Group MD Helmy Othman Basha said the group aims to be “the anchor” for utilising mechanisation, automation and digitalisation in the oil palm plantation.

“The end game is to reduce the manpower and as much as possible to recruit our locals.”

While this is a lofty target, he said this is where SDP is moving as it wants to recruit Malaysian workers and change the perception of the plantation sector, which people see as a “3D job” – difficult, dangerous and dirty.

“Give us another two to three years, as we are now going through many tests to find some solutions, including working with local startups on how we can better work on harvesting, whether using drones, robotic arms, unmanned robots, detection systems and other various technological components and parts,” he added.

He said this today at the 34th Palm & Lauric Oils Price Outlook Conference & Exhibition (POC2023) in a panel session on the ‘Need for Innovation & Technology to Redesign the Malaysian Palm Oil Industry’.

Helmy said by adopting the latest technologies to make jobs less laborious, he hoped the sector would be able to attract the younger generation.

At the same time, he said, the increase in automation would enable SDP to achieve a higher productivity level while saving time and efficiency compared with the usage of manual labour.

Helmy said prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, SDP had a hectare ratio of 1:10 (one worker for every 10 hectares) at its oil palm plantations.

He said SDP aims to achieve a 1:17.5 hectare ratio from the current 1:15 hectare ratio.

“It had 75% foreign labour before Covid-19, and currently, it has been reduced to 60%,” he revealed.