Acceptance of Good Agricultural Practices (Gap) Among Independent Oil Palm Smallholders in Malaysia

Abstract

Several oil palm sustainable certification schemes have been introduced in Malaysia such as MPOB Codes of Good Agricultural Practices (MPOB CoGAP) Certification, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification, and Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Certification. All these certifications have been successfully accepted in many of the oil palm estates except the ISH. There is a big challenge to certify the Malaysian ISH because they are lack farm management practice. Therefore, Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has introduced the individual sustainable certification to the ISH, which is known as Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) certification. This paper's main objectives are to identify the GAP acceptance level (compliant, partial-compliant, and non-compliant) recommended by MPOB and determine the factors affecting GAP certification acceptance among the ISH in Malaysia. This study was conducted in all states in Malaysia, and the data were collected from a total of 400 respondents selected through the Proportionate Random Sampling Method. The results showed that 58% of the ISH partially comply by receiving the GAP certificate. while only 26% fulfilled the requirements, thus eligible for GAP certification. Two factors that significantly influenced the GAP compliance among the ISH were the respondents' education level and the age of palm oil plantation. The results of this study indicated that GAP on fertiliser application and record-keeping were adopted by the ISH and significantly affecting their compliant level of MPOB GAP Certification among ISH.

The Influence of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) on the Productivity and Well-Being of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)-Certified Independent Smallholders in Malaysia

“…Palm oil GAP in Malaysia is the basis for increasing productivity and is a requirement for MSPO [23]. Although GAP through MSPO promotes increased productivity, the effectiveness of GAP in delivering the well-being of smallholders in FFB production areas still needs to be determined.…”

“…Therefore, they will receive wages monthly even if there is no production that month. On the other hand, compared to organised smallholders, the farm management of ISHs is poor because, according to Mansor (as cited in [23]), from 400 ISH, only 26% apply GAP.…”

“…The implementation of GAP by palm oil smallholders is divided into three levels of compliance: compulsory practice, mandatory practice, and encouraged practice. According to [23], palm oil GAP in Malaysia is the basis for increasing productivity and is a requirement for sustainability certification. Therefore, it is necessary to include GAP in MSPO criteria.…”

OIL PALM ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE IN MALAYSIA AND R&D PROGRESS IN 2021

“…The implementation of Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) is also considered as the baseline for the MSPO certification. Mansor et al (2021) revealed that 58% of the ISH partially complied with GAP requirements. Whereas, only 26% of ISH fulfilled the requirements, and thus, were eligible for the GAP certification.…”

“…Labour shortage has also impacted yields among the ISH, albeit at a smaller scale as compared to the plantations. According to Nazirah et al (2021), the majority of oil palm ISH were not entirely reliant on foreign workers to carry out activities in their smallholdings. The study provide an insight which showed that ISH hired 21.8% of foreign workers for harvesting, 19.8% for weed control, and 16.8% for fertiliser application.…”