Malaysian Pepper Board To Continue Research On Pepper-Based Products

KUCHING (Sarawak, Malaysia), Aug 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) will continue research on value-added pepper-based products in an effort to stabilise the price of the commodity, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Keong said. He said the board planned to venture into downstream activities to boost the pepper industry as the crop could be processed into various products. More institutions and companies should cooperate with the board in order to produce more pepper-based products, he said, adding that currently pepper products included perfume, soap and spices. "Malaysia's pepper production in 2015 was 28,300 tonnes, an increase of 800 tonnes or 2.9 per cent from that of 2014," he told a press conference after visiting to MPB's office and laboratory here Tuesday. Mah said Malaysia is the fifth largest pepper producer in the world after Vietnam (130,000 tonnes), Indonesia (71,500 tonnes), India (65,000 tonnes) and Brazil (41,500 tonnes). Malaysia's total exports of pepper in 2015 were 13,624 tonnes worth US$128.5 million (RM513.9 million) and Japan was the main export destination with 24.3 per cent, or US$37.78 million (RM151.1 million). (US$1 = RM3.99) He said other export destinations were China, Taiwan, Singapore, Western European countries and South Korea. "Japan's decision to import our pepper proves that they are of high quality considering that importers put emphasis on this factor," he said. Mah said the export value was a 27 per cent increase from RM404.6 million recorded in 2014. He said the pepper plantations in Malaysia was undertaken by some 67,171 smallholders of whom 90 per cent were Bumiputera (Malaysian soil). Until 2015, a total of 16,333 hectares (ha) of land were planted with pepper crops compared with 16,021ha in 2014, out of which 16,092ha (90 per cent) are in Sarawak, 36ha in Sabah state and 205ha in Peninsular Malaysia, he said. "The average annual prices of black and white pepper are stable and the highest that have been recorded, at RM28,031 per tonne and RM43,784 per tonne, respectively," he said. Mah also launched the MPB Laboratory Analysis Centre that was built to develop the food regulations and standards related to pepper that are adopted by the pepper industry locally and internationally. The laboratory analysis centre provides physical, microbiological and chemical analyses, including that of pesticide mycotoxins poison residue and heavy metal. During the visit, Mah presented a letter of appointment to MPB's new director, Dr Harry Entebang, who previously served at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. -- BERNAMA