PALM oil prices have plummeted from a high of RM4,000 per tonne to about half that at present, and the oil palm industry is facing an uncertain future because of the global economic slowdown.

To strengthen the industry, various measures have been proposed to increase productivity, lower production costs and thereby increase profitability.

In line with these aims, the industry is adopting many new methods, research, and environmentally-friendly initiatives.

One useful way to overcome the labour shortage and also increase productivity at oil palm plantations would be to use the modified brush-cutter to harvest the fruit.

The brush-cutter is a versatile machine and can be used for more than cutting grass or trimming hedges.

By fixing a circular metal saw or a serrated disc, the modified brush-cutter can be used to harvest oil palm fruit.

As it is (without modifying the shaft), the machine can harvest fruit bunches that are between 60cm and 1.8m above the ground. The machine can be fitted with a longer telescopic shaft for taller trees.

Harvesting the fruit bunches with a chisel or a curved knife is heavy-duty work as the fronds and fruit stalks are tough and the workers tire after about 100 to 150 trees.

No wonder locals shun the job and the country has to depend on foreign workers.

If the machine can be successfully modified or adapted and used, it could be a boon to the oil palm industry.

Both estates and smallholdings can benefit from this, and womenfolk, too, can do the harvesting if it is made easy.

Perhaps, forward-looking plantation firms as well as the Malaysian Oil Palm Board can put this idea into practice.

There could be some teething problems initially as with all new inventions and methods, but if the concept is a success, it can then be patented and it would be a feather in the cap for the country’s oil palm industry.

V. THOMAS, Sungai Buloh

Source: NST – March 31, 2009