Malaysian oil palm industry on the hunt for harvesting tools that boost worker output

Kuala Lumpur

POUND for pound, palm oil has a huge edge over alternatives squeezed out of canola, soya beans or sunflowers.

It is more versatile - found in everything from chocolates to cosmetics - and far more productive. The fleshy fruit yields five times more oil per acre than canola and has eight times the yield of soya beans.