Oil palm potential in Sarawak

Abstract

Although oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) was introduced into Sarawak in the late 1930s by the State Agriculture Department, no commercial scale plantation was established until late 1960 when the commonwealth Development Corporation initiated the Sarawak Oil Palm Estate in 1969 at Mile 26 Miri-Bintulu Road in the Miri Division. At about the same time the Sarawak Development Finance Corporation, a state Government Statutory Body (now defunct) established its first phase on the Bukit Peninjau Oil Plam Scheme at Mile 28 Miri-Bintulu Road. Today the Sarawak Oil Palm Estate is a 4340 Ha property and the Bukit Peninjau Scheme (now under Sarawak Land Development Board) is a 1571 Ha. estate. Since 1969 onwards the development of the oil palm industry in Sarawak had picked up momentum almost entirely due to the investment made by Sarawak Government through its EALCRA and ELDB.