KUALA LUMPUR – The Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) plays an important role in ensuring the sustainability of Malaysia’s oil palm industry to prevent a repeat of the fate that befell the country’s rubber sector, Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said.

He said with the largest plantation land ownership of 800,000 hectares in Malaysia, FELDA needs to leverage higher production and focus on the downstream sector over the next 15 to 30 years to ensure it does not go down the same path as the rubber industry.

Malaysia was the largest rubber producer in the world at one time, he said. – BERNAMA / pic TMR FILE