Datuk Leslie Davidson, Planter Extraordinaire

November 20, 2008 19:16 PM
Datuk Leslie Davidson, Planter Extraordinaire

By: Ramjit-->
By Ravichandran D.J. Paul (Series Of Features On Merdeka Award)

1. KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 20 (Bernama) -- Datuk Leslie Davidson, one of the five recipients of the inaugural Merdeka Award for outstanding contribution for the advancement of Malaysia and its people, is among the distinguished names in palm oil cultivation.His conviction that research and development (R&D) were vital for the industry at infancy then not only benefited the players in the industry but also helped to turn Malaysia into the number one palm oil producer.Malaysia and other palm oil cultivating nations have immensely benefited from this man's hindsight and his relentless pursuit of innovative solutions since the 1960s.
2. When interviewed, Davidson said, "I was only one of many people, planters and scientists, Malaysians and expatriates, who contributed to the early success of the oil palm industry. Many have retired and others were killed during the Emergency. I look on the award therefore as a tribute not just to one person, but to all of them.""When I arrived in Pamol Estate, Kluang, in May 1951, as a young 20-year-old, my first impression was of heat. There was no air-conditioning. The sweltering humidity was ideal for palm trees but not for humans. Kluang at that time was one of the worst black spots of the Emergency."On my first day, on the estate, when my manager issued me a Winchester carbine, an automatic pistol, and an armoured car, and posted five Special Constables to look after me, I felt that I had come to a war-zone," said Davidson on his first impression of the country when he arrived at the height of Emergency.His sojourn in Peninsula lasted until 1957 before moving on to Cameroon in Africa. Nonetheless, he was sent to Sabah in 1960, which was in Borneo then, where he was instrumental in opening up palm oil plantations for Unilever.Davidson, 77, born in Aberdeen, Scotland, would later become the Unilever International Plantations Group chairman.
3. DAVIDSON'S INSTINCTS PROVE RIGHT When the young planter arrived in Sabah, he had to face a baptism of fire. It was here that the man fluent in Malay and Hakka proved the true spirit of a pioneering planter. Today the Tungud Estate that he helped to pioneer covers an area of 25 square kilometers in Sabah's east coast.It was not only a successful stint for Davidson but also a defining moment for the palm oil industry. The palms from West Africa grew well but failed to bear fruit. His reasoning was that it could be due to the failure of the pollen from the male flowers to reach the female flowers.But others reasoned that it was because of the heavy tropical rain that washed away the pollen and thus palm oil cultivation is not suitable here. Davidson begged to differ because he was sure the insects were the ones that pollinate the flower.Now the only solution was to test his 'hypothesis by pollinating using hands and which he did by employing hundreds of people. The results proved he was right.Nevertheless, he realized the hand pollination was a laborious process and the yield was unsatisfactory.
4. He returned to London in mid 1970s to assume the position of deputy chairman of Unilever but the problem in Sabah still bothered him.He brought up the matter with the company management and sought the services of Dr Rahman Syed, an expert with the International Institute of Biological Control in Ascot, United Kingdom, to find a solution.Dr Rahman who studied the palms in Cameroon found that the weevils helped to pollinate while in Malaysia thrips found in coconut palms did the job. Moreover, the thrips were absent in Borneo and thus pollination could not take place.However, the study also pointed that the thrips were not effective pollinators unlike the weevils. After a careful study, the weevils were introduced in Malaysia and later to palm oil plantations in many Southeast Asia, Pacific and South American nations.It was a significant breakthrough because effective pollination has helped to increase palm oil output ever since and the discovery allowed palm oil cultivation in many nations.
5. "The expansion of the oil palm industry was achieved in the first phase (1950-1985) through yield and productivity improvements (including insect pollination) which doubled the average production per hectare from 2 tonnes to over 4 tonnes bringing Malaysias output from only 50,000 tonnes in 1950 to 3 million tones in 1985."However, in the second phase the huge increase from 3 million tonnes to 16 million tonnes was achieved by planting more and more areas with palms. Average yield per hectare actually declined slightly," he explained.Davidsons effort received recognition when he was awarded the Datuk title along with Dr Rahman. He in fact had set into motion a research and development culture for the local field managers and researchers to stay ahead in the industry.
6. A MAN BRIMMING WITH IDEAS Later as the chairman of Unifield in Bedford, he helped to promote tissue culture techniques because it is the only way of producing high yielding palm clones. The company exported plantlets produced through this method to various parts of the world.On his advice for Malaysia stay ahead in this industry, he said: "In the next decade or two we must see a return to R&D with emphasis on yield and productivity improvements, so that the necessary increase in production is achieved with the minimum increase in planted area."Having said this one should remember the contribution Malaysia and its oil palm industry in feeding the world in the last few decades, when many other developing countries have been depending on food handouts from the West.The industry produces ten times more vegetable oil per hectare than soybean and provides twenty times more employment. This has permitted Malaysia to remain one of the most heavily wooded countries in the world.If Malaysia had planted soybeans rather than oil palms it would have taken up not 4.2 million hectares but 42 million while many more people in Southeast Asia would have been unemployed, he said.
7. FOND MEMORIES OF MALAYSIA Going back in time, he says; "A month or two after my 21st birthday, it was only by a coincidence that I did not drive into an ambush waiting for me on the edge of our new clearing. Otherwise I would have been buried in Malaya, and my name would have been one of the statistics in the Planters Roll of Honour."Nonetheless, the great compensation for the difficult living conditions in Kluang and later in Sabah, were the lasting friendships I made with Malaysian people of all races. We joined with them in the big party on the estate to celebrate Merdeka in 1957: We joined with them again in Sabah, to celebrate the birth of Malaysia in 1963, and I was pleased to be able to join them in celebrating the 50th anniversary of Merdeka in KL last year."Interestingly, Davidson who is now residing at Ditchling, Sussex, in the United Kingdom is now catching up with his education by taking up a course on history at Sussex University. "Belated but very interesting!" said Davidson when inquired on what he is doing in his retirement years.He has also written books based on his observations of Sabah in the early days. The second edition of the book East of Kinabalu is to be launched sometime this week. This book illustrates his pioneering experiences that are important from both historical and literary viewpoint. The accounts on the book also attest his other side as a benevolent leader of the diverse plantation community.Davidson is among the five winners of The Merdeka Award 2008, a Petronas initiative co-founded with ExxonMobil and Shell.He has been selected under the Outstanding Contribution to the People of Malaysia category.The others are Prof. CT Tan and Prof Dr Khalid Kadir under Health, Science and Technology category, Malaysian Nature Society for environment and renowned academician Prof. Ungku Abdul Aziz Ungku Abdul Hamid for the education and community category.-- Bernama