TAWAU: Oil palm smallholders should take advantage of a government aid programme to replace old trees, says a deputy minister.

In Sabah, 27 applications covering 125.20 hectares have been made to the Smallholder Oil Palm Replanting Financing Incentive Scheme up to Jan 31, said Datuk Chan Foong Hin.

"An oil palm tree typically produces fresh fruit bunches from the 3rd year to the 25th year," he said in a statement after launching the Mealybug and Sooty Mold Outbreak awareness programme here.

The deputy plantation and commodities minister, who is also Kota Kinabalu member of parliament, told smallholders to seize the opportunity offered by the incentive scheme to enhance their income.

He also urged them to apply for the Livestock Integration with Oil Palm Incentive Scheme and the Crop Integration with Oil Palm Incentive Scheme to boost their income while waiting for the new oil palms to become productive.

At the awareness programme, about 200 smallholders were introduced to techniques to manage and prevent outbreaks of disease in their farms.

Chan had said last month that Mealybug, a type of fungus carrying sooty mold, is spreading widely in oil palm plantations in Sabah, especially in Tawau and Lahad Datu.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/03/1029465/apply-govt-aid-replace-old-palms-smallholders-told