, the most important being fresh fruit bunch (FFB) and fruit composition, such as mesocarp to fruit (M/F), shell to fruit (S/F) and oil to bunch (O/B). One of the determinant factors leading to the colourful success story in … Read more
At present, fresh fruit bunch (FFB) grading is done visually by quality control conductors at estates and by graders at purchasing centres and mills. The most critical process in FFB grading is to categorize the bunches into ripe, under ripe and unripe. The MPOB manual on FFB grading defines a ripe bunch when the mesocarp … Read more
Malaysia is a net exporter of chicken meat and eggs. The production of broilers and layers in the country is highly intensive with very strong commercial entity. The feed for the bird is imported. In 2001, the import value of animal feed was RM 1.6 billion. The poultry feed is made up of quality corn, … Read more
Mechanical harvesting of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) remains an issue that needs to be solved. The current methods involve the use of a chisel or sickle, where the use of such tools require manual labour and this activity is a tedious job. This paper describes a newly innovated mechanical cutter which complements the … Read more