InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (PFMA) encouraged to escalate palm oil productivity. It is the way to maintain competition. PFMA and Perkumpulan Praktisi Profesional Perkebunan Indonesia (P3PI) and Media Perkebunan did the 2nd STKS (Seminar Teknis Kelapa Sawit) “Kiat Sukses Meningkatkan Produktivitas Sawit 36;36;26% Tanpa Perluasan dan Optimalisasi Lahan dengan Tumpang Sari. Seminar disertai dengan Pameran”.
General in Chief of Media Perkebunan, Gamal Nasir in his speech told, smallholders’ palm oil productivity is low still, which is, 3 tons of crude palm oil (CPO)/hectare/year; while the companies’ productivity is 6 tons CPO/hectare/year.
“In fact, there are palm oil seeds that reach 9 - 12 tons of CPO/hectare. It means, there are gaps of productivity without area expansion by implementing intensification as efficient as it could to maintain production cost well,” he said, as in the official statement to InfoSAWIT, Wednesday (21/6/2023).
Palm oil is the main commodity to Indonesia’s revenue. Indonesia has become the number one producer in the world, including every issue in it. The upstream sector of supply chain also faces issues, such as, rare and expensive fertilizers, climate change, Ganoderma, the plantations that get more feminism, and others.
Palm oil advantages could be decreasing if the upstream practices are only ‘business as usual’ when the circumstance is in change. In fact, many research outputs and new practices can be implemented to maintain palm oil competition.
Ahmad Munir from PFMA said, fund distribution from PPFMA for smallholders replanting program (SRP) and infrastructures, is about to escalate productivity which in the end, it would increase the planters’ economy. PFMA would only distribute SRP fund and infrastructures if there have been technical recommendtioin from General Directorate of Plantation Ministry of Agriculture.
“We do not wait for it only, but coordinate with Ministry Agriculture to optimize fund distribution,” Munir said.
SRP acceleration by PFMA is the coordination and collaboration with other stakeholders, such as, General Directorate of Plantation, agency in provinces, districts that deal with plantation, and coordination and synchronization about data proposal about SRP, conducting focus group discussion with General Directorate of Plantation, Indonesian Palm Oil Association, BPKHTL, Ministry Agrarian Affairs, and Spatial/National Land Agency with the theme to accelerate SRP proposals in partnership scheme; doing socialization and technical development about document input to SRP application online; doing acceleration about memorandum of understanding with third sides, such as, planters’ organizations, banks, and PFMA; and accelerating SRP fund distribution after PFMA got technical recommendation from General Directorate of Plantation.
Susanto of Directorate of Palm Oil Plantation and Various Palm, said, by 31 May 2023 , SRP for technical recommendation laid about 291.960 hectares (ha), fund transfer reached Rp 7,49 trillion, chipping laid about 221.415 ha (75%), planting about 205.456 ha (73%). To get additional income in unproductive plantation, there are intercrops program during the first and second unproductive plantations.
The challenges are that some planters rejected it and some because of local wisdom but other smallholders do it with their own cash. Some planted watermelon, corn, and others. The habits of annual planters are different from food/horticulture farmers (planters) for they nurse their plantations every single day.
“There should be market guarantee. Experience showed that in some regions where corn was growing, the farmers were stuck by the marketing. This raised its own issue. The other challenges are fertile areas, physiographic condition, climate, and nutrient degradation from the intercrop. The area would make more erosion if it is intensively dug,” he said.
The fund for intercrops, as General Directorate of Palm Oil Plantation and Various Palm claimed, is in cooperation with Dirat Serealia, General Directorate of Food Plantation. “If those that get SRP fund would plant corn, it could be put into area expansion and would be funded by National Budget Dirat Serealia,” Susanto said. (T2)
