KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 —The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) will focus on improving the productivity and yield of the country’s palm oil industry rather than expanding the cultivation area of the commodity.
MPIC said this was in line with the policy enforced in March 2019 for cultivation of oil palm in the country to be limited to 6.5 million hectares.
“The policy is meant to restrict the conversion of permanent forest reserves and peatlands to oil palm cultivation areas and to strengthen existing regulations on oil palm cultivated on peatlands,” it said in a statement today to clarify several media reports quoting MPIC minister, Datuk Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, as saying the ministry was targeting to expand oil palm plantation acreage.
“The ministry hopes this explanation will clear the confusion over the information that was conveyed during the media conference (on March 12),” it added. — Bernama
