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PLANTING PALM OIL – SEVERAL CONSIDERATIONS TO CONSIDER BEFORE YOU BET ON IT


Works To be done / Pre-requisites

1 It is important to have sufficient motivation, determination, foresight and family support, 4WD vehicle, MPOB book on palm oil planting for smallholders, commuting between town and farms, etc
2 Sufficient funds on average development cost for first 3 years is about RM3000 per acre
3 Look for or buy land with good accessibility and contiguous block where possible; and ready supply of labor in the area – the following works will then commence
4 Felling big trees – lump sum contract in my case RM5K for clearing 30 acres
5 Look for and hire excavator for 3-4 months use; you can hire it on monthly basis, hourly rate or even on contract basis eg RM800 per ha for stacking works
6 Constructing access road and culverts on the land –mandatory for efficient transport and transfer of farm materials seedlings, fertilizer and later fresh fruit bunches (ffb) ; rate RM40 per chain
7 Stacking – the trees and shrubs @RM800 per ha
-Alternatively you may burn the clearings but if it is rainy season and you are in hurry to plant - stacking is a must for you
8 Constructing terraces - Mandatory for hilly land and easier farm maintenance at later stage; RM30-35 per chain
9 Source for seedlings and transporting same to farm site
10 Source for fertilizer to be applied at base of plants
11 Marking planting points normally 60 plants per acre
12 Planting the young palms – look for palms having spent 12 – 18 months from a MPOB licensed nursery
13 Source for gravel and stone for access roads improvement
14 Apply fertilizer once everything 2 months unless you use controlled release fertilizer such as APEX type from US which permit manuring once every 6-8 months
15 Plant cover crops to prevent erosion if necessary
16 Getting people to “ngeracun rumput” once every 3-4 months
17 Inspection of the fields once every 2 months for rodden and animal attacks on the young plants – replace damage plants as appropriate; pests come in the form of squirrels, rats and porcupines as well as wild boars
18 After this you can relax a little while until the next – manuring and
ngeracun rumput season which is about 2-3 months later and periodically
thereafter
19 Inspections and more – pray and wait for good harvest and returns!