Ramli Abdullah – OPIEJ

Technical Efficiency of Independent Oil Palm Smallholders (ISH) in Peninsular Malaysia with Respect to Fertiliser and Land Size

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:33:40 +0000

Productivity of independent smallholders (ISH) is said to be low. This is partly due to, among others, their lower efficiency level compared to the estates. Although this is a known fact, there is no literature available which measures their efficiency level in producing their fresh fruit bunch (FFB). Hence, this study was carried out on the ISH to assess and determine their technical efficiency (TE) level by considering their effectiveness on using inputs, such as fertilisers and size of their holdings. The results of the study can be used to fill up the missing information pertaining to their level of efficiency. The study used Stochastic Frontier Analysis approach to see the effects of the two inputs. The ISH from Pahang, Perak and Johor were included in this study to represent Peninsular Malaysia region. The two variables, i.e. fertiliser application and size of their holdings had a positive relationship with FFB yield. The study revealed that the estimated average level of TE for the ISH is 0.70 while the maximum and minimum TE are 0.94 and 0.23, respectively. This indicates that the ISH in Peninsular Malaysia are generally inefficient and supports the claim to statement made by various authors on the level of their efficiency. The big difference in TE among ISH in the sample suggests that there is a potential to increase their output or yield by using inputs more efficiently. This can also be inferred that there is an opportunity to improve the ISH productivity, especially the Malays and Indian ethnic groups whose efficiency levels are lower than the Chinese ethnic group.

An Analysis on Trends of Vegetable Oil Prices and Some Factors Affecting CPO Price

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:31:35 +0000

Price is determined by market forces of supply and demand, interacting together to produce an equilibrium price. Mismatch of these forces can cause price to change. Frequent and continuous changes in price will lead to volatility which appears to be increasing over time, especially in the oils and fats sector. This gives an indication that the sector has become complicated over time. Not only the volatility increased over time, the prices themselves had up-trended and exhibited the presence of trend factor. Other factors, such as seasonal and cyclical factors were not transparent. This article analyses trends for prices of selected oils and fats, including that of crude oil. It also describes the strategies of the Malaysian government to narrow down the widening gap between soyabean oil and palm oil prices.

An Analysis of Crude Palm Oil Production in Malaysia

mpob_admin — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:25:00 +0000

Palm oil is a very important commodity in Malaysia, and as such, it has become one of the 12 economic sectors under the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) to realise the country’s vision towards attaining a high income nation status in 2020. However, land is a limited resource for future oil palm expansion, thus, land productivity is pivotal in achieving the target of the NKEA. This can also affect future production of palm oil. Thus, it is the objective of this article to understand its behaviour in the past in order to determine its trend in the future. Based on historical data, palm oil production behaviour can be characterised by four components, namely trend, cyclical, seasonal and irregular components. The cyclical component is less obvious due to the nature of the data which is on monthly basis. However, this monthly data is suitable for exhibiting the seasonal and trend components. The seasonal component produces significant monthly indices which show performance of monthly production in a year. The trend component shows that production of palm oil is generally on the uptrend. The last irregular component indicates the production behaviour which is not described by the other three components and is considered a totally random error. Having understood the production pattern which consists of the four components, various key factors (mostly biological in nature) which affect and determine the movement of the palm oil production were also discussed in this article. These factors include rainfall (which affects more on the fresh fruit bunches yield), matured areas and fertiliser application. Coupled with the four components, they give a clearer picture of the production pattern of crude palm oil production in Malaysia.