Plantation and commodities minister Johari Ghani said oil palm replanting among smallholders is low at only 0.2%, far below the standard of 4% that should be implemented yearly.

Speaking during question time in the Dewan Rakyat today, he noted that smallholders have not been implementing systematic replanting programmes.

Johari said the government has allocated RM100 million for the replanting programme this year, 50% in grants to smallholders and the remaining 50% as Agrobank loans.

“I will discuss with the finance ministry to increase grant assistance and simplify the process so that smallholders can increase production.

“We used to produce more than 20 million tonnes of palm oil, but today our production has declined to 18.6 million tonnes,” he said.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Isam Isa (BN-Tampin) on whether the government would increase funding in the oil palm replanting scheme for smallholders in 2025, reverting the scheme to 100% grants, compared with the current setup of 50% grants and 50% loans.

Johari also said the government’s focus extends beyond smallholders, with growers who are not included in the category also eligible to receive various incentives such as investment allowances.

He was replying to a question from Siti Zailah Yusoff (PN-Rantau Panjang) regarding government assistance for small and medium-sized plantation companies, efforts to increase palm oil productivity and training courses for smallholders.

He said the government also urges large-scale growers with high-quality seeds to share them with small growers and small-scale estates before exporting.

“We have encouraged many other aspects of good agricultural practices for the estates, including compliance with planting standards and using quality materials and fertilisers.

“The Malaysian Palm Oil Board will be guided by this initiative to ensure that estate production is continuously monitored and growing,” he said.