SUBIS: The palm fruit harvesting machine, an innovation by the Sarawak Plantation Berhad (SPB), will bring about a big change in revolutionising the palm oil industry in this state.

Sarawak Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg said the SPB innovation is poised to be a 'game changer' for the entire palm oil industry.

He said the innovation aligns with his vision to transform palm fruit harvesting through the use of machinery instead of old methods that depended on human capital.

"This is a 'game changer'. When I took over from the late Tok Nan, I suggested that the way we harvest palm oil must change and use machines.

"I have asked Datuk Amar Hamed to carry out the research. In addition, I also requested Swinburne University and CENTEXS to conduct studies to build the machine.

"SPB has established a collaboration with a partner from China to design our own machine that can be used to harvest palm fruit. Today, we are witnessing its success. Congratulations SPB," he said while speaking to launch the palm fruit harvesting machine at Ladang Subis, Jalan Miri-Bintulu on Wednesday.

Also present were Deputy Minister in the Sarawak Premier's Department (Labour, Immigration and Project Monitoring), Datuk Gerawat Gala, Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government, Datuk Dr Penguang Manggil, Deputy Minister for Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development, Datuk Rosey Yunus, Executive Chairman of SPB, Datuk Amar Abdul Hamed Sepawi, and other dignitaries.

The Sarawak Premier added that SPB's innovation will help in solving the problem of labour shortages, especially from foreign countries, which hindered the growth of the industry.

"Secondly, to get labour from outside, there are processes that need to be completed... immigration, labour. This process takes at least eight months.

"It creates grievances in the industry, but we have to comply with the law.

“In addition, productivity is slower with manual harvesting. If the fruit falls and breaks, it reduces productivity,” he added.

Meanwhile, Datuk Patinggi Abang Zohari suggested for SPB to utilise palm fronds after harvesting as a biomass source.

To this end, he proposed that SPB design a machine capable of cutting and harvesting both the fronds and palm fruit simultaneously.

The SPB palm fruit harvester, named ‘Lipan’, is equipped with wireless control, enabling an operator to manage the harvesting process easily, quickly, and efficiently.

It can harvest up to 300 bunches or 3 metric tonnes of palm fruit per operator per day.

Each machine can cover an area of 5 hectares per day, consuming 2 litres of fuel per hour.

Earlier before officiating the launch event, the Sarawak Premier observed a demonstration of the machine harvesting palm fruit.

At the end of the same event, he witnessed the exchange of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) involving SPB, Sarawak Plantation Agriculture Development Sdn Bhd, Sarawak Plantation Services Sdn Bhd, PALMECO, the Institute of Malaysian Plantation and Commodities, Sarawak Skills, Kolej Yayasan Melaka Sdn Bhd, and Miri Technical College. -UKASnews