PBS International Attends PIPOC & ISOPB Conferences, November 2011
PBS International participated in both the recent International Palm Oil Congress (PIPOC) and the International Society for Oil Palm Breeds (ISOPB) Seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
It was a fantastic opportunity to meet many PBS pollination bag customers and learn more about the latest developments in this rapidly changing sector.
Both events had a truly international audience – PIPOC, for example, counted delegates from 45 different countries. We met pollination bag users from Malaysia, Colombia, Indonesia, Costa Rica and Ivory Coast, to name just a few locations.
A particular theme of both conferences was how to achieve greater sustainability in the Oil Palm supply chain, a theme to which there is a high level of commitment. Priorities included such angles as reducing chemical consumption (eg fertilisers, pesticides and chemicals used in processing), modulating the impact of plantations on bio diversity, means of using the resulting biomass by-products more effectively, and sustainability certification.
The Oil Palm sector often gets a bad press in Europe for its environmental impact. However, with the highest yield per hectare of any oil crop, the Palm Oil certainly does have its place to play in the global food chain, not to mention it plays an important role in the development of many emerging market economies.
PBS International is fully supportive of the work that is being done to increase the sustainability of this sector. We are proud that our bags are, in their small way, helping to increase the yield per hectare, helping to reduce the total area used to meet the world’s palm oil requirements and helping to feed ever increasing world population.