Science-Based Approach Best Bet to Improve Sustainability in Palm Oil Production
Jakarta. Mahendra Siregar, executive director of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries, or CPOPC, emphasized Indonesia’s commitment to employ best practices in palm oil production and said that demand for the products will continue to increase.
"This [palm oil] is a necessity and part of the road to prosperity for the Indonesian people. In addition, we will continue to see an increase for palm oil products, this will not decrease," Mahendra told reporters on Monday (20/11) during the opening of the 2017 Oil Palm Course at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta.
He added that investing in sustainable palm oil production is part of a larger strategy to curb deforestation, which he said will "definitely increase" if Indonesia were to switch its palm oil production to a different commodity.
"We have to consider the fact that this is a source of livelihood, but it also needs a scientific-based approach so that we acquire the best practice," Mahendra said.
Last year, Indonesia produced more than 35 million tons of palm oil, 25 million tons of which were exported worldwide.
The export value of Indonesian palm oil is around $17 billion, making up more than 12 percent of total exports in the country.
The government is currently focused on increasing sustainability, which may be possible through optimizing land use on palm oil plantations.
Aiyen Tjoa, coordinator for the Collaborative Research Center 990 (CRC 990), said that her team’s research highlights the possibility of increasing the productivity of palm oil plantations by focusing the plants' potential yields.
"This is one of the solutions, as we seek to increase productivity and concentrate on existing plantations so that we can achieve at least 50 percent of the potential yield. This can be done if the farms are well-managed, and so we push to achieve this potential," Aiyen said.
Established in 2012, CRC990 is a collaboration between IPB, Jambi University, Tadulako University and Germany’s University of Göttingen, focusing on the study of sustainable palm oil.
She explained that on average, land owned by smallholders produce around 1.5 to 2 tons of palm oil per hectare, whereas land owned by large companies produce around 5 tons per hectare.
This is still far below the potential yield for palm oil, which she said is about 20 tons per hectare.
According to Mahendra, Indonesia’s strategy to employ sustainable approaches on palm oil plantations is part of the country’s effort to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"We must continue to improve through a science-based approach, to do the best of our ability, but also the best in the international context as well," Mahendra said.
Tags: Keywords: