Report on industrial training at Quality Training and Research Centre, IJM Plantation Beluran, Sabah

The history of the UMP Group dates back to its humble beginnings in 1985 when it first forged a joint venture with Koperasi Pembangunan Desa to develop Desa Talisai. Starting with a mere 4,000 hectares of Desa Talisai estates, the area under oil palm cultivation in UMP has increased over seven (7) folds to its present land-bank of approximately 30,000 hectares in the Sandakan and Sugut region in Sabah, Malaysia. The Group has also embarked into land expansion in Indonesia for oil palm cultivation. The Group owns and operates eleven (11) oil palm estates, complemented by four (4) palm oil mills capable of processing over one million tonnes of FFB per year and a palm kernel crushing plant. The Group's oil palm estates and the state-of-the art processing mills consistently produce results above the industry's average. Significant investments have also been channeled in the fields of research, development and training to maintain the Group's competitive edge well into the future. The Group's Quality, Training and Research Centre located in Sijas estate stands testimony to the Group's emphasis on R&D imperatives as the Group strives to maintain its business edge well into the future. Oil palm breeding and agronomy trials towards yield improvement are being pursued. The Group takes pride in its own production of quality oil palm hybrid seeds from its seed production unit which is accredited with SIRIM's MS157:2005 certification. A training centre has also been established in the Sugut Region to cater to the in-house training and human resource development programmes. Various training programmes have been initiated to keep staff abreast with the latest best practices, instilling team-work and to enhance operational efficiencies. Today, a typical oil palm estate in the Group paints a warm and environmentally friendly ambience, with many shades of luscious greens of oil palm trees mingled with a whole host of flora and fauna. It is also a portrait of human endeavours; inspired by a pioneering spirit and vision, a culture of hard work and perseverance coupled with a passion for performance. Within it, a host of symbiotic relationships exist - where the rural countryside is fused with north-eastern town of Sandakan in Sabah, where upstream operations merge with downstream processes, and where a world of diverse but complementary efforts are linked in an integrated supply chain.