ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLANTATION EXECUTIVES TOWARD THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MECHANIZATION IN OIL PALM PLANTATION

Mohammad Amizi Ayob; AinSophia Zainun; Mohd Fauzie Jusoh; Zulariff Abdul Latiff; Pasupuleti Visweswara Rao; Nursalwani Muhamad; Norehan Abdullah

ACCEPTANCE OF THE PLANTATION EXECUTIVES TOWARD THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MECHANIZATION IN OIL PALM PLANTATION

Mohammad Amizi Ayob¹*, AinSophia Zainun², Mohd Fauzie Jusoh³, Zulariff Abdul Latiff⁴, Pasupuleti Visweswara Rao⁵, Nursalwani Muhamad⁶, Norehan Abdullah⁷
¹Mr. University Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia, amizi@umk.edu.my
²Mrs. University Malaysia Kelantan, Malaysia, ainsophiazainun@gmail.com
³Mr. University Malaysia Kelantan, fauzie.j@umk.edu.my
⁴Dr. University Malaysia Kelantan, zulariff@umk.edu.my
⁵Dr. University Malaysia Kelantan, visweswara@umk.edu.my
⁶Miss. University Malaysia Kelantan, nursalwa91@gmail.com
⁷Assoc. Prof. Dr. University Utara Malaysia, norehan@uum.edu.my
*Corresponding author

Abstract

Malaysia is the second biggest country exporting oil palm after Indonesia. Oil palm has become the most important commodity crop in Malaysia. The rapid expansion of oil palm plantation in Malaysia in 1990, 2.03 million hectares to 5.73 million hectares in 2016 [Malaysia Palm Oil Board, 2017] caused required high labour intensive in this sector. The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations insists a high demand and dependence for foreign labours. Government insists the plantation sector implement mechanisation to overcome and reduce the usage of labour, however, the implementation of mechanisation were not promising in oil palm plantation. Plantation executives still preferred to implement the conventional methods compared the application of mechanisation due to pressure from the labour which more feel easier compared to use the sophisticated machinery. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to study the acceptance level among the plantation executives in implementing mechanisation in oil palm plantation. Face to face interview was conducted using a structured questionnaire with a total of 85 respondents among the plantation executives in Malaysia. The result indicates that the acceptance level of oil palm plantation executives toward mechanisation is still moderate in oil palm industry.

Keywords: Acceptance mechanization, Plantation Executives, Oil palm plantation.