SIAK – Sawit Jaya Cooperative in Mempura district of Siak regency, Riau province, has become one of the innovative cooperatives in cultivating oil palm plantations on peatlands. The fact that Siak has the largest area of peatlands in Sumatra has forced the cooperative to innovate in utilizing the peatlands.
Based on 2019 data, Siak has around 57% of its total area of 8,556 square kilometer as peatlands. Of the total area of peatlands, around 21% is the peatland area with a depth of between 3 – 12 meters.
But the smallholders as members of the Sawit Jaya cooperative managed to utilize the peatlands for developing oil palm plantations with the principles of sustainability. The cooperative, which managed to get the certificate of Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) since 2020, has taken a number of necessary steps in cultivating the peatlands, such as mapping of the peatland depth in 2018, installing water surface monitoring equipment, subsidence monitoring equipment, piezometer, canal block, and fire prevention through the establishment of fire care society.
Sawit Jaya Cooperative Group Manager Afif M. Nurudin said that the cultivation of oil palm plantations on the peatlands requires a system of water management as the oil palm trees need water to grow well. Water surface should be kept at less than 50 cm from the floor of the peatlands.
“Peatlands have both advantages and disadvantages. In terms of the water surface and subsidence in the peatlands, growers need to study the water management system and ensure that it is well implemented in the cultivation of oil palm trees on the peatlands,” Afif said in a press release received recently by InfoSAWIT.
According to Joko Paryanto, an internal auditor of Sawit Jaya cooperative and a village agricultural instructor auditor of ee peatlandsd cultivation, and apply it cietyy.oil palm
,ising gas price at the global market. lty again., the water surface and subsidence is determined by a special team locally called NKT team in every Monday. The water surface on the peatlands used for oil palm cultivation should be maintained at the height of between 40 – 70 cm.
He said that their visits to the oil palm plantations owned by members of Sawit Jaya cooperatives are made on the sidelines of internal audit trainings for self-sufficient smallholders who want to get the certificate of Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO), under a cooperation with Mutu Institute.
The activities, which were implemented in Siak on 15-17 February 2022, were participated by 31 smallholders, consisting of the cooperative representatives who are also members of FORTASBI (local farmer organization), members of local NGOs and a number of regental officials.
“We from FORTASBI conduct the ISPO training in Siak, with the hope that in the future there will be self-sufficient smallholders who will get the ISPO certificate by cultivating peatlands for oil palm plantations. Currently, the oil palm plantations of Sawit Jaya and Beringin have managed to get the RSPO certificates. Today’s training is the first batch. There will be second and then third batch,” FORTASBI agricultural training head Rukaiyah Rafik said.
Despite Sawit Jaya cooperative has won the RSPO certificate, it will keep implementing the good practices in the peatland cultivation. “RSPO certificates are only for peatlands already planted with the oil palm trees, not for the peatlands that are not yet planted with the oil palm trees,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sawit Jaya cooperative, which has 194 smallholders with a total acreage of oil palm plantations at 260 hectares, has also established a fire care society, which is assigned to prevent fire on the peatlands by partnering with local organizations called Manggala Agni and BRG. Besides having trained officers in preventing the fires, Sawit Jaya cooperative also operates a number of facilities for fire monitoring, controlling and warning system.
Source: infosawit.com
