Oil Palm plantations

Malaysia’s oil palm industry faced with two problems :

1) Lack of manpower resources
2) Incurable oil palm disease - Ganoderma Basal Stem Rot (BSR)

90% of the manual workers in Malaysia's oil palm plantations are Indonesian workers employed to do harvesting, weeding and other plantation maintenance works. The work is tough, long hours and lowly-paid.

The Ganoderma Basal Stem Rot (BSR) disease is caused by bracket fungus Ganoderma. It is lethal and incurable for more than 50 years now. During replanting, if the old oil palm trunks are left to rot on the ground, various fruiting bodies of Ganoderma may be produced and thrive. Ganoderma Basal Stem Rot (BSR)is fast becoming a major threat to oil palm cultivation and palm oil production in Malaysia.