SARAWAK PLANTATION BERHAD
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Annual Report 2014
Review of Operations
Good Agronomic Practices
Good Agronomic Practices are in place from
the nursery stage through to field planting and
maintenance of oil palm cultivation. The principle
focus of Good Agronomic Practices is on good
nursery techniques and management whilst
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) focuses on
pest and disease control.
To ensure that Good Agronomic Practices are
adhered to, the workforce is equipped with the right
tools, knowledge and skills. Therefore on job
training for workers is continuosly carried out for
activities such as harvesting, pruning, weeding,
grading of fruit harvested and other practices. This
ensures consistency and conformation to estate
procedures and agronomic requirements.
Cattle Integration
The Group’s Cattle Integration project, which involves
the rearing of cattle in oil palm plantations, was
initiated in 2000 under the “Pawah” scheme through
the Department of Agriculture (DOA) Sarawak. The
rationale for the project is to promote full utilisation
of mature oil palm areas by letting cattle graze on
vegetation that is otherwise considered weeds.
Cattle integration benefits the participating estates
as part of their integrated weed management
programme. It is environmentally friendly and
contributes towards achieving good agricultural
practices and standards. Not only is the
amount of weedicide reduced, but workers are
also relieved from spraying to carry out other
functions. The Cattle Integration project can also
act as a breeding resource to develop a sizeable
stock of high quality cattle and reduce the need to
open new land for gazing.
Seed Production Unit
SPB is the only oil palm seed producer in Sarawak
and it owns and operates a seed production unit.
It is capable of producing around 2 million seeds
per annum. These high quality seeds carrying a
brand name of
Surea DxP
, are certified by SIRIM
and are licensed for sale by the Malaysian Palm Oil
Board (MPOB). The seeds are tested and proven to
be able to provide high FFB yield, high oil-to-bunch
ratio and low height increment.
Apart from providing seeds for internal use, SPB
also sells its seeds to other plantations and
smallholders.
