(MPOB Transfer of Technology)
In 2016, a total of 86.3 million tonnes of fresh fruit bunches were processed by oil palm mills in Malaysia (MPOB, 2017), generating more than 6 million tonnes (dried weight) of empty fruit bunches (EFB). At present EFB are used in sectors such as renewable energy (bio-pellets and bio-briquettes), biocomposites (particleboard and fibreboards), biofertiliser and … Read more
Palm-pressed fibre oil (PPFO) is unique as it contains high amount of β-carotene (pro-vitamin A), vitamin E (tocotrienols & tocopherols), squalene and sterols as compared to crude palm oil (CPO). Currently, the crude PPFO is not refined and is sold at a discount to CPO due to its low DOBI value and high free fatty … Read more
MPOB initiated the genetic engineering program in late 1980s to diversify the use and increase the economic value of palm oil. The aim of the program was to produce higher oleic acid content of the palm oil in the mesocarp. Subsequently, the genetic engineering program was expanded to include high contents of stearic, palmitoleic, ricinoleic, … Read more
MPOB introduced the oil palm motorised cutter (Cantas) to the industry in 2007. Cantas is suitable for harvesting fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from palms up to 7 m harvesting height. Cantas increases harvesting productivity which improves harvesters’ earning besides reducing workers on the payroll, currently dominated by foreign workers (Razak et al., 2013). Main Researcher: … Read more
Loose fruits are currently collected by hand picking or raking. This technique is not only labour demanding, and time-consuming but is also tedious and laborious. The worker needs to squat and stand up throughout the day during the collection process. On the average, the time taken for the worker to collect loose fruits is about … Read more
Salak (Salacca zalacca) is a palm native to Indonesia and Malaysia. The fruits are known as snake fruit due to the reddish-brown scaly skin, growing in clusters at the base of the palm. The palm is cultivated in the wet regions of Malaysia and commonly planted under trees as it is tolerant to limited light … Read more
The oil palm is an important perennial oil crop for a number of countries in the tropics. A recent finding reported the presence of Coconut cadang-cadang viroid (CCCVd) variant in oil palm. The viroid as reported by Vadamalai (2005) implicated the movement of oil palm planting materials in Malaysia although there was no evidence of … Read more
Orange spotting (OS) disease caused by Coconut Cadang-Cadang Viroid (CCCVd) variants in oil palm was discovered by Vadamalai et al. (2006). The CCCVd variants did not manifest in any outbreak as observed on coconut in the Philippines. It is only found on isolated palms in the planting blocks indicating no spread of the viroid (Sundram … Read more
Water is one of the most important natural resources. In many regions, human well-being and ecosystem health are being seriously affected by changes in the global water cycle, caused largely by human activities. Today water scarcity is a serious issue facing our planet right along-side with climate change. Market barriers trends also have lately been … Read more
With the advancement of next generation sequencing technologies, large numbers of sequenced genomes had been generated for many large-scale sequencing projects. Accurate prediction of genes from these genomes is one of the most important steps in the genome annotation process. Many software tools and pipelines developed by various computing techniques are available for gene prediction, … Read more