KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 5): Malaysia needs to implement measures to attract talent into the palm oil industry as a lack of manpower is dragging the industry down.

Platinum Nanochem Sdn Bhd group special advisor and sustainability director MR Chandran said today that not only is the lack of labour affecting revenue, but is also threatening the viability of the industry.

"We are losing crop. I can tell you that the industry faces an 18% loss because we don't have workers to harvest fruits," he said at an evening forum at the Oils and Fats International Congress 2014 (OFIC 2014) here.

He said there is a need for policies to be implemented in order to attract workers into the industry, which is currently 80% reliant on foreign workers, of which 90% are Indonesian. 

Despite the industry's continued need for foreign workers, he said many are actually reluctant to work in the palm oil industry here due to the lower pay.

Hence, for starters, a higher scale of wages may help, he said.

"When the minimum wage was introduced at a miserable RM900, there was a huge outcry. I have seen beautiful homes built by plantations for their labour, but it's all empty. 

"SMEs (small and medium enterprises) said they would go out of business but what we don't realise is that the Indonesian government can decide to stop their people from coming here," he added.

Not only is the industry facing a shortage of low-skilled labour, but it also has trouble attracting mid-level workers like cadets and process engineers, he said, adding that this was because the agriculture sector is not attractive to people, therefore measures need to be put in place to act as incentives to attract manpower. 

The evening forum of the OFIC 2014 was attended by representatives from various sectors of the palm oil industry. 

Chandran was responding to questions about labor shortage in the industry as well as yield stagnation faced by many companies.

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) director general Datuk Dr Choo Yuen May, who was also present, said the current production rate for oil palm plantations are between 3-4 tonnes per ha, which is quite low when compared to some plantations run by major companies, with 6 tonnes per ha.

She said the harvesting of the fresh fruit bunches is the main problem, and MPOB is looking at driving research and development into the area.

She said small steps have been taken, including holding a contest for machines to harvest oil palm fruits, but acknowledges there is still a lot of progress to be made in the area.

OFIC 2014 is jointly organised by the Malaysian Oil scientists' and TEchnologists' Association and Oils & Fats International, in collaboration with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. The Edge Media Group is the media partner.