MALAYSIA TURNS TO GENETICS TO IMPROVE PALM OIL PRODUCTIVITY

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is looking to genetics to help its
palm oil industry improve productivity, according to Oxford Business Group
(OBG).

The country is also moving towards enhancing the sector's image while
seeking to capture a bigger share of the global vegetable oil market, it said in
its latest economic briefing issued Friday.

The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) had announced early last month that a
consortium co-led by the board and US-based Orion Genomics had sequenced three
oil palm genomes from two palm species.

"What makes this breakthrough important is that it would allow researchers
to understand genetic differences between the two species, which results in
differences in yield, disease resistance and height increment," OBG said.

"While MPOB is confident that genome sequencing will bring great benefits to
the industry and the environment, it acknowledged that the process will take
time," it said.

"Genome sequencing is not that straightforward," MPOB director-general Datuk
Dr Mohd Basri Wahid told OBG in an interview.

"The yield depends on many factors, so you would have to assemble all these.
We can look at the sequence of the genome and come up with markers like thin
shells, high oil, disease resistance and high bunch numbers, then screen them
for content, quality, height and so on," he said.

But, according to him, this screening alone will take years and after real
trials, one cannot be assured of an immediate impact.

Although MPOB is in an advantageous position to screen for these traits as
it houses the world's largest oil palm germplasm collection, validation of the
screening will take years.

This is because one breeding cycle of the oil palm takes seven years, Mohd
Basri said.

"The genome project is part of a far broader programme aimed not only at
improving output and allaying environmental concerns but also at establishing
Malaysia as an international brand name, one associated with quality and
sustainability," he said.

Mohd Basri said MPOB aimed to be a certifying body, similar to the
International Organisation for Standardisation.

"We have established a team and trained them as auditors to develop
certificates. There is a complete code of practice that can be applied to
plantations, mills and across the industry," he said

"Overseas countries don't differentiate countries which produce palm oil. We
are the same as Indonesia to them. Therefore, MPOB is working towards a
certificate of assurance," he added.

Widely used in cooking oil, food products, cosmetics and biofuel, palm oil
is a major contributor to the Malaysian economy.

In 2008, the country produced 17.7 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO),
of which 15 million tonnes were shipped overseas, generating an export revenue
of RM17.6 billion (US$1=RM3.35).

The industry is providing direct and indirect employment to about 800,000
Malaysians.

-- BERNAMA