Drones, clones and chocolate help buoy United Malacca Bhd

Kuala Lumpur

ONE of this year's best-performing Malaysian palm oil plantation companies is looking to drones, clones and even other crops to overcome challenges from labour shortages and price volatility.

"We started mitigating that risk two years ago - we went all out for mechanisation," said Peter Benjamin, chief executive officer of United Malacca Bhd. "That has helped us cushion all these labour issues. It also helped us a lot as far as the recovery of the crop is concerned."