Sime Darby
CAREY ISLAND (Klang): Sime Darby has kicked off the first commercial planting of its new high-yielding oil palms genome, expected to increase yield by up to 15% using existing land.
The group said it expects to see significant increases to its profits, due to this breakthrough, by FY2021.
The new palms, a result of seven years of research and development by the company, has the potential to produce yields of over 11 metric tonnes (MT) per hectare under the best environmental conditions.
This will result in average yields of above 6.1 tonnes per hectare across all environments in Sime Darby Malaysia's plantations, the group said.
This compares to the current 5.3 tonnes per hectare yields from the existing best planting material, Calix 600.
"The Genome Select palm will significantly deliver high oil yields without to increase our hectarage.
"This is in line with our sustainability commitment to increase yields from the ground, thus minimising green and brown field expansions," said Sime Darby group chief executive Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh told reporters on Monday.
The first Genome Select tree was planted at the Dusun Durian palm oil plantation here by Sime Darby group chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Othman.
The company will plant 50 hectares here using the Genome Select trees, and another 50ha will be planted in an estate in Malacca in September this year.
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