Malaysia's palm planters eye robots, drones to combat labour crunch

Boustead Singapore

07/10/2022 02:00

By Mei Mei Chu
       YONG PENG, Malaysia, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Malaysian
research student Haziq Ramli wore an outfit resembling a light
jetpack, with poles strapped to his biceps, to wield a long pole
that clipped the sharp fronds and heavy bunches of fruit from
oil palm trees nearly twice his height.
    Working on a three-acre (1.2-hectare) family estate, he was
part of a team trying to perfect the gadget, called a wearable
exoskeleton, that promises to reduce the need for labourers to
manipulate the poles, which can weigh as much as 8 kg (18 lbs).
    "My arms are supported when I'm holding the pole, I feel
less strain and fatigue," said Haziq, who wore sneakers and
spectacles. 
    Plantation firms in the world's second biggest producer of
palm oil are stepping up mechanisation to stem losses running
into billions of dollars as fruit goes unharvested during their
worst labour shortage yet.
    "To harvest 10 tonnes of palm fruits a month, we need two
workers," said estate owner Hamidon Salleh.
    Hamidon, who is also an engineer, said he and his colleagues
at Malaysia's University of Technology (UTM) were working with
top producer Sime Darby Plantation  SIPL.KL  to test the gadget.
    "With this exoskeleton, one harvester can achieve 10 tonnes
on his own," he added. "We can do the same amount of work with
fewer workers."
    Peers of Sime Darby, such as IOI Corp  IOIB.KL , Boustead
Plantations  BOPL.Kl  and FGV Holdings  FGVH.KL  are stepping up
use of drones to spray crops with fertiliser and pesticide, map 
estate holdings and monitor the condition of trees.
    Sime Darby said it was working with technology partners, but
did not identify them. Boustead and FGV did not respond to
requests for comment. 
    IOI said it had doubled its 2022 budget for automation and
mechanisation from last year, while greater use of machines such
as drones, electric wheelbarrows and motorised palm cutters has
helped slash labour needs by a quarter. 
    Malaysian producers are racing to mechanise as they face a
third annual fall in output, along with losses estimated at 20
billion ringgit ($4.4 billion), because of the labour crunch. 
    Yields plummeted to near 40-year lows in the 2020/21
marketing year, worsening a global shortage of edible oils
triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.
    Almost 80% of Malaysia's plantation workers are migrants,
many recruited from neighbouring Indonesia to do the
back-breaking work of harvesting, but pandemic curbs caused a
shortfall of about 120,000 workers this year.
    And supply is only expected to dry up further in coming
years, making hiring more expensive.
    "We’ve seen that the industry is starting to invest more in
mechanisation because of the labour shortage," said Ahmad
Parveez Ghulam Kadir, the chief of the state-run Malaysian Palm
Oil Board (MPOB). "The trend is rising."
    Efforts to automate had been slow while producers had easy
access to cheap migrant labour able to navigate plantation
terrain challenging to machines.
    COVID CHANGES
    The coronavirus pandemic has changed that. 
    "COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation in
plantations much faster," said Razalee Ismail, director of drone
services provider Meraque. "Companies are now much more willing
to spend and experiment with technology." 
    Demand for the firm's drone spraying services have surged
since the start of the pandemic, pushing the expansion of its
fleet to 62 from three in 2018, though Razalee said the company
needed to add 100 more to meet demand. 
    A single drone using artificial intelligence to detect trees
and spray nutrients can do the work of six people, he added. 
    Meraque counts FGV, Boustead and Sime Darby as customers.
    If Malaysia's use of manpower goes unchecked, rising wages
could combine with dwindling output to boost costs and hurt
competitiveness against larger exporter Indonesia and emerging
producers in Africa, India and Latin America. 
    Late last year, Malaysia's business and government pumped 60
million ringgit ($13 million) into research and development of
automated harvesting technology.
    Their ambitious goal is to slash the workforce over the next
five years, to a ratio of one worker for every 50 hectares (124
acres) from one for every 10 hectares (25 acres) now, with a
long-term goal of one for every 100 hectares (247 acres). 
    "We cannot be complacent as we've been before," added Ahmad
Parveez of the state board.
    In rival Indonesia, some producers are adopting digital apps
to optimise workflows and costs, although at a cautious pace,
aware that mechanisation could threaten livelihoods. 
    NO QUICK FIX
    Still, experts say automation will not phase out manual
labour very soon. Few existing machines can tackle the vast
undulating spaces and towering palm trees of plantations as
efficiently as workers. 
    New tools could ease Malaysia’s woes, but many are in their
infancy and will need years of development, said Khor Yu Leng,
director of economic consultancy Segi Enam Advisors.
    Flights by most battery-powered drones last just 15 minutes,
while existing exoskeletons do not speed harvesters’ movements
and can cost tens of thousands of ringgit, she said.
    Hazlina Salamat, UTM's lead researcher on exoskeletons for
the palm industry, is working on one shown in tests to reduce
muscle strain by 22% and increase endurance by 47%, she said.  
    Despite wanting to modernise, the industry is cautious about
big investments, Hazlina said, adding, "A lot of these
technologies have to be proven first." 
($1=4.6440 ringgit)
 (Reporting by Mei Mei Chu in Kuala Lumpur; Additional reporting
by Bernadette Christina in Jakarta; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
 ((meifong.chu@thomsonreuters.com; +603-2333-8005; Reuters
Messaging: @meixchu on Twitter))