With the use of new technologies, Malaysia will meet the target of producing 35 tons of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) per hectare and a 25 percent oil extraction rate by 2020, an agriculture official said here on Monday.

    "I am certain that with the use of new technologies to increase the production of palm oil, we will be able to achieve this target," said Datuk Dr S.Vijayaratnam, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture Industries and Commodities.

    He made the remarks at a seminar named "Technology Transfer", which was organized by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB).

    "Our production of palm oil is still on the uptrend at the moment and this shows that we are gaining from the research and development carried out by MPOB," said Vijayaratnam, who was representing the Minister of Agriculture Industries and Commodities.

    The latest technologies, right fertilization systems and agronomic practices, would help Malaysia achieve the target and make it competitive in the global market, he explained.

    MPOB's initiatives in creating awareness towards higher productivity and the adoption of better agriculture practices, have helped the national average of fresh fruit bunches yield per hectare to increase by 3.8 percent to 19.6 tons per hectare last year, the national news agency Bernama reported.

    This in turn has contributed to the improvement of oil yield per hectare, which recorded a 3.4 percent year-on-year increase to3.9 tons, despite the oil extraction rate declining marginally by 0.5 percent to 20.04 percent last year.

    MPOB has launched 350 technologies and products as of last year, and out of these, 34 percent of them have been commercialized, said Dr Choo Yuen May, MPOB's deputy director-general for research and development.

    MPOB today also launched three new technologies, namely the environment friendly palm EW-Insecticide ENVO-Cyper for crop plantation, improved fertilizer formulation (MPOB F1 Extra K) and Mobile Filter Press.