Permaju Industries Berhad, via its wholly owned subsidiary Genbayu Gemilang has partnered with Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB) to jointly develop and manage a 100-hectare plantation site in Mukim Setul, Negeri Sembilan.
The site will house Malaysia’s first and largest single origin smart cocoa plantation, with Permaju allocating a total of RM15 million over the next 7 years to kickstart its plantation division while adhering strictly with global environment, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria for its operations.
Malaysian cocoa industry contributed a total of RM1.64 billion to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.
While Permaju is moving towards achieving its ESG goals by diversifying to single origin cocoa plantation, which have lower environmental footprint and a quicker turnaround time resulting in better yield. This move will not only provide jobs for the local community, Permaju will also upskill smallholders in agricommodity technology, pushing Malaysia towards its goal to create highly skilled workers. To recap, PIB has a timber portfolio previously.
Malaysia’s cocoa-based products grown rapidly in the global market and have extensive market coverage to more than 100 destinations worldwide. Export revenue from cocoa and cocoa -based products amounted RM6.29 billion in 2020. In the first
half of 2021, export revenue from cocoa stands at RM3.37 billion.
The ground-breaking ceremony saw the attendance of Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and Deputy Minister Datuk Willie Anak Mongin from the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities. Also present are Pn Rahimah Majid, the chairperson from Malaysian Cocoa Board, Austrian ambassador to Malaysia, His Excellency Andreas Launer and Austrian trade commissioner, Mr. Reinhart Zimmermann.
Permaju will be partnering with Agrocloud Sdn Bhd to develop a customised plantation Decision Support System (DSS) platform named Cocoa Plantation Management System (CPMS). Agrocloud is supported by its exclusive Austrian technology
partner, Pessl Instruments GmbH that brings over 35 years of experience in Agri IoT and Agri Advisory services.
CPMS is a holistic management platform integrating various technologies to deliver plantation operators with a streamlined tool comprising all aspects of agronomic advisory, governance and traceability. Core to this platform is the range of IoT field sensors supplied by Pessl Instruments that will be monitoring environmental parameters in real time to ensure optimal agronomic conditions is maintained. The implementation of this technology combined with the technical knowledge transfer from the Malaysian Cocoa Board will make this plantation the first fully integrated smart cocoa plantation in the country and will serve as a blueprint for PIB’s future expansion.
