An Overview of Acceptance and Adoption of Agricultural Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Palm Oil Industry

Abstract

Oil palm was planted commercially in Malaysia about 100 years ago. Today, palm oil industry is one of National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) under The Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), a comprehensive programme to assist Malaysia in achieving its goal of achieving high-income status by 2020. The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification compliance will be made mandatory by the end of 2019 to elevate the industry to global standards and sustainable. Technology is one of the strategic tools in enhancing the economic competitiveness of a country. In oil palm industry, many types of technology were invented to assist workers to perform their work process. The example of innovation and technology introduced in Malaysia includes the use of a motorized harvesting pole, CantasTM, to improve harvesting productivity, a diamond sharpening tool, and the use of buffalo-assisted collection of FFBs. However, the acceptance and the adoption of all these technologies are still low and the industry depends highly on the human labour.