InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – Efforts to accelerate Indonesia’s Smallholder Palm Oil Replanting Program (PSR) must begin with strengthening institutions at the Smallholder level through more solid, professional, and industry-integrated organizations, according to industry stakeholders. Such a move is seen as essential in transforming independent palm growers from farm operators into modern, competitive agribusiness players.
Chairman of Rumah Sawit Indonesia, Kacuk Sumarto, said the PSR program carries strategic importance not only for improving Smallholder welfare, but also for reinforcing the long-term resilience of Indonesia’s palm oil industry.
“Smallholder Palm Oil Replanting is a very important program, not only for growers but also for the country. If implemented effectively, crude palm oil (CPO) production could increase by at least 20 million tons annually without the need to expand plantation land,” Kacuk said during a limited discussion forum at Menara Agrinas Palma in Jakarta on Monday (27/4/2026), attended by InfoSAWIT.
Despite being designated a national priority, PSR implementation over nearly a decade has fallen short of expectations. Since its launch in 2017, total replanted Smallholder palm oil area has yet to reach 450,000 hectares, far below the annual target of 180,000 hectares.
Kacuk noted that the slow pace is not primarily caused by financing constraints, but by lengthy and complicated proposal submission procedures.
“The main obstacles lie in weak farmer institutions, inaccurate land polygon mapping, and the lengthy process of obtaining land status verification confirming that plots are neither located within forest areas nor overlapping with plantation concession rights (HGU),” he said.
Community Building as the Starting Point
To address these challenges, RSI proposes a community-building approach as the first step in empowering palm oil Smallholders. The strategy includes workshops, field discussions, dialogue forums, and informal engagement aimed at building collective awareness of the importance of institutional strengthening.
Through stronger organizations, Smallholders are expected to gain a better understanding of business legality, organizational governance, sustainable plantation management, financial administration, labor management, and regulatory compliance.
In addition, stronger institutions are expected to accelerate the adoption of digital technology in plantation management and palm product trading, giving Smallholders broader access to data, markets, and financing.
Professional Institutions Could Speed Up Verification
RSI also proposes regulatory simplification by involving qualified third-party institutions with government legitimacy, particularly in technical land mapping processes.
According to Kacuk, competent survey and mapping institutions could be authorized to prepare highly accurate land polygons while simultaneously overlaying them with forest zone maps and plantation concession maps.
Under such a scheme, land verification documents confirming that plots are outside forest zones and free from HGU overlap could be issued much faster, without lengthy bureaucratic procedures.
“If this technical authority is entrusted to professional institutions with capacity and legitimacy, PSR proposal submissions will become significantly faster, more accurate, and more efficient,” Kacuk stressed.
He added that field experience shows land polygons prepared by professional institutions generally pass verification quickly due to their stronger legal standing and higher mapping accuracy.
RSI’s proposal is seen as an important momentum to reform PSR governance—making it simpler, while remaining prudent, accountable, and measurable. With stronger Smallholder institutions, greater technology adoption, and administrative simplification, PSR acceleration could become a major lever in boosting Indonesia’s palm oil productivity without opening new land. (T2)
