KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Plantation Bhd (SDP) said it has successfully mechanised several tasks across its Malaysian plantation operations and expects to eliminate the need for manual workers in all non-harvesting activities by the end of 2023.
Group managing director Helmy Othman Basha said SDP expects to reduce the number of plantation workers by 55% by the end of 2023.
The company hopes to improve its land-to-man ratio to 1:17.5 or one worker for every 17.5 hectares by the end of 2024. The current industry average is one worker for every eight hectares.
Helmy unveiled seven new initiatives at the annual oils and fats conference this week, several of which were industry firsts.
The group said through advanced mechanisation, automation and digitalisation of its operations, SDP is making work in plantations more sophisticated and less laborious, which will also go a long way towards attracting a more skilled Malaysian workforce to the industry.
“SDP aims to have a 100% local workforce for its Malaysian plantation operations by the end of 2027,” it said in a statement.
In SDP’s operations in Malaysia, drones have replaced over 100 workers who, historically, had carried backpacks of chemicals to spray young seedlings in nurseries.
The palm oil industry is typically highly labour-intensive.
Prior to the pandemic, 80% to 85% of the plantation operations’ workforce were migrant workers, though, at SDP, foreign workers accounted for about 75% of the plantation workforce. - FMT
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