Senarai Teknologi 2008 – Pemindahan Teknologi MPOB

TT No. 412: Palm-based bio-fertilizer from Decanter Cake and Boiler Ash of Palm Oil Mill

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:12:00 +0000

Decanter cake (DC) and boiler ash (BA) are wastes from the palm oil mill. A mill with 90 t hr-1 FFB processing capacity will produce about 160- 200 t DC and about 180 t BA a month. Both the DC and BA are sources of nutrients for producing bio-compound fertilizer. Recycling them will reduce the cost of palm oil production.

Main Research: Dr Khalid Haron

TT No. 411: Production of Pigeon Pea Integrated with Oil Palm

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:11:31 +0000

Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L.) is a leguminous shrub to a small tree and one of the main pulse crops. It ranks sixth in area and production among the grain legumes. Indigenous to India, it is now widely grown all over the subcontinent which produces almost 90% of the world’s crop. The plant requires a temperature of 18o C to 30o C and does well in a range of soils, from sandy to clayey loams. However, it grows best on fertile and well drained loams. The crop is drought tolerant but prefers an annual rainfall of >650 mm for better growth and yield. Pigeon pea is a popular food in developing tropical countries, particularly in the semi-arid tropics. It is an important vegetable protein – the dried grain is 20%-22% protein, depending on the cultivar and location grown. It is mainly consumed split, known as dhal, normally to make soup and stew. It can also be made into flour, the green seeds eaten boiled or sprouted as a vegetable.

Main Research: Raja Zulkifli Raja Omar

TT No. 410: Integration of Yellow Cattle with Oil Palm

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:11:02 +0000

Optimizing land use in oil palm plantations is becoming increasingly important to maximize income from the crop. In 2000, MPOB introduced the integration of cattle in oil palm, and adoption of the practice has been good. In 2003, to upgrade the integration model, MPOB imported Yellow Cattle from China, a breed known for its hardiness and good adaptability to tropical climates. A total of 828 Yellow Cattle cows and 50 Brahman-KK (Kedah Kelantan) bulls were introduced into an area of 4000 ha in Ladang Sungai Gayung and Ladang Sungai Marung in Pahang, in a system of rotational grazing. The cattle calving, mortality rates, temperament and oil palm parameters were recorded. The overall performance of the breed was very promising with the cattle adapting well to the oil palm environment. The calving rate was high (>74%), and the herd and calf mortality rates low (2.0% and 2.1%, respectively). The trial showed that rearing Yellow Cattle under rotational grazing in oil palm is profitable, and the practice is, therefore, highly recommended for oil palm owners.

Main Research: Dr Kamil Azmi Tohiran

TT No. 409: Motorized Chisel (CkatTM) for Short Palm Harvesting

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:10:30 +0000

Harvesting is a very important activity in oil palm cultivation. Efficient harvesting ensures that high quality fresh fruit bunches (FFB) are sent to the mill quickly for processing to produce high quality oil with low free fatty acids (FFA). Efficient harvesting can be achieved by at least two factors; i.e. efficient harvesting tool and sufficient harvesters to cater to harvesting rounds of 10 to 12 days as recommended. A difficulty in getting skilled harvesters and ways on how to improve harvesting productivity has become a necessity. The current manual harvesting (using a sickle or chisel) can only produce 50 to 60 FFB hr-1. Estates are now looking for more efficient harvesting tools which can double the productivity in order to increase individual daily harvesting productivity and finally reducing the number of workers. MPOB has produced two motorized cutters – Cantas® and Cantas® – to harvest palms <5 m and 5 – 8 m tall, respectively. Cantas®, introduced in 2006, has been well received by the industry, doubling the income of the operator. Cantas® was introduced in 2007 for taller palms and the feedback from its initial use has been positive. However, Cantas® and Cantas® are only for harvesting palms at least 2 m tall, and there remains a void for shorter palms. Therefore, a cutter has been developed to fill the void – the CkatTM.

Main Research: Abd Razak Jelani

TT No. 408: Otowey: An Infield FFB Transporter with Electronic Weighing Mechanism

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:09:54 +0000

The oil palm industry is very labour intensive, and with its present chronic shortage of workers, it has had to mechanize to alleviate its difficulties.

Main Research: Abd Rahim Shuib

TT No. 407: Compact Transporter (CT) for Field Spraying Operations (CT-Spray)

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:09:26 +0000

The oil palm industry is experiencing a chronic labour shortage, and is therefore trying to mechanize its operations. Field transport of harvested fresh fruit bunches (FFB) to the roadside for collection, fertilizer application and pesticide spraying are all operations that can be mechanized. Weed control is one of the major tasks in the plantation requiring high labour. The present methods of control include manual and mechanical weeding, and chemical spraying, with the last being, by far, the most popular. MPOB has developed a small in-field transporter – single chassis, compact but able to carry a load of 300 kg. The machine runs on four low-pressure tyres to minimize soil compaction and also to provide the necessary traction in all conditions in all terrains. It is thus, more versatile than a mini tractor or other off-road vehicles. With only minor changes, the machine can fitted out as a sprayer.

Main Research: Mohd Solah Deraman

TT No. 406: Glyphosate Monoammonium for Controlling Volunteer Oil Palm Seedlings

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:08:57 +0000

Volunteer oil palm seedlings (VOPs) are becoming a serious weed problem in oil palm plantations, especially in newly replanted and mature areas. Uncontrolled VOPs will hinder fi eld operations such as harvesting, collection of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) and fertilizer application. This article reports on use of glyphosate monoammonium and other herbicides for controlling VOPs. ... Read more

TT No. 405: Polyclonal Antibody for Detection of Ganoderma

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:08:30 +0000

Basal stem rot (BSR) caused by some species of Ganoderma, is the most destructive disease of oil palm in Southeast Asia (Turner and Gillbanks, 2003). The disease can infect oil palm at all stages of its growth. Infected, immature palms normally die within 6-24 months of the first foliar symptoms, while mature palms may survive two to three years or more. Various molecular and immunological methods have been described for detecting the disease in oil palm, including the DNA-polymerase chain reaction and use of polyclonal antibodies (Bridge et al., 2000; Utomo and Niepold, 2000; Idris et al., 2003). This article reports the use of polyclonal antibodies (PAbs) against the crude mycelial proteins of G. boninense to serologically detect the fungus by indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ELISA is a technique for rapid quantification of a particular protein in a protein mixture using highly specific antibodies. The technique offers greater simplicity and requires less equipment than using DNA probes.

Main Research: Dr Idris Abu Seman

TT No. 404: Metarhizium Granules for Control of Rhinoceros Beetle

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:08:03 +0000

The fungus Metarhizium anisopliae var. major is highly effective in controlling the rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes rhinoceros. It has been mass produced and formulated into a powder bio insecticide (Ramle et al., 2006), and field application of it to rotting oil palm residues significantly reduced the larvae, pre-pupa and pupae populations of the insect (Ramle et al., 2007). But the powder is applied as a solution, an inconvenience where there is no water. As an alternative, formulating the fungus as granules was studied – as alginate granules, incorporating a nutrient carrier to ‘kick-start’ the fungal growth on application for earlier sporulation. The alginate granules can be prepared using the mycelium or spores of the fungus, or mycelium and spores together (Fravel et al., 1995).

Main Research: Ramle Moslim

TT No. 403: LEPCON-1: Flowable Concentrate of Bacillus thuringiensis, MPOB BT1 for Bagworm Control

Norsuzaini — Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:07:38 +0000

Bagworm control with broad-spectrum contact insecticides has often disrupted the balance between the insect and its natural enemies – its predators, parasitoids and microbial pathogens. Most chemical insecticides also affect non-target organisms, and their residues often persist in the environment. The insecticidal proteins of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are very target specific. Active ingredients of Bt are mixture of spores and crystals. The spores and crystals of Bt are produced aerobically via liquid fermentation. They are easily harvested and, when properly formulated, have a long shelf-life (Ghribi et al., 2006a). Bt typically produces δ-endotoxins in parallel with spore formation during the stationary phase of the cell growth cycle (NPTN, 2004). The δ-endotoxins, after ingestion by susceptible insect larvae, are activated by the gut proteases (Ghribi et al., 2006b). The activated toxin binds with the gut receptor and causes osmotic lysis and death of the larvae. Flowable Bt concentrate, Lepcon-1, is produced by vacuum evaporation of fermented liquid culture at 33o C. This new Bt product has a shorter production cycle as compared to the wettable powder, Terakil-1.

Main Research: Mohd Najib Ahmad