Number of S’wakian smallholders applying for MSPO certification still low
KUCHING: Only 17,785 out of 39,391 oil palm smallholders in Sarawak have received the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification as of July 31 this year, said Ministry of Plantations and Commodities (KPKK).
In a statement yesterday, the ministry revealed that the MSPO certification among the smallholders in the state was still low and 21,606 smallholders were yet to obtain the certification.
“The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has found that the percentage of MSPO certification among smallholders is still low. Among them are the Q8 cluster (Pantu, Bukit Begunan, Lingga, Simanggang), Q22 (Marudi) and Q30 (Sebauh).
“To further strengthen the MSPO certification, the mandatory MSPO warning letter will be distributed to smallholder licensees who have yet to register as the certification will be made mandatory starting Jan 1, 2021,” the ministry said.
For the purpose of MSPO Standards Review currently being implemented, the ministry advised smallholders to refrain from planting oil palm at the river buffer zone (Riparian Zone) at a gradient exceeding 25 degrees, as it is contrary to the High Conservation Values (HCV), which will be included in the MSPO certification standards.
“In this regard, to avoid the withdrawal of MSPO certification among Sarawakian smallholders, they will be given a warning about this requirement,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the ministry announced that the implementation of B20 Biodiesel programme for transport sector will be implemented in the state on Sept 1 this year.
It said the programme will increase the usage of crude palm oil (CPO) from 534,000 tonnes to 1.06 million tonnes a year.
On another matter, the ministry also said the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) will improve and expand the Rubber Production Incentives (IPG) claim methods, especially for smallholders living in rural areas due to lack of communication infrastructure.
“KPPK through the Malaysian Pepper Board ( LLM) will also welcome companies who are interested in venturing into pepper cultivation in order to move the pepper industry to be more competitive. This is because the area of pepper cultivation in 2019 was at 7,132 hectares, with a total production of 33,164 tonnes cultivated by local smallholders,” it said.
Earlier yesterday, Deputy Minister of Plantations and Commodities Willie Mongin paid a courtesy call on Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglass Uggah Embas, who is also the Minister of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development, at his office in Wisma Bapa Malaysia.
The ministry said they were pleased to be able to work closely with the Sarawak state government to resolve issues that arise to ensure the survival of the agricultural sector in Sarawak such as oil palm, rubber, timber, cocoa, pepper, sago and kenaf.
Among the issues discussed were the MSPO certification, implementation of the Biodiesel B20 programme for transport sector, rubber production incentive and pepper cultivation potential.