LOR GAJAH, June 16 (Bernama) -- The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry will intensify efforts to increase the production of commercial essential oils for export, Deputy Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim said today.
She said the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) through its incubator centre at Kuala Linggi here was giving focus to herbal-based essential oils.
The demand for essential oils for use in perfumes has breached five metric tonnes per month in several European countries, including Switzerland, she told reporters at the closing ceremony of Agricultural Technology Month here.
The essential oil technology incubator here has been in operation since 2006 with a production capacity of 40 kilogrammes each day.
"The output is small and far from being able to meet the monthly demand," Rohani said.
She said that to meet the current demand, a site of 300 hectares will be needed to cultivate the plants to produce the essential oils.
Rohani said MARDI has appointed Syarikat Essfa Sdn Bhd as an incubatee at the incubator centre to help increase the production of essential oils.
She said that currently, the essential oils produced by the incubator came from plants in Pagoh, Muar and Kuala Linggi, totalling about 30 hectares.
Rohani said the current price for each kilogramme of essential oils was over US$100 (about RM353) and the market was estimated to be worth US$7.5 billion (RM26.5 billion).
She said that efforts to commercialise the essential oils could help to reduce the import of such oils which was more than RM200 million annually.
Rohani also said that the ministry was planning to set up another technology incubator in Bintulu, Sarawak.
Other essential oil exporters in the region included Indonesia, China and India, she added. -- BERNAMA
Sutra Essential @ sutraessential.blogspot.com
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