The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has been urged to actively seek more
collaboration with the private sector in ensuring the success of its
research programmes as well as more effective commercialisation of
promising research findings.
On that note, the Minister of
Plantation Industries and Commodities Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the
research and development (R&D), used to upgrade technology used in
palm oil mills must be encouraged.
“It will not only reduce
production costs but also maximise technological commercialisation and
commercial exploitation of by-products.
“To maximise the
potential and opportunities in this lucrative industry, it is important
we encourage investment to stimulate R&D into upgrading the
technology used in palm oil mills,” he said at the opening ceremony of
the ModiPalm Continuous Sterilisation Forum here.
Dompok’s speech was read by his Deputy, Datuk G. Palanivel.
He also
said that palm oil millers should be mindful of the opportunities
created by the adoption of newer and better technology such as
continuous sterilisation.
The MPOB first carried out exploratory
research studies to develop a new continous sterilisation process in
1997.
This was followed by a pilot plant study which led to the
building of the first commercial-scale systems in Selaba Palm Oil Mill
in 2000 and the Palm Oil Mill Technology Centre in 2001.
He said
following the success of these pioneering commercial-scale
implementations, the system for continuous sterilisation had been
further refined and improved and has now been adopted by 62 palm oil
mills worldwide.
Dompok said the commercialisation of
technological innovations, especially in the field of palm oil
processing, was an industry worth billions of ringgit.
He also
said although about 20 per cent of the overall cost of producing palm
oil could be attributed to palm oil milling operations, there was still
considerable scope to reduce manpower by 50 per cent by converting from
the batch sterilisation process to the continuous sterilisation process.
He
added that the continuous sterilisation process provides the impetus
for radical changes in the design and operation of palm oil mills.
“It
appears timely to take a more holistic approach to modernising palm oil
mills by intensifying research into downstream processes, that can
optimally complement this new process, to achieve a paradigm change in
palm oil milling technology,” he said. — Bernama
Source : Business Times
