Fertilisers accounted for more than 50 per cent of the total cost, he said at the opening of the Second International Conference on Oil Palm Biomass in Kuala Lumpur.

“In this context, the efforts include enhancing R&D (research and development )on biocomposting to produce biofertilisers to ensure that oil palm trees are provided optimal nutrient,” Hamzah said.

“As such, full utilisation of biomass will not only provide more income but will also contribute towards zero carbon emission and zero waste,” he said.

The text of his speech text was read by the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Wira Ismail Saleh.

According to Hamzah, about 10 per cent of the oil palm tree is palm oil while about 90 per cent in the form of oil palm biomass has yet to be fully exploited.

“These include among others empty fruit bunches, palm fibres, palm trunks, palm fronds and palm oil mill effluents,” he said.

In 2009, the oil palm industry generated an estimated 80 million tonnes of biomass.

Hamzah said with the depleting timber resources for the wood-based and furniture industry, the utilisation of oil palm biomass in such sectors also offered potential.

The oil palm biomass could be used to manufacture plywood, particleboard, lumber, veneer and medium density fibre board, he said. — Bernama