Vol. 23 (2) September 2023 – OPIEJ

YOUTH’S MOTIVATION TOWARDS A CAREER IN MALAYSIAN OIL PALM PLANTATION

mpob_admin — Thu, 14 Sep 2023 23:32:19 +0000

Job creation among youth is an often debated issue in many countries, including Malaysia. Nowadays, despite the rising unemployment rate, there is a shortage of manpower in certain sectors, especially the oil palm plantation sector. It raises the question of whether or not the youth are interested in working in this sector. A comprehensive study was conducted to answer this question. Along with it, this study also surveyed youth’s opinions on the factors that can motivate them to build a career in the oil palm plantation sector. A total of 724 youth in Malaysia were employed as respondents for this study and SmartPLS software was used to analyse the study data. The results found that youth still have the interest in getting involved in the oil palm plantation sector. The main motivators for their involvement are family, friends and society, followed by health and economic factors. The findings of this study are in line with the formation of the job selection theory developed in the early 1950s, in which family members play an important role in cultivating job interest. This indicates that the family plays a vital role in encouraging youth involvement in the oil palm plantations. Besides, to ensure their participation in the oil palm plantation sector, policymakers have to think of approaches to improve health and economic standards.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OIL PALM IN-FIELD COLLECTION SYSTEMS

mpob_admin — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 07:41:16 +0000

The purpose of this study is to determine the most efficient system for the evacuation of oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from the oil palm tree to the mill. The study employed a quantitative method by utilising primary data, gathered by randomly selecting 500 oil palm estates in Malaysia. A descriptive analysis was conducted to identify the most used system for the in-field collections. The efficiency of each system was then measured by dividing the total output of each system by its respective operating costs involved. The study found that most oil palm plantations in Malaysia are using the conventional way of evacuating oil palms to the mill (termed as System 1). However, System 1 was found to be inefficient because it requires a higher cost of operation to produce the same amount of FFB. The study found that System 2, in which the FFB was immediately transferred to the collection bin after being removed from the oil palm tree and sent directly to the palm oil mill, is the most effective. System 2 has the highest ratio of production compared to the other systems under consideration, producing 0.0213 t of FFB on average per month for every Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) spent.

WORLD PALM OIL SUPPLY FORECAST: REVIEW AND UPDATE

mpob_admin — Fri, 08 Sep 2023 08:58:04 +0000

Since the beginning of palm business in the 1960’s, world palm oil production has always shown an upward trend until the year 2019. Even though there were some occasions that made palm oil production go down, such as El Nino in the year 2015-2016, it was a temporary weather anomaly. However, this article explains that a structural, not a temporary, palm oil shortage may occur in 2-3 years. This article reviews the production data in the year 2019-2022 that was published by Minchul Suh (2020), mentioned as P.F hereinafter when the growth of the world’s palm oil production was stagnant. This article forecasts palm oil production in the year 2023-2025, by employing the age profiles of Malaysian and Indonesian oil palm plantations as well as the yield profile of oil palm. According to the methodology used in this article, even without any weather effects, the growth of palm oil production will be stagnant or can even decline until the year 2025.

EMERGING RURALITY IN MALAYSIA: THE ADAPTATION OF FELDA MODEL

mpob_admin — Fri, 12 May 2023 07:16:12 +0000

The Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) model appears in many aspects to be a successful example of a rural development program in Malaysia. FELDA eventually rehabilitated more than 115 000 families of settlers in its active years of land opening. Together with its settlers, FELDA has managed to overcome significant challenges that came along over more than sixty years of its establishment. Yet today, the model appears fragile, and its future seems insecure. Upcoming vital issues and challenges threaten the sustainability of these settlement programmes in their endeavour to realise Malaysia’s rural development agenda. This article seeks to look at the emerging rurality in Malaysia and how the FELDA model is adapting to the settlers’ new demographic, social, and economic conditions, especially with the changing landscape of urbanisation, out-migration of the second and third generation of settlers and socio-economic conditions in Malaysia. This article also illuminates the issues and challenges faced by FELDA and its settlers and throws some light on the programme introduced by FELDA to develop its settlers’ social and economic qualities and related insights from both studies locations; FELDA Bukit Goh, Pahang and FELDA Tenggaroh, Johor. This article found that FELDA is currently facing a rural exodus where the next generation of settlers is exiting the scheme. The upward social mobility of the settlers’ children, especially in education, has led to their outmigration to the urban areas in the quest to find higher-paid employment. It is suggested that the adaptation programmes introduced in the model need to be mobilised to the fullest extent. It is not impossible to make the next generation committed to the programme as the community of FELDA has the advantage of being closely related to the management.