17 January 2017

Minister Andi Amran Demands Palm Oil Producers to Increase the Productivity of Public Farms

TRIBUN-BALI.COM, MANGUPURA – Indonesia’s Minister of Agriculture, Andi Amran Sulaiman instructs palm oil producers in Indonesia to increase the productivity of public farms.

The note was given following a dinner event he attended with GAPKI, the Gabungan Pengusaha Kelapa Sawit Indonesia (translated: The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association) on Wednesday evening at The Westin, Nusa Dua (23/11/2016).

At the occasion, the minister also makes an effort to increase the BPDP (CPO fund) support in order to accelerate replanting process.

“We will arrange replanting programs for farmers. In fact, we have prepared programs that integrate cows with palm trees and corns with palm trees,” he announced.

The corn and palm tree integration, he added, is done to trees younger than 4 years old.

Subsequently, corn farmers are encouraged to partner with GPMT or fodder companies.

“Free corn stocks and a package of fertilizer will be provided by the government to be distributed to a million hectare of land in Indonesia in 2017. We have planned the program and it requires an amount of budget.” He added.

The integration, he explained, is prioritized for agricultural fields, yet it also gives an opportunity for fields owned by private companies to be part of the program.

“Producing our own corn is far better that importing. Based on a one-year data, we have successfully suppressed corn imports by 60%. Our dependency on import products is a problem, considering the fact that our soil is very fertile. When the integration took place, we’ll take in the harvests through Indonesian Bureau of Logistics and buy them with a price of Rp3,150 per kilogram,” he stated. 

Source: Tribun