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Overview
Research and development into improving oil palm had begun as soon as the establishment of the first commercial planting of the crop in Malaya in 1917, at the Tennamaram Estate – one of the estates currently under the Sime Darby Plantation‘s stable.
Since then, Sime Darby Plantation has made considerable contributions in developing and pioneering best management practices in the oil palm industry and in many instances, assisted in commercialising them.
Today, Sime Darby Plantation is proud to be the pioneer in successfully sequencing, assembled and annotated the oil palm genome. With this breakthrough the company stands on the brink of discovering a ‘super palm’ that will revolutionise the industry.
Its significant contributions include the award winning zero burning replanting technique, leading management practices on water conservation and irrigation, stewardship in Integrated Pest Management (IPM), and the conversion of Empty Fruit Bunches (EFB) and Palm Oil Mill Effluent (POME) into compost for plantations, among many others.
Major Milestones: Steadily and Surely
 Sime Darby Plantation has 3 R&D Centres, 3 Innovation Centres, and several labs where R&D is carried out to support the entire value chain of the division.
With a total of 267 scientists and researchers, as well as more than 600 supporting staff, R&D Centres in Sime Darby Plantations are geared at making countless breakthroughs and innovations for the betterment of the company and the industry in general.
The research work is divided into nine areas:
- Plantation Research & Advisory - Consists of Breeding and Crop Protection units to ensure well-being of the estates, best planting materials use and good agricultural practices.
- Processing & Engineering – focused on processing (process development), laboratory services, engineering design, renewable energy and environment for improved milling
- Oils & Fats /Oleochemicals/FABIC – conducts applied research on downstream palm products and transfers technology to Innovation Centres and subsidiaries for customized product development
- Technology Transfer and Advisory Services– Provides recommendations on fertilizer applications, agronomic issues and coordinates R&D trainings to estates and mills
- Sustainability Quality Management– Facilitates and undertakes initiatives to improve quality, the environment, occupational safety, health and sustainability
- Quantum Leap – conducts cutting edge R&D towards yield improvement and value creation
- Biotechnology - ensures realization of clonal palm planting technology to replicate elite palms, realizing between 5 to 20 percent higher yield than that of normal breed
- Innovation Centres – develops new products for global customers through a strong customer focused approach; seamlessly combining marketing and technical advisory services
- Sime Darby Seeds & Agricultural Services – mass production of elite oil palm planting materials for internal and external customers, as well as provision of estate consultancy services
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