InfoSAWIT, LAMPUNG – Students from Lampung University (Unila) have once again achieved a proud accomplishment. A team of Electrical Engineering students from the 2023 cohort was selected to receive research funding from the Oil Palm Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) for 2025. Out of more than 1,300 proposals, only 40 teams were selected, including the Unila team for their innovative research titled "TELSA Super App: An ERP Platform to Support ISPO Implementation for Smallholder Palm Oil Plantations."
This research covers social, economic, business-management, market, and information technology aspects. Under the guidance of Dr. Ing. Melvi, the team designed the TELSA Super App (TSA), a web-based application with an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system featuring tools for managing certification documents, plantation management, and supply chain traceability. This innovation is expected to be a concrete solution for smallholder palm oil farmers to obtain the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification, which will become mandatory starting November 2025.
Currently, out of a total of 6.94 million hectares of smallholder palm oil plantations in Indonesia, only about 1.4% have been ISPO certified. The main obstacles are the limited capacity of farmers in plantation management, high certification costs, and administrative complexity. The presence of TSA is believed to be able to bridge this gap.
The Unila team's research journey began at a BPDP workshop in Pangkalan Bun, Central Kalimantan, from August 27–28, 2025. This activity provided participants with knowledge on cultivation, processing, and palm oil derivative products. Over the next eight months, the research will undergo a progress audit leading to the final presentation. If they make it into the top 10 nationally, the team will have the opportunity to present their research findings at the national final.
"The workshop in Pangkalan Bun opened our eyes to the complexity of the palm oil industry from upstream to downstream. With this research, we hope the TELSA Super App can be a real solution for smallholder farmers in implementing ISPO and promoting sustainable palm oil plantations," said a representative of the TSA Team, as quoted by InfoSAWIT from Unila on Wednesday (9/3/2025).
This achievement is a testament to Unila's contribution in producing young innovators who play an active role in strengthening a strategic national industry through research and technology. (T2)
